Screenshot 2022 07 14 At 13.42.00
Image: Nintendo / Microsoft

Nintendo hasn't had the best track record when it comes to making music readily available to the masses, with the publisher issuing strikes against multiple YouTube users for using (or even just covering) its music online. This latest piece of news, however, signals more than ever that it to make some huge strides in distributing its various soundtracks far better than it's been doing so far.

As reported by VGC, it's been claimed that bootleg copies of soundtracks from games like Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie are being sold online for up to hundreds of dollars to users in the UK and Japan. This comes from a collector of Rare merchandise called CaptainBreegull on Twitter, who bought a copy of the Banjo-Kazooie soundtrack from a user on eBay for $30 to verify its authenticity. Turns out the CD is entirely fake, with key differences in the cover art and CD itself.

As mentioned above, it seems that users in Japan may be buying copies of the counterfeit CDs and reselling them for upwards of hundreds of dollars, but this is currently unverified. What VGC has been able to ascertain, however, is that one user has bought multiple copies of the same CD, signifying an apparent desire to resell. CaptainBreegull stated to VGC that "sellers in Japan do this all the time, they find good deals on video game soundtrack CDs and then sell them for sometimes a 1000% markup."

It definitely suggests the need for Nintendo's music to be more readily available, if only to keep prices on authentic soundtracks down a bit. As for the fake ones... Just don't do it, folks. Keep your eyes peeled and try to verify what you're buying before you head to the checkout!

Have you fallen foul to counterfeit CDs in the past? Let us know with a comment below!

[source videogameschