Counterfeit PC Game Scandal (SCAM)
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- An individual selling counterfeit big box PC games was recently discovered and is our Scumbag Seller of the Week!
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#gamecollecting #retrogames #pcgames
I posted about this in one of the collecting groups I belong to and got responses like "I've never seen a fake before" and "It's not worth enough money for anyone to bother." MY GOD THAT'S INSANE. There was so much denial I thought I was in Egypt.
The Sierra Collector's Quest book on Kickstarter had to remove all of his contributions. Dude's just making life miserable for everyone. What a scum bag.
My favourite part of this whole story is that WATA *allegedly* graded one of the counterfeit games!
Another reason why graders like WATA are a joke and don't add any additional value to anything.
This made my day lmao
The WATA grading system: look at the game for 5 seconds, look at the box for 5 seconds, look through the manual for however long it takes to flick through. If there are no huge tears and it's not covered in mud it's anything from an 8 to a 9.8, depending on how near to lunchtime it is.
All modern color printers lay down a code that tells particulars about the printer. This makes it easier to track down someone printing $100 bills in there bedroom. This wouldn't be in place for printers and presses of the era these games are from. That would be easies way to tell if it's a counterfeit.
Really hard to scan a halftone and pick up the dots perfect. I worked in the print industry for 30+ years and this is one of the hardest problems to overcome.
I feel like this channel is responsible for exposing not only the Amico, but future projects like this one. Not just with first hand research and reports like the Amico, but bringing this stuff like this to light so others can be critical and or investigate. UPDATEs keeping companies honest.
With great responsibility comes great SCUMBAG SELLERS OF THE WEEK
I like Pat and Ian when they scam bust. They should wear super hero outfits.
Rico Ricciardi got some 'splainin' to do.
Waaaaaaaaaaaaa! Ricoooooo!
An Italian retro game scammer? How does that ring familiar somehow?
Well at least no one is making a song about it.
@@songohan3321
Yet ;)
You can just use a template to put labels on square. Lazy as shit.
Akalabeth used to be in ziplocks in the old computer homebrew scenes I remember
There were some pretty convincing counterfeit Sapphires out there a while ago. there was even a site breaking down what to look for because there were so many of them flying around.
Wow some of those games where blank are you kidding me the balls on this guy he went through the trouble of making the boxes but didn't copy the data to the floppy.
I’m guessing that the theory is these games are so old and fragile that actually playing them might damage the floppy disc? If so this entire group of “Collectionists” is even more ridiculous than your run of the mill “Collectionist”.
So glad I’m not involved. ⚖️
@@xyrzmxyzptlk1186 i don't think they are that fragile since people are making there own games for these computers and some release them on 5.25 floppy disks using new old stock I have one and it has no signs of breaking
@@xyrzmxyzptlk1186 Nothing worth condescending over. Were talking about stuff so old playing it might destroy it or hell even using the old hardware might destroy the hardware. Just because they don't want to risk destroying the originals or wearing down their hardware doesn't mean they don't play them. These games have been released a bunch in different forms and emulators exist.
@@bluefates58 One thing to risk new old stock and risk a very rare original copy of a game. Just safer to use an emulator or run a backup. Eventually all games will be in that position where we have to gamble on if we want to use the original cart or disc or a copy because we don't want to destroy the original because it's so old and fragile.
I'm a member of this FB group and it shocked everyone when people started putting two and two together. There are a number of reasons that he was able to get away with this as long as he did, things like lack of comparable examples, collectors who only collect not play, only duping the really old games that were less professionally made, etc. Plus some of these games are so old and rare that even legit copies have variations so you don't question it as much as you should. Plus when you've never seen an original in person trying to compare and authenticate a copy a lot things that seem obvious get missed until you really look closely. So if the color seems a bit off you chock it up to a bad photo online or variation in the originals etc. The biggest factor though is that he was involved for years in the community in several incarnations and was considered one of the go to "experts" on many of these early games and was regularly sought out for advice on authenticity issues. So when a guy with a rep like that sells you a game you don't think twice about it maybe being a copy. He used that trust and reputation in the community and preyed on fellow collectors all to make a quick buck.
Wow, he really was a sick and clever bastard.
The article I read about this said WATA even graded one of this guys counterfeits. No idea if that's true but if it is then yikes. It looks like these weren't even good counterfeits and if one slipped through WATA unnoticed then that's kind of a big hit on their credibility, well whatever credibility they still have.
It would be too much 🤣
I know that guy. He was purchasing old valuable games a lot. When i sold my Akalabeth he got in contact with me and also bit on it, but at the end someone else bid more. Actually, kind of lucky i am out of early RPG collecting. It's hard to tell if they are real. Often times these very early game are handmade. So a sticker off center or rotated differently is very normal. In other cases, you may bid on the only ever seen copy of a game and there is no reference.
I am from europe as well, by the way.
Amazingly, I still have all of my original 5 1/4" floppy disk DOS games....and all of my backup floppies I made!!!
I have a feeling that one of these Scumbag Sellers you’ve called out is eventually going to end up on an episode of American Greed. 😂🤣
If this dude had focused on making reproductions and labelling them as such he could have made alot of money. Not sure where the copyrights are in doing so but enough console games are seeing repros that he probably would have been fine.
A digital copy collection of 3 Ultima games is like 5 bucks. Reproduction maps and then copyright code sheets could be neat.
The copyright holder has to still exist to care. Not all, but many of those old rare PC games are from defunct companies. A company ceasing to exist after releasing what would end up being a rare game tends to be connected.
@@BobSentell but ea owns ultima
Most repros are sold from china, it's a no no but can't really be stopped.
There’s been a lot of this going on with music collecting, too.
only big box pc game I have is Leisure Suit Larry 5. Found it for 3.99 at half price books and couldn't pass it up. Probably never going to be able to play it, but it's neat to have.
Great games to play anyways though. I love playing the classics once in a while. Uh oh I'm going to be on a pc game trip today tyvm lol.
Pat, I thought you knew a bit of Italian to know how pronunce "Ricciardi" correctly 😅. Just kidding,
You know what is really funny: WATA has probably graded one of his games. For me, if true, another nail in the coffin of the "graded" market.
I wonder how many counterfeits they have graded. How many Sapphires, how many Pokémons...
It's pretty crazy he was able to do it for that long. What a scumbag. Although they probably should have checked the authenticity of the games
Oh man, as a big time classic era PC gamer and enthusiast, seeing my treasured Ultima on the Scumbag Seller segment just gets my blood boiling from the start. I only have Ultima's 4-10 in physical copy. My dad got 5 when I was a little kid, and I remember sitting around with him watching him play. Dreaming of when I could be old enough to play "the grown up game". I still have his original copy. Very near and dear to me.
EDIT: Oh oh oh! I do have a Tandy 1000 that I keep for these old games. Having said that, it runs a XT:IDE card that gives me a flash card for a hard drive. I don't really pull the disks out, but sometimes I have to.
Don't copy that floppy then sell it. Or you might end up as the sumbag seller of the week.
5 and 1/4!!! This is killing me.
Reminds me of the aero fighters 3 neo geo AES scam from 2012 ….30k a game scam ufff
Boxed pc games are harder to find than neogeo in some cases.
No good. On the bright side
Were they seeeaaallleeeddd?
thats why i stopped collecting video games. Nowadays, you pay big money for games not even knowing if its genuine or not.
There was an update by another victim, maybe after you guys uploaded this, but allegedly a copy of Ultima I that was a forgery (suspected forgery!) Got graded by WATA. Pretty big L for WATA if true, if they can't pick up on the obvious stuff like the print dots where it should be plain white, or those horrible handcut hang tabs lol.
I'll take resellers over this any day. Some people don't deserve to engage with other people. I hope this hasn't financially ruined any of the collectors caught up in it. It also puts into question a lot of the information this person had a hand in presenting outside of sales within the community.
What's even more sad is he could have done this somewhat legitimately as marked reproductions with the skill he had.
