3rd Gen Pokemon Emerald game save ?

[ColdMiner]

I recently bought a set of all five Gen 3 games (Fire red, Leaf green, Sapphire, Ruby, and Emerald) off eBay. They ran absolutely fine, until about five minutes ago. I had 42 hours on the thing and my battery was low, and I went to save and the Gameboy shut off. I pulled out Emerald and plugged the GBA into the charger, went to find my DS and plugged the game into there. The game file had completely disappeared. No notice of corruption, save file deleted, or anything. I went over to my Gameboy and plugged Emerald back in there, and yep; the game's still completely gone without a trace.

I know that theres a possibility that these games are "pirated" and I looked into this; the game seems real until apparently its supposed to have a foil / metalic looking label (the ones on pirated are supposed to be more glossy?) would this have anything to do with the save file being buggy? Why was there no notice of deletion? Can I prevent this?

P.S --Much rage--

 

[Incinermyn]

I would say that the games have an internal battery that, once it dies, they can't be saved anymore...however, that's not the case with the RSE games. They had an internal battery but it ONLY controlled the in-game clock, and had nothing to do with being able to save like in the GSC games. It could be that the internal circuitry has become somewhat corroded over the years and that interfered with the file save (if the cartridge had been opened at any point to replace the battery, moisture or dirt could've settled in causing minute, but irreparable damage to the circuitry...this is why they had a notice on the older games to "not try and take the game apart yourself"). If this is the case, the game data cannot be recovered because it's hardware damage not software related. If you start the game over and it happens again, this probably proves that the circuitry's gone bad and the game is basically unplayable.

On the other hand, pirated copies of old games are pretty common too. It's possible that the same issue occurred, only it do to being due to unprofessional handling of the electronic components (most computers and electronics made in the past few decades were always put together in a relatively "sterile" environment, where moisture and dirt were kept out for the exact reason that they cause corrosion to circuitry).

 

[Sydian]

The DS Pokemon games will erase files of pirated GBA games if they're inserted into a DS system at the same time. If you had any gen 4 (and I believe it also works with gen 5...hell maybe it's all DS games lmfao) games in the DS slot and then plugged in Emerald and that happened, then that's likely why the file is gone. It's a good way to tell if your games are fake, but it also sucks if you weren't aware and lost a file you worked on that way. :(

 

[ColdMiner]

The DS Pokemon games will erase files of pirated GBA games if they're inserted into a DS system at the same time. If you had any gen 4 (and I believe it also works with gen 5...hell maybe it's all DS games lmfao) games in the DS slot and then plugged in Emerald and that happened, then that's likely why the file is gone. It's a good way to tell if your games are fake, but it also sucks if you weren't aware and lost a file you worked on that way. :(

There weren't any DS games in the DS at the time, I thought it might have something to do with it just being inserted into another type of system the pirated game wasn't used to.

 

[RemixinROMulus]

First of all, when you buy a used game, the first thing you want to do is make sure it is a real, legit copy and not a pirated one. You should compare the cartridge to one that you know is legit. Most pirates do a pretty bad job, so it's pretty easy to tell a fake if you know what a real one looks like.

These pictures show a real Pokemon Emerald cartridge.

(Note: that second picture (the back) is a mirror image of the cartridge.)

Everything must match down to the very last detail. All Emerald cartridges were made the same, so if something is different on your cartridge, then it's a fake.
I've seen countless bootlegs that don't have that shiny, metallic sticker. Many bootlegs lack the ESRB "E" logo, the Nintendo logo, and/or the Nintendo seal. Or those logos may appear different. The cartridge must be that same translucent green as in those pictures. Sometimes, the light affects this, though. You should be able to see the metal contacts (those vertical stripes) on the back. Again, if your cartridge doesn't look EXACTLY like the above pictures, then it's probably a fake.

