Incredible bootlegs with names like PolyStation, PCP, XGame 360, Treamcast, and, for some reason, Battman.
I can trace my affection for horrible bootlegs back to the Simpsons episode where Homer is trying to buy a new TV and has to decide between a Panaphonic, Magnetbox and Sorny. Something about that scene just spoke to me. Several years later, the Internet would show me that knockoffs like those really do exist. And often, the knockoffs don’t even get that close to getting the brand name correct.
I’ve covered bootlegs and knockoffs before — most popularly with 11 Amazing Fake Harry Potter Books Written in China and least popularly with 11 Bootleg T-Shirts Featuring Bart Simpson as a Black Guy.
Today, I’ve got 11 of the most ridiculous video game knockoffs and bootlegs. I can’t confirm they’re all from China, but I think that’s a safe assumption.
1 | Wu
There are a ton of photos of Wii clones on the Internet — there’s the WiWi, MiWi, the WiMi, the WiNi, the Wee and more. But this one gets my vote as the most creative usage of an umlaut in the service of piracy I’ve ever seen.
2 | XGame 360
This is definitely an Xbox 360 ripoff — although the console looks more like a PS1, the handgun looks more like something from an arcade game in 1989 and the general green glow looks like the Okama Gamesphere.
3 | Treamcast
The Sega Dreamcast didn’t have a very long life so it’s impressive someone managed to squeeze in a bootleg. It’s also impressive that the knockoff’s controllers appear to be more practical and user-friendly than the real Dreamcast ones.
4 | Xbox
Yes, technology is certainly getting smaller, but I’m not sure you can fit an entire Xbox into that small of a package. Also, it’s missing about one million buttons.
5 | Super Megason IV
Is Super Megason the name of the PlayStation ripoff console or the flying kid? And also, how could he possibly be using the controller if he’s holding it like that? I can’t believe this kid’s girlfriend let him pose for this photo.
6 | Rambo TV Game
It appears here someone ripped off an Atari and somehow decided to rebrand it as Rambo. That’s one of those logic leaps in bootlegging I can’t quite understand. If the thing comes with 2,001 built-in games, why go all-in on Rambo? Also, it’s clear this system was made decades *after* Atari or Rambo. It’s all… confusing.
7 | Nintendo PolyStation
I guess if you’re going to infringe on one company’s trademark, might as well infringe on a second company’s while you’re at it? Or maybe they got confused and thought Nintendo made the PlayStation? I’d love to sit down with the good people at PolyStation and get answers.
8 | Super PolyStation II
Here, it appears like they kept confusing Nintendo with Sony. After all, after the Nintendo came the Super Nintendo, so by that naming convention, after the PolyStation comes the Super PolyStation. The clip art is also doing it for me on this one.
9 | PCP
Customs has weird rules, you might get in more trouble for smuggling PCPs than PCP.
10 | Battman
Infringe on two copyrights? That’s possible. Three copyrights? There’s an outside chance. But four copyrights — Xbox system, PlayStation controller, Batman and Robin title and box art, Nintendo 64 packaging — well, I’d like to see that!
11 | Game Theory Admiral
If you buy this and it comes bundled with a game called Prisoner’s Dilemma, the cheat code is: Always defect.
