What are your Game Boy, Game Boy Color & Game Boy Advance games worth?
Handhelds are their own market, and the rules are different from console games. Boxes barely exist — these were the games that lived loose in a car, a school bag, and the bottom of a drawer — so a boxed handheld game is genuinely scarce and priced accordingly. Loose carts of common titles are a few dollars. And one franchise distorts the entire platform: Pokémon, which is also the most counterfeited thing in retro gaming.
The Pokémon problem — read this before you buy or price one
Pokémon carts are faked at enormous scale, and the fakes have got good. Before treating one as valuable, check:
- The label. Genuine labels are cleanly printed with sharp text. Fakes often have slightly wrong colours, fuzzy small print, or a label that sits proud of the shell.
- The screw. Genuine Nintendo carts use a tri-wing (three-pointed) screw. A standard Phillips screw on a Game Boy cart is a very strong signal it's a reproduction.
- The board inside. Genuine boards carry Nintendo markings and a proper mask ROM. A fake usually has a small generic chip and a blob of black epoxy.
- The save battery. Genuine Game Boy Pokémon saves with a battery that is likely dead by now — that's normal and expected. A thirty-year-old cart that saves flawlessly with no battery replacement is a reason to look closer, not to relax.
Full detail: how to spot a reproduction cartridge. A repro isn't worthless and isn't illegal to own — but it must be disclosed, and it prices completely differently.
The three generations price differently
- Game Boy (grey carts). Oldest, most likely to have a dead save battery, and the most heavily faked for the valuable titles. Labels fade and peel; the grey shells scuff.
- Game Boy Color (clear/coloured carts). Some titles are GBC-only, some are "dual-mode" and play on the original Game Boy — the cart shell colour tells you which, and collectors care about the distinction.
- Game Boy Advance. Smaller carts, and the labels are the weak point — GBA labels scratch, fade and lift at the corners more readily than earlier generations. Late GBA titles had short print runs and are the ones worth looking up. GBA carts don't use a save battery on most titles, so a working save is less of a red flag here.
Condition on handhelds
These games were carried around, so the baseline is worn. What buyers grade is the label — fading, scratches, curling corners, marker and stickers — and whether the save works if the game saves. The plastic shell rarely matters unless it's cracked.
If you have the box, manual and the inner cardboard tray, say so loudly and photograph all of it. On a platform where nearly everything trades loose, the complete copies are the ones that stand out.
Check the real number
Search the exact title and generation — "Pokémon Red Game Boy" and "Pokémon Red GBA" are different things — filter to sold, and match your condition.
Recent Game Boy sold prices on eBay.ca ↗ · Game Boy Advance games on Vidsmark
Questions
How do I tell if a Pokémon cartridge is fake?
Check the screw first — genuine Nintendo carts use a tri-wing screw, and a standard Phillips screw is a strong sign of a reproduction. Then check the label print quality and, if you can open it, the board: genuine boards carry Nintendo markings, fakes usually have a small generic chip under black epoxy. A very old cart whose save battery still works perfectly is also worth a second look.
Does a dead save battery ruin the value of a Game Boy game?
No. On original Game Boy and Game Boy Color carts the save battery is decades old and a dead one is expected, not a defect. The battery is cheaply replaceable. Test it, say clearly whether the game still saves, and price accordingly.
Are boxed Game Boy games worth much more than loose carts?
Yes, often dramatically. Handheld games were carried around loose and their small cardboard boxes were thrown out almost universally, so a complete boxed copy with the manual and tray is genuinely scarce compared with the cart on its own.
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