Bootleg Game

Bootleg Game or Knock-off Game is an aesthetic and subset of Gamercore based around cheap and "crappy" knock-offs/bootlegs, as well as hacks of video games, typically those that are in a 8-bit to 64-bit format, but also a few 3D ones (since most bootleg consoles have very limited capacities). While in nature some games can look similar to So Retro, others are basically copies of pre-existing 8-Bit and retro games and they may simply look "cursed" or "off" when compared to the actual licensed games. These types of games and consoles are usually sold on platforms like AliExpress, Wish, Alibaba and eBay, but sometimes also in gaming or antique physical stores. Although bootleg games are generally frowned upon by the Gamer community, there's also people who enjoy playing or collecting them. A similar concept in Japan includes "Kuso-ge", which refers to trashy games and the culture surrounding them (although they're not necessarily knock-offs).

Please note this aesthetic is not meant to encourage, support or glorify the illegal activities commited by bootleg game manufacturers.

History[]

The origins of the Bootleg Game aesthetic aren't easy to trace back because the creators of the bootleg consoles, cartridges and video games often hide their identities to avoid getting copyright-struck (similar to most participants in Shanzhai or ElsaGate). One of the earliest examples is Crazy Kong (1981) which was a copy of a Japan-exclusive version of Donkey Kong. Bootleg video games typically come from countries that aren't as strict about intellectual property as western ones, notably China, Russia, Vietnam or Brazil. The games they copy, hack or illegally use tend to be old games that already lost their license and legal protection, or those that are no longer widely sold in physical shops (eg: games for the Gamecube, PS1, NES, etc.). Other notable examples of games that are considered to be "bootlegs" but don't necessarily copy any pre-existing title include Hong Kong 97.

This aesthetic/genre is closely related to the "Shanzhai" phenomenom, a pejorative slang term that emerged in China in the 2000s to describe counterfeit products and the culture surrounding them. Although bootleg games have come to be associated with mainland China in popular media, it's still important to not stereotype the country because many citizens don't approve of counterfeiting, and bootlegs are also widely produced in other countries where copyright laws aren't as strict. Bootleg Game influenced various aesthetics because of its wacky and low budget visuals, including Fotonight Web, So Retro and Xpiritualism. Other aesthetics it can overlap with include Dollar Store Vernacular.

Roberto_Artigiani_-_POWER_PLAYER_SUPER_JOY_(High_Quality_Master) — Roberto Artigiani - POWER PLAYER SUPER JOY (High Quality Master)

An Italian infomercial about Power Player Super Joy III.

Each bootleg game or their manufacturers have their own stories. One of the most controversial consoles with a yet interesting history is Power Player Super Joy III. The console was approximately created in 1999, copying the Nintendo 64 model. In 2004 it became infamous because a man tried to sell them in the Mall of America (Minnesota, United States) and the FBI had to launch a raid on the mall to stop him from doing so. The console and its manufacturers were persecuted by the FBI throughout the country although it was later sold in Italy and documented by infomercials.

Visuals[]

Tropes and visuals seen in bootleg games include:

Bootleg fictional characters: They may be nearly identical to the official ones but with different color palettes, clothing, names or appearance.
Low-quality rendering: Due to the limited capacities of the consoles, they might be buggy.
"Cursed" sprites: Some pixelated sprites of the fictional characters might look uncanny or "cursed".
Dithered images: This is the practice of taking an image that typically wouldn't be supported on a 8-Bit or 16-Bit system and automatically converting it so it can run on the counterfeit system. Hong Kong 97 or Who's Cuter? are examples of bootleg games that use dithered images.
Clickbait: Many advertisements for bootleg game consoles use clickbait, such as claiming you can play modern games that usually wouldn't be supported in counterfeit retro systems, or claiming the console has an exaggerated amount of built-in games (eg: "9,999,999 in 1"). These clickbait advertisements are quite easy to detect, because the counterfeit device's memory and space might not be enough to run modern games or thousands of older titles.
Piracy and Game Hacks: Many bootleg games are actually "hacks", which refer to edits to the game's original code without permission.
Stolen ideas: Most copycat games made without hacking often steal ideas from pre-existing titles. Some of the most common targets are Tetris, Super Mario Bros., Pac-Man and Guitar Hero, particularly because they're simple yet fun.
Adaptations of mobile games: Reputable mobile games like Angry Birds, Plants VS Zombies and Candy Crush are also often adapted into counterfeit games because they have simple concepts.
Mixes of various licensed consoles: Some counterfeit consoles use various elements from licensed ones that don't belong together, for example an Xbox One-styled device with a PlayStation 2 controller. This also applies to bootleg games that make rip-offs of specific franchises for consoles that don't match them (eg: a bootleg Sonic the Hedgehog game for a GameCube console).
Engrish: A slang term that describes how some foreign companies might accidentally mistranslate their native languages into English. As a result, some phrases might seem nonsensical and/or sound funny to native or advanced English speakers.
Unresponsive controls: Some counterfeit games might have bad or hard-to-use controls because they're not designed by professionals.
Insensitive topics, cultural shock and values dissonance: Since many bootleg games are made outside what's considered the "Western world", a few of them might include topics that could be seen as questionable or culturally unacceptable by many Westerners. Some infamous examples include "Osama Hunt" (a Duck Hunt hack where you shoot Osama Bin Laden instead of ducks) or "Terrifying 9/11", which as the name implies, is a copy of Metal Slug 1 based around the 9/11 attacks.

Terminology[]

Hacks[]

In video games, a hack is when someone (typically a person or manufacturer but also companies) gains unauthorized access to a video game's code and edits them. Typically, the original games are edited until copyright laws are less likely to affect the bootleg product. Some changes made to the games may include the background music, the color palette, the characters, titles or sound effects. Some infamous examples of hacks include games like Osama Hunt (which hacks Duck Hunt) or Super Mario 14 (which hacks a Japan-exclusive game: Kaiketsu Yanchamaru 3: Taiketsu! Zouringen). Hacks differ from mods because modded games are almost always based on open-source content and/or made with the creator's permission.