So, a post by
kristallized on here last night about whether her copy of Platinum is legit now has me wondering. I, too, managed to snag a copy of the game from eBay for a reduced price, though I got it shortly after the release date. I did my best to avoid the blatant frauds/hacked games (ALL 493 POKéMON ALREADY IN-GAME AND SHINY AT LEVEL 5 LAWL) because I knew I didn't want anything like that.
From the looks of the packaging and the game cartridge itself, it LOOKS completely legit. The condition on the listing said it was "used", and I no longer remember whether I got it in shrink wrap (might have, might have not), but when I booted it up in my DS it went straight to Professor Rowan explaining the game (which I thought was odd, but then again, I hadn't played a Pokémon game since Silver, so I don't know if that's supposed to be normal for this or the last generation). The packaging looks like any other Platinum game's and comes with all the manuals (game manual including instructions on starting up the game, the WiFi booklet, the insert about Rotom, the usual Nintendo safety precautions booklet and the Club Nintendo insert). The cartridge seems to look fine, nothing blatantly suspicious; the Nintendo Seal and the ESRB rating look like they should, the Nintendo logo and the numbers below it are on the back, and everything is printed clearly. For some reason, though, when I move the cartridge back and forth, it feels like something's a little loose in there. I'm not sure whether that says that it's a potential fake or merely damaged/defective.
The game plays okay; no freezes or anything like that. Sometimes when an NPC trainer is about to use an item like Full Restore, though (Socialite Reina seems to be be main person this happens with, though I've not finished the game yet, so wouldn't really know of other cases), the game pauses for a second, which I find a little odd. Also, sometimes when I'm changing PC boxes or I'm using an HM move like Rock Smash or Cut on the field, the graphics glitch for a split second (as in, parts of the screen go black for a frame, then go back to normal; really quick, but definitely noticeable). I've noticed the latter for a while now and it's been more than a small worry for me.
Do any of the known fakes have problems like these - looseness, second-long pauses, and visual glitches? Or, is this something that occurs sometimes in legit copies and/or with damage to the cartridge? My other DS games don't seem to have a problem with looseness, certainly. So, I don't know if this one suffered damage previously, came with defects, or really is a bootleg. If this is something that is a result of a defect, I'm worried about what that might mean in regards to the safety of my save data... last thing I want to do is to turn on the game and find that my save file has been corrupted or erased. :S
Thoughts, anyone? Is this just something minor that I don't need to worry about too much, or is it something I really should be concerned about? It would help to get some input.
Thanks in advance. @_@