Counterfeit PS2 memory cards

[Harrison]

Has anyone encountered any counterfeit PS2 memory cards?

I've had 2 genuine 8MB PS2 memory cards for some years, since the PS2 was released, and they still work perfectly. However I finally ran out of space on them for a few of the newer RPGs I finally got around to playing.

So I took a look around online and some places were asking silly money for these cards. Some even £39 for one! Mad.

So, looking around ebay I found someone selling them at what worked out at about £3 inc postage each. Very cheap you may thing, and on reflection that is probably right.

Anyway, it wasn't much money to spend so I bought 2 of them. They took over a week to arrive and it was on arrival today that I got suspicious. They had been posted from Hong Kong! Hmm... On opening up the package they looked genuine. Each sealed in a plastic pack containing the proper looking yellow card with silver Sony logo, PS2 logo and playstation 2 text. With the memory cards at the centre of the packaging.

On opening the packaging I noticed the little paper booklets you get with the cards that detail the warranty was missing, as was the usual sticker labels you can put on the cards to write on them.

The 8MB memory cards themselves look fine on first look. However I then got one of my original genuine cards and compared the 2 side by side. They look very similar, but the one I know to be genuine seems to have slightly smoother, blacker plastic. The playstation logo and text is also a darker blue and the 8MB memory card text more visible and brighter. The text fonts used looks identical though which normally on counterfeit cards is where they often differ.

Turning the cards over something was instantly obvious. The genuine card has made in Japan. The new cards have made on China. Is this a clear indication it isn't real? Or are PS2 memory cards now also made in China? I wouldn't be surprised, but does anyone know?

One other thing I noticed is one line of text on the back label is slightly smaller font than the rest, whereas on the genuine card it is all exactly the same.

So are these Made In China cards definitely counterfeit? Or could they be real? I'm thinking counterfeit at the moment because the plastics are just not quite the same quality, although China manufacturing might be to blame.

As a final thing, I opened the new card up to look at the quality of the PCB and actually was quite surprised. It is very neat and tidy and not like the images of counterfeit cards I've found online. So this makes me unsure. However it is a different colour to genuine PCB cards I've seen to date.

Anyone have any ideas?

I've not actually tried it out in one of my PS2s yet. With the slight doubt I now have if they are genuine I am worried about data loss.

 

[Zetr0]

@Harrison

for the most part FAKE's will save games just as well, obviously be carefull, I wouldn't go over the 64MB to be fair, they get a little twitchy. I have a couple that are dead as result of a *prepare memory card* process.

If you are looking at using Free McBoot then you will need an ORIGINAL 8MB $ony card, as the exploit only works with these units. I will say a couple of peeps have been lucky with FAKES able to run McBoot but alas not me... and my dozen or so PS2 memory cards.

 

[tokyoracer]

Yep I got a 64Mb one that was total s***e. I knew straight away that it was a fake (looked it up and Sony never made anything bigger then 8Mb). For me it worked fine but got slower and slower to a point game saves corrupted and the whole thing is a useless bit of plastic now.
Annoyingly because it worked fine at first I left positive feedback.

You can tell it's a fake because:

• The plastic is lighter and of a lesser quality.
• Writing on the bottom of the card is usually a sticker rather then embossed because the plastic used wouldnt be able to mould it right.
• The printed writing on the top of the card is often blurred, off centre or on the c**k.
• The card will be random at what amount of Kb it has free even if you don't save anything on it.
• Games saves et corrupted over time of use and gets harder to save games on it.
• Same thing for loading games, gets harder over time.

[EDIT] Oh that thing about it coming from Hong Kong dispite auction states from the UK? Same story for me, it is an oh-so common story on eBay. Don't be afraid to report the item about being fake and the listing is not in the UK.
My advice is to buy used and just ask people about the lettering on the bottom of the card (sticker or embossed).

 

[Harrison]

I've bought counterfeit cards and loads of other stuff (always via LikSang before they were closed down) with full knowledge of what they were, usually made in China/HK and it always been fairly obvious they were not the real thing, or after market copying devices.

However, these 8MB cards and the packaging actually have all the correct Sony and PS2 logos, which normally you don't see on counterfeit ones. It was one reason I decided to take the risk. Normally counterfeit cards are made to look close to the real thing, but the packaging doesn't look genuine.

But as I said above, at £3 you can't really go wrong. Except if the cards lose the save game data of course.

The other question though, is do I alert ebay to this? And would they take any notice? The seller has sold over 200 of these cards from the few multi BIN sales they have running on ebay, and I can imagine it is much more if you went further back. So they are making something from this if they are counterfeit.

 

[Harrison]

And here is a picture of how the packaging looks to give you an idea. This image looks identical to the packaging for the cards I've received, but if you look closely it says 64MB, which we know Sony never made, so it definitely a fake. Therefore I think this proves my new cards are too!

 

[tokyoracer]

The other question though, is do I alert ebay to this? And would they take any notice? The seller has sold over 200 of these cards from the few multi BIN sales they have running on ebay, and I can imagine it is much more if you went further back. So they are making something from this if they are counterfeit.

Yes do that, it can't hurt even if it isa waste of time.

It's the same thing about clothing and handbags, names used and designs are copyrighted but doesn't stop companys in the far east to rip them off and sell them alot cheaper. Legal or not (usually not).

[EDIT] Genuine ones look like this Harrison:

Note the "8MB MEMORY CARD" and "MAGICGATE" writing?

P.s. Just realised not all genuine cards have empossed lettering on the back, but the sticker is not shiney like most fakes.
Il get a picture of my fake card up for you.

 

[keropi]

I have both a 64MB and a 128MB cards. They are 3rd party even though they have all markings/text on them. They both work fine BUT some older games get confused by their free space that don't recognise the cards. Genji is one of them IIRC. Never had any probs with games that see them - even the PS2 browser reports their free space correctly...