Pictures of other real, legit cartridges. Compare these to what you have.
FireRed (front)
LeafGreen (front) (back)
Ruby & Sapphire (front) Ruby (back)

There were two releases of FireRed and LeafGreen (v1.0 and v1.1). v1.0 came with a wireless adapter for trading, and v1.1 had the "Player's Choice" label on the box and did not include the wireless adapter. But as far as I know, the cartridges for both releases are exactly the same.

 

[She_Delphox]

I recently bought a set of all five Gen 3 games (Fire red, Leaf green, Sapphire, Ruby, and Emerald) off eBay. They ran absolutely fine, until about five minutes ago. I had 42 hours on the thing and my battery was low, and I went to save and the Gameboy shut off. I pulled out Emerald and plugged the GBA into the charger, went to find my DS and plugged the game into there. The game file had completely disappeared. No notice of corruption, save file deleted, or anything. I went over to my Gameboy and plugged Emerald back in there, and yep; the game's still completely gone without a trace.

I know that theres a possibility that these games are "pirated" and I looked into this; the game seems real until apparently its supposed to have a foil / metalic looking label (the ones on pirated are supposed to be more glossy?) would this have anything to do with the save file being buggy? Why was there no notice of deletion? Can I prevent this?

P.S --Much rage--

Yes you CAN prevent this. This may already have been cleared for you, if it does, sorry for a "re-post" :P

Well, the Pokemon games have an internal battery to store save-games and time-based events in the games (Gen.1 not included because these games did not have time-based events yet such as Day and Night like you would find in Gen.2 and growing Berries in Gen.3) and only in the Gen.3 games you could still save, but not take part in time-based events.
These batteries will last like 10-15 years until they run dry and therefore, it isn't possible to save your game. If you already have a saved file, this would either be erased or you CAN still play them but they just won't save or it isn't possible to do time-based events anymore.

About the warning, sometimes when you start up your file, it says something like: "The internal battery has run dry. ... Time based events won't occur" or something like that. Your game doesn't have to be pirated, just like said earlier, you should compare your games with legit ones.

I had the same thing with my R/S/E games, R/B/Y and LeafGreen but I was still lucky to have my saved files. Simple thing, especially when you buy second hand games from the internet, there is a high possibility the internal batteries have run dry.
So, the way to fix this, is to take your games to a Gameshop (preferable those shops that still sell retro games and consoles), and let them fix the internal battery for you. Please note that when you do have saved files on them, those will be ERASED when they change the internal battery. These things aren't that expensive and you can play and enjoy the full game again :)

However, there are people saying it is easy to fix these games yourself (Youtube) but that's utter nonsense if you'd ask me. I am a retro game collector, and I know for a fact the batteries sold for these games on the internet are 99% of the time not even compatible with the actual games, and you have a high chance to ruin your games if you would try to replace the batteries yourself. So I would recommend you should fix those games by someone working in that kind of a gamestore and believe me, you will be happy with the results (I know I was) :3

Have fun playing the good old Pokemon games!;)

Edit: the legit games do indeed have some kind of Metallic/glittery gloss as a label. You can recognize pirated games by several characteristics: for one, often the labels look really blurry and they look like they are "squeezed" together (the picture, letters on the label I mean) to fit AND they dont have a Metallic/glittery gloss. Second, the cartridge isn't transparent (like the R/S/E and FR/LG games) OR the R/B/Y cartridges are gray like most of the Gameboy Classic cartridges eventhough they should have the corresponding colour. Third, a MAJOR flaw that is easy to recognize is that sometimes, (especially on the old Gameboy Classic cartridges like R/B/Y) you find the logo "Game" instead of the (legit) "Gameboy" logo.

If you find anything that overlaps the things I mentioned above, then your games might be pirated and yes, your DS kinda knows when a game is pirated so it wipes out your saved data...

