The $50 Epilog GB operator has a brand new trick. In addition to backing up Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance cartridges and saving them to a PC (and reverting the written save back to the cart), it can now be plugged into your phone with the brand new Retrace app for Android and iOS. Considerations: Before buying or selling, check whether the cartridges are legitimate or not and how much they cost.
Is it reliable? I plugged about 50 cartridges into the app, and… it could do something. While most of my English and Japanese library was identified without a hitch, it also labeled some counterfeit cartridges as “authentic”, several authentic cartridges as “counterfeit” or “probable counterfeit” and about a tenth of my cartridges required multiple scans to detect anything. A valid cartridge could never be scanned.
You don’t have to take my word for it, because I took plenty of pictures along the way! Here’s a gallery with the captions:
But I really like the idea of knowing what the game is and what it costs just by plugging it in. The price will certainly save me a search, and the identification may come in handy for games whose titles I can’t read – either because they’re in a language I don’t speak, or because they’re currently missing their label. Perhaps Analog could add links to reviews or video clips so people can find the titles they want to play?
For now, it really seems to be the only foolproof way to identify a legitimate Nintendo Game Boy cart with a screwdriver (GameBit 3.8mm for GB/GBC, Tri-Wing Y0 for GBA) a quick look and searching for the alphanumeric code on the ROM chip. But the next best thing is to look for the two-digit number printed on the cart’s label. See examples of both in my gallery.
By the way, I’m very eager to try out SN Operator, the same company’s Super Nintendo/Super Famicom reader coming next month. It will also be compatible with this app.
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