Re-shrinkwrapped games: How can you tell?

[LLeopardGGecko]

Lately I've been buying a lot of older PSone, Dreamcast, PS2 and Xbox games, all of which are supposedly brand new and factory sealed. I haven't really questioned the integrity of most of the sellers...until last night.

I purchased a "brand new" copy of the old PSone game Psybadek a few weeks back. I planned on keeping it sealed, but something about it just struck me as fishy. The shrink wrap had an odd quality to it, so last night I decided to open it up. Sure enough, the disc had numbers written on it (like it was an old rental copy) and the bottom was scratched to hell. What's odd is that the case felt and looked new, as did the instructions. To top it off, the quality Playstation seal did not appear to be broken at the top, seeing as I had to peel it off. Someone had been very sneaky and careful! Needless to say I contacted the seller and we'll see what he says.

So my question is: Is there a surefire way of telling if a game is actually brand new and factory sealed? The particular game had a different quality shrinkwrap than some of the other games I've purchased lately, but since the Psybadek ordeal I've been questioning ALL of my new games.

 

[hohez]

I know with single disc cd cases (wont work with dvd), you can pop the hinge on the bottom and flip it open without disturbing the seal on top. Thats how I open all my cds without getting sticky residue all over the top.

I'd be suspicious of anything that doesn't have the folded plastic on the ends. I can't think of any time since games started coming in jewel cases that the plastic isn't fold sealed along the edges.

 

[Sonichigh]

I've had this happen to me around here too. But they didn't do too good of a job as the shrink wrap job was cruddy.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

[quote name='hohez']I know with single disc cd cases (wont work with dvd), you can pop the hinge on the bottom and flip it open without disturbing the seal on top. Thats how I open all my cds without getting sticky residue all over the top.

I'd be suspicious of anything that doesn't have the folded plastic on the ends. I can't think of any time since games started coming in jewel cases that the plastic isn't fold sealed along the edges.[/quote]

Thanks for the tips. Although I have two older Gamecube games that came from Circuit City that aren't "fold-sealed" - They have more of a stretchy shrinkwrap and I'm positive they're brand new. And I know in the past I've had games with that kind of shrinkwrap and they've been new as well. It's very odd...All I know was that Psybadek had an odd quality of shrinkwrap, almost cheap feeling.

 

[Logain8955]

The "fold" type shrinkwrapping is factory sealed.


The stretchy shrinkwrap is a heat sealer, which is what retail places use to shrink wrap.


If it doesn't have the folds, it's been opened for whatever reason.

 

[Friend of Sonic]

[quote name='LLeopardGGecko']Thanks for the tips. Although I have two older Gamecube games that came from Circuit City that aren't "fold-sealed" - They have more of a stretchy shrinkwrap and I'm positive they're brand new. And I know in the past I've had games with that kind of shrinkwrap and they've been new as well. It's very odd...All I know was that Psybadek had an odd quality of shrinkwrap, almost cheap feeling.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that happens sometimes but the previous poster was talking about CD style jewel cases. Which I agree with, I've never seen a legit sealed CD without the folded edges.

 

[Graystone]

[quote name='LLeopardGGecko']Thanks for the tips. Although I have two older Gamecube games that came from Circuit City that aren't "fold-sealed" - They have more of a stretchy shrinkwrap and I'm positive they're brand new. And I know in the past I've had games with that kind of shrinkwrap and they've been new as well. It's very odd...All I know was that Psybadek had an odd quality of shrinkwrap, almost cheap feeling.[/QUOTE]

IIRC most gamecube games came with the shrinkwrap type stuff.

 

[Vinny]

[quote name='Logain8955']The "fold" type shrinkwrapping is factory sealed.


The stretchy shrinkwrap is a heat sealer, which is what retail places use to shrink wrap.


If it doesn't have the folds, it's been opened for whatever reason.[/QUOTE]

Not always true... many games, both in the past and now, used the stretchy kind. It's more frequent now than it was in the past.

Game companies could help reduce this problem by just putting on the security labels on the top and bottom of their games. And what's even more surprising is that no major gaming media has covered this issue... none that I'm aware of anyway.

 

[SaraAB]

Doesn't Nintendo employ whats called the "horizontal line" trick to tell if its re-shrinked. I know this would work at least for GBA/DS games now, but in the past would be for ANY nintendo game from past systems.

Its really simple, any shrinkwrapped Nintendo game (I am not sure about gamecube) will have a horizontal line in the shrinkwrap on the back of it in the middle of the package. Its something to look out for when buying shrinkwrapped games that are supposedly factory sealed, especially if you are spending a lot just to get a perfect game from past systems. I would be wary about spending money on a shrinkwrapped Nintendo game that did not have the line present.

I know this trick works at least for NES, SNES, N64 and GB/GBC and GBA/DS games. It should work with 3rd party games too for these systems, but I cannot vouch for every 3rd party game.

Some 3rd party DS games have really shoddy looking shrinkwrap but I have seen the same type on the same game in many different stores, so its not that the stores are re-shrinking them or anything. For example in Kmart I saw a copy of wario ware touched with very thin shrinkwrap but I have also seen copies of the same game in different stores with the same shrinkwrap. This is also true for the castlevania games, and some say its true for lost in blue as well.

Its probably done as a cost-cutting measure and nothing else, shrinkwrap could also vary by manufacturing location. If you are buying from a reputable retailer (one that is not known for reselling used games as new, I'm looking at you gamestop) then you should not have a problem.

 

[YoshiFan1]

I don't know why Nintendo doesn't and Sony stopped using the security seals. It would make things much easier.

 

[GuilewasNK]

[quote name='YoshiFan1']I don't know why Nintendo doesn't and Sony stopped using the security seals. It would make things much easier.[/quote]

I have a feeling Gamestop has something to do with it.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Thanks for all the replies guys. I actually got two more "sealed" PSone games today and I'm not sure if they're actually new or not. I might just open them to see, but that defeats the whole purpose right?

Neither game has the folds at the top and bottom but they do have the sticker still on. What's weird is that one of the games, Galerians for PSone, has a sticker that says "Security Device Enclosed" at the top. I don't remember ever seeing that on a PSone game.

It's so hard to tell! I can vaguely remember buying PSone games back in the day that didn't have the folds on the top and bottm and they were definitely new.