 

[tokyoracer]

Never had any probs with games that see them - even the PS2 browser reports their free space correctly...

I think your more safe with ones that aren't pretending to be something they are not. I.E. Not Sony rip-offs. Best off geting the standard 8Mb and getting hold of a booster or one of them Action Replay Max cards.

 

[Harrison]

@tokyoracer I have a genuine card next to one of these new cards and they are very close to identical apart from some very small details such as printed text colour and ink strength, the made in china on the back, and a difference in fond sizes between lines on the sticker on the back of the card.

I will scan the 2 cards in side by side, front and back and post them here in a moment so you can see.

 

[Harrison]

I think your more safe with ones that aren't pretending to be something they are not. I.E. Not Sony rip-offs. Best off geting the standard 8Mb and getting hold of a booster or one of them Action Replay Max cards.

That is very true. I would be much happier using a genuine third party memory card than one made to look like a real Sony one.

I used third party cards for other systems without any problems. I've got third party cards for N64, PS1 and Dreamcast, and they all work perfectly. So that isn't the issue.

As for larger cards. The problem with cards larger than the official size is that the system was never designed for them so it is unpredictable. I much prefer to stick with standard 8MB cards.

However on the Dreamcast I've got a 64MB memory card with a switch and LEDs. You just press the switch to jump between the different banks of memory, so the system sees the card as a standard sized memory card. A good solution, and it works.

 

[tokyoracer]

However on the Dreamcast I've got a 64MB memory card with a switch and LEDs. You just press the switch to jump between the different banks of memory, so the system sees the card as a standard sized memory card. A good solution, and it works.

WOA! 64Mb!? I thought they only went upto 4Mb for the DC's. :wooha:
I did have a Electronics Boutique 32 or 64Mb card for my PS1 though I got no idea where that is or went but that did get unreliable after a while sadly (sticked on certain Mb's). God I miss that card though with it's cool red LED display.

As for the PS2 card, well I must have a trained eye because I can spot a real from a fake card a mile off no matter how hard they try. Even in the blister packaging. It's the small imperfections that makes all the difference.

 

[keropi]

those ps2 cards are just fancy usb devices not rocket-science parts ... the 64MB one is ~3-4 years old now , never caused any probs... genuine or no - a 8MB flash device nowdays is a laughable one - unless it is DOA then it will last long
I take they were extremelly cheap, right Harisson?

 

[Harrison]

View of Genuine and fake card

View of Genuine and fake card

Here is a comparison.

I've scanned a genuine Sony PS2 8MB card next to one of the new cards I've received from China. As you can see they are very similar.

PS. sorry about the dusts and hairs on the scans. I need to clean the scanner glass.

 

[Harrison]

I take they were extremelly cheap, right Harisson?

Yeah. £6 for 2 8MB cards including postage.

 

[keropi]

you know, those could be genuine too, the ps2 system is dirt cheap now (under 100eur here) it is logical they cut booklets/etc from memory cards and other accesorries to keep the cost down

 

[Harrison]

That is why I was wondering if they really were fake or not as they look so close to the older genuine cards. But it is suspicious that the packaging says made in Japan, but the back of the cards say made in China.

 

[tokyoracer]

They are fake Harrison I assure you, I spent days and days researching these, comparing them too and genuine 2000 - 2008+ cards are pretty much identical. Both feel the same too. If you got anything more then 8Mb that is "Sony" branded that will also be fake.
Theres a hell of alot of fakes about and it's exactly the same story with SD/Pro Duo/xD cards too.

Was planning on taking some pictures of my one but the camera isn't performing well today.

 

[retro_junkie]

FAKE!

A couple of years ago I bought what was meant to be a brand new official Sony PSone card for about £3 posted (when at the time, on Amazon, official cards were going for about £8 - no really!) but it was clearly a fake. It was a decent lookalike but the plastic was cheaper. The box was totally wrong - a mock up the size of the very first PS1 memory card box (the ones that were too easy to nick so were changed!) with graphics from the PSone silver boxes... trouble is they also copied the model number so the one on the memory card box was the PSone model number. I also opened it up and the electronics certainly looked cheap! I contacted the seller (he sold loads of memory cards and batteries for cameras etc) and told him that they were counterfeit and if he was selling them in good faith, he should stop. He didn't so I reported him to Amazon and they gave me my money back and the listings disappeared. I later saw he was selling them as a non-Sony memory card (still not the right one but fair enough). I got rid of it (as a 'third party' memory card)... I never trust non-Sony cards since one lost a load of data. None of my Sony cards have ever lost anything.

 

[Harrison]

A little update. I left the seller negative feedback, stating they had sold me counterfeit PS2 memory cards. Next day I get an email from the seller pleading with me to change my feedback to positive, and including a short sob story about it being his only revenue to feed his family, and that he never stating they were Sony OEM in the auction.

He failed to understand that the packaging the cards were in carries the official copyrighted trademarks of both Sony and PS2, as does the memory card. So even stating them as not original still would not stop them being counterfeit or breaking trademark and copyright laws.

I noticed that straight after my negative feedback he added "not original Sony item" to the top of all his sales. He is also selling PS2 joypads that look identical to Sony originals, even with the Sony, PS2 and dual-shock logos on them again.

After that email I then reported the seller to ebay for selling counterfeit items!

 

[darkage]

Sorry for digging up an old post.. Just got a PS2 i've fixed up..

Sony moved production to China in 2004 for PS2 apparently..

I think the best way to find out if fake or not is too open up the memory card and check for black blob silicon where the magicgate crypto chip normally should be..

But yeah one way to rule out any doubt would be to get Made In Japan but thats would be for very old 2nd hand memory cards..