Welp. Just got to the end of this entire playlist and I loved every one of the videos
counterfeit game implies to me a bootleg or repro, but no data is just a scam
Holy shit, when they mentioned the seller wanting to keep the sale secret/quiet I instantly remembered a convo from like 4 or 5 years ago, but it was in a Sierra online FB fan group and it wasn't a marketplace/selling market place, but I was talking to the guy about this one Ultima 2 or 3 game that had subtitle dash from Mt. Doom I think and it was a comment thread on a post and when he got into how he no longer owned it and just sold it or something I commented and someone else started talking about it with us as fans and he then privately messaged my FB profile saying "hey I'd like to keep this sale quiet cuz it's so rare or some BS". Can't remember for sure but had an Anglo name I think and not Mediterranean, but I wonder if he bought one of those forgeries, figured it out and tried to at least broke even, could be nothing but it's odd considering it was a rare Ultima CIB from like '82 or '83
Wtf Ian? You let yourself go, I hadn't watched this channel for like 4 years, came to find how different Ian looks, take care of yourself man.
Tough love from our lord and savior
did wata grade any of them
Yes, maybe. It's on all news. A black box ultima
i bet wata has graded a repo though. that's an interesting question for sure
From Kotaku article, "Wildly, it’s even believed that while most of Ricciardi’s fakes were sold directly to buyers, the group says “there is at least one black box Ultima 1 that we think may be fake that was graded by WATA.”"
Good advice for collecting. Trust, but verify.
Not to defend the scumbag seller, I've had *many* mass-produced cassettes where the labels were not perfectly centered/aligned.
so sad glad he got caught
vague origin story made me think of the fake air raid from years ago
I bought a GHost and Goblins NES cart with a Zelda II ROM in its circuits.. I guess the previous owner had a 2 year old child that got a little curious with some of his carts. Thankfully it was only 3 carts. He offered to refund me and I told him it was okay. :P
ULTIMA IV by Origin ~ IBM PC DOS ~ BIG boxed ~ 72 Pins
Most model builders can't put decals on perfect when there's that exact a margin of error for centering stickers. Most models either have off center decals(or transfers) or have specific sunken or raised areas for them.
If you hold the decal with tweezers and take your time and care doing it, it’s possible to put them on straight.
what's interesting, it's a small scene. If they screwed over a somewhat large company, like lets say Bethesda, they would get sued so hard they couldn't touch a computer again. It's interesting the amount of detail the guy went into, as an artform, but if it's a larger company, he's gonna wish he was dead. Remember how much Nintendo Sued a rom site?
Scammers suck but you should know what you're buying and collecting. I'm knowledgeable on the Game Boy systems so I've learned how to inspect the labels and what they look like on the inside. You will get scammed if you trust blindly. Sure PC games can be easier to fake but in this case they looked fake.
I know people say violence doesn't solve anything, but hear me out with this one. Imagine this: Worldwide Law that if you sell people fakes of any product, regardless of the product, as the genuine thing the punishment is you are tied down, either on the ground or a wall or suspended in midair, and the victim gets to kick you between the legs. For any anime fans think Vegeta from DBZ Abridged vs Cyborg Cooler Clones, "I can't believe they all lined up and kicked you in the dick!"
But notice I only said kick between the legs. Didn't say how! Steel Toed Boots, Ice Skates with the blades covered in lighterfluid and set on fire, a functional Iron Man Suit, it's all fair game. 100 percent cruel and unusual punishment is encouraged here. You know forget jail time. Forget monetary punishment. Just a good old fashioned crotch punt by dozens to hundreds to thousands of people in a row.
Tell me you wouldn't see this shit disappear overnight.
Seconded
What happened to this channel? Havent seen it for a while, guys got like half the subscribers and 1/10 the views on the videos
Anybody want to go hunt down a scammer?
Happy Pride Month to Pat and Ian. The greatest couple on UA-cam.
Is this a bigger scam than the Amico?
Interesting question. He made 107k in 7 years. How much intellivision got till now?
@@COBOL perspective is key here. This guy never promised a revolutionary scam console to anyone
The Amico burned through millions. I don't know the exact details, but I don't believe that Rico got away with nearly as much money, or had scammed as many people, although his grift had gone on for a much longer time.
I need to dig out my discs for Ultima for my old Mac Plus I guess!
Nice work Pat & Ian. You guys have been knocking it out of the park recently. 🥎