Can my beloved Game Boy accessory distinguish between real and fake cartridges?

The $50 Epilogue GB Operator has just leveled up with a new feature. Not only can it back up Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges and saves to your PC (and even write saves back to the cartridges!), but it now connects to your phone via a new Retrace app available for both Android and iOS. This app lets you verify the authenticity of cartridges and check their market value before you buy or sell.

Is it reliable? I tested around 50 cartridges with the app, and it definitely has room for improvement. While most of my English and Japanese games were recognized without issues, a few counterfeit cartridges were mistakenly labeled as “authentic,” and some genuine ones were flagged as “counterfeit” or “possible counterfeit.” About 10% of the cartridges needed multiple scans to register, and one legitimate cartridge never scanned at all.

You don’t have to just take my word for it; I documented the process with plenty of photos!

I think Epilogue should have kept their previous terms of “Official,” “Unofficial,” and “Unrecognized” instead of using “authentic” and “counterfeit.” After all, a romhack or a new title from indie developers is still “authentic” even if it wasn’t released by Nintendo. The “confidence percentages” also seem a bit off; I never saw a score drop below 95%, and the score fluctuated even when scanning the same cartridge multiple times.

That said, I really appreciate the concept of easily identifying a game and its value just by plugging it in. It would definitely save me some time searching, and the identification feature could be useful for games with titles I can’t read—whether due to language barriers or missing labels. It would be great if the app could include links to reviews or video clips to help players discover new titles.

For now, the most reliable way to confirm a genuine Nintendo Game Boy cartridge is with a screwdriver (GameBit 3.8mm for GB/GBC, tri-wing Y0 for GBA), a keen eye, and a search for the alphanumeric code on the ROM chip. You can see examples of both methods in my gallery.

By the way, I’m really looking forward to trying out the SN Operator, the Super Nintendo/Super Famicom reader from the same company, which is set to release next month. It will also work with this app.