Hi everybody. I have one question about my Japanese Pokémon Gold. I'm trying to solve if my game is real. I'm pretty sure it is but there's one thing that raises some questions in my head. My Pokémon Gold cartridge is blue which shouldn't matter but what does 34A mean? Here's a picture of my cartridge: Gold
34A appears next to Ho-oh's head. I'm pretty sure I don't have letters or numbers like that on my other cartridges.
Would someone like to help me out and say what they mean?

http://www.gameofjapan.com/popup_image.php?pID=11523
http://www.vendio.com/stores/ikemengamer/item/wholesale-lots-...

I'm not sure what's going on, but neither of these images above show that '34A' mark on the official cartridge artwork (the latter example is blurry but that spot is smooth and looks unmarked to me). Very strange. I was able to find an auction for a Japanese Gold cartridge (no box, no manual) on eBay featuring the exact same '34A' mark, so I'm assuming yours didn't have a box or manual either? Those would be important clues if I'm assuming wrong... :3

Dont worry - it's authentic. The real games have numbers imprinted onto the cartridge.
This video should point that out and show some other ways you can check if you're unsure.

2:48 onwards is what you're talking about.
Obviously this video is showing GBA and not GBC games - but I assume the rule would still apply.

It's a shame these games are counterfeited so often that we're this unsure of a cartridge's authenticity

Thanks to both of you. I tried googling all around the internet to find information about those numbers but never thought about taking a look at Youtube videos. Now that I take a second look at my other games I can see numbers on them too. I just needed some light and move cartridges a little to find the numbers.

Official games did have numbers imprinted the carts.
It's speculated those were to help Nintendo identify what factory made that particular cart (such as if they got a bunch of carts returned as defective).

Yeah as KingMike said, the labels should have numbers punched in. I've only looked at judging the authenticity of GBA carts, but it's fairly easy to check once you know what to look for.

Hmmm... There have been people that got a hold of test or review carts of games before but that is rare to happen.