The Retro Gaming Community Is Rocked By A Huge Counterfeit Scandal

Retro video games are serious business, and we don't mean that as a joke, but in the sense that it's a business that moves one hell of a lot of money. The fear of having great memories of old wash away combined with a dash of revenge against our parents for not buying every single game with a flashy cover we wanted back when we were kids acts as a great drive to spend big on old classics. Most gamers own at least a few old games that they treasure, so it's no surprise that people in retro gaming circles do this tenfold (sometimes three-hundredfold) – and predators are well aware of that. 

Big Box PC Game Collectors Group, a large collective of gaming collectors has conducted an investigation that alleges that one of its members has been selling high-quality fakes for over a decade. The collective accuses now ex-member Enrico Ricciardi of using his reputation inside the community to make upwards of $100,000 over the course of his tenure as a “reseller” of quality rare titles.

Ricciardi was allegedly so proficient in this nasty business that one of his fakes actually managed to get a grading from WATA, the entity responsible for evaluating old games. The gaming community's investigations, which we can all read in a public file here deserve high praise, because catching video game forgeries is extremely dangerous, as the mere act of testing a 40-year-old game puts it in serious danger. Nobody wants to see their classics burn in front of our eyes like, say, an elder scroll.

(Huh, It really does look like an old-ass scroll)

Ricciardi does deserve some credit here. With a name like that, a man can only become either a master renaissance artist or a mischievous film villain – and he allegedly turned out to be both of those things, come on! But seriously, we need our readers to know we don't agree with scamming video game fans in any way. Always stay vigilant, and never fall for shady deals, regardless of how awesome and legit they might look (good example below):

Top Image: Electronic Arts