 

[ColdMiner]

Thank you for all the responses: I had already previously gone through several determinations and yes I believe the game is pirated. Two things:
A. The game is only erased during the battery dying while saving
B. No error messages (Corrupt data, internal battery is dry, etc) is given after a data wipe. Its just gone. Nothing.
I think the fix is to just watch my battery. However, on another note, I don't get any internal battery is dry messages, meaning time based events should occur, however, berries aren't growing recently? I've waited a few days.. could the battery be flawed due to being a pirated version?

 

[She_Delphox]

You're welcome,

A. This could indeed happen with a pirated version of the game, which would mean your game is corrupted. Try to reset your cartridge like pressing Select+B+Up at your title screen and "erase all saved data". If this doesn't work I'm afraid your game is either corrupted or your internal battery has indeed, run dry. Worst case, you should get a new cartridge...

B. Yes, this could be due to the possible fact your game is pirated. On the other hand, you do know some Berries take up to 24 hours to grow IF you play on multiple timesets in your game. Which means, don't try to play your game only during the day (your time) but also during the evening at some point, or else these Berries will never grow (and give them water regularly). There also was a Berry glitch before in the R/S games, but this should have been eliminated in Emerald. But lastly, this could also be the result of a dry battery...

Make sure, when you have to buy new games, the games are legit and from a trusted buyer (on Ebay). I could sent you a link of legit games, but if this is possible, could you send some pictures here on PC of your games and how they look like? :)

Edit: this is the legit copy of an Emerald game: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-Em...4929?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item43c816a091
And the legit copy of both Ruby and Sapphire games: Ruby: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-ruby-version-/151274047241?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item2338a2c709 Sapphire: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-sapphire-/151274048971?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item2338a2cdcb
Try to compare your games with these, to see if you do own the same thing :)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Pokemon-sapphire-/151274048971?pt=Video_Games_Games&hash=item2338a2cdcb

 

[Guardian]

Your game is fake for sure.

just curious, on the right side of the sticker on the cartridge, do you have some letters/numbers engraved into it?

 

[Ammako]

Did you complete the Elite Four on the save file you had 42 hours on?

 

[ColdMiner]

Your game is fake for sure.

just curious, on the right side of the sticker on the cartridge, do you have some letters/numbers engraved into it?

Yes, I assume you mean the three sets of numbers/letters on the bottom right of the label?

Did you complete the Elite Four on the save file you had 42 hours on?

Yeah

 

[Ammako]

Yes, I assume you mean the three sets of numbers/letters on the bottom right of the label?

Fairly large picture (pointing out exactly what it's like so you know what to look for)

Spoiler:

They don't necessarily have to be right there, they can be lower or higher (example), but from what I've seen, they're always on the right half (granted, I only have 4 GBA games for comparison.)

In case you're wondering, I'm not too sure what the two numbers represent, but the letter (or lack thereof) represents which version of the game you have. If there's no letter, you have v1.0, if there's a letter, A means v1.1, B means v1.2, C means v1.3, etc. (also applies to GB/C games), useful if you want to buy one of those and are looking for a specific version for whatever reason.

Sometimes it's possible you have two of them, too. Wild guess here, FR/LG probably tend to have two imprints and R/S tend to only have one (I only have two FR/LG and two R/S cartridges, I'd have to see more of them before I can be certain.)


(Also, I really wouldn't trust the "all 5 GBA Pokémon games" bundles you find on auction sites.)

 

[ColdMiner]

Yeah I guess that further shows its a fake, eh? Oh well. The functionality remains the same as far as I've played the game.

 

[Guardian]

Yeah I guess that further shows its a fake, eh? Oh well. The functionality remains the same as far as I've played the game.

Sadly, yes. That is usually that one thing that is not being put on the fake games,together with metallic sticker.
It sucks because you can play it, but you can't use it's other cool features such as dual slot thing, nor can you migrate Pokemon from it, to Platinum, SS and so on.

If you aren't really into migrating, and you strictly just want to play the game, then just play the game you have. But I advise you, if you get a chance, buy a real game, so you can use it for other things too.