Epilogue’s GB Operator now connects to your phone to test used games.
The $50 Epilogue GB Operator has a new feature. Besides backing up Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges and saves to a PC, it can now connect to your phone with a new Retrace app for Android and iOS. The aim: verify if cartridges are genuine and determine their value before purchasing or selling them.
Is it accurate? I tested around 50 cartridges with the app, and improvements are needed. Although it recognized most of my English and Japanese collection without issues, some counterfeit cartridges were labeled “authentic,” some authentic cartridges were marked as “counterfeit” or “possible counterfeit,” and about 10% of the cartridges required multiple scans for detection. One genuine cartridge couldn’t be scanned at all.
There’s proof in the form of photos! Check out the gallery with captions:
Epilogue might have been better off using its former terms “Official,” “Unofficial,” and “Unrecognized” instead of “authentic” and “counterfeit,” because a romhack or a new game from Incube8 or ModRetro is still “authentic” even without Nintendo’s release. The “confidence percentages” are questionable; none were below 95%, and the scores changed even with rescans of the same cartridge.
However, the concept of identifying a game and its value by simply plugging it in is appealing. It could save me a search and aid in identifying games with unreadable titles, whether due to language differences or missing labels. Analogue could enhance this by adding links to reviews or video clips for game discovery.
Currently, the most reliable way to verify a genuine Nintendo Game Boy cartridge involves using a screwdriver (GameBit 3.8mm for GB/GBC, tri-wing Y0 for GBA), an attentive eye, and examining the alphanumeric code on the ROM chip. Alternatively, look for a two-digit number on the cart’s label. Examples are in my gallery.
BTW, I’m excited to try the SN Operator, the Super Nintendo / Super Famicom reader from the same company, releasing next month. It will also work with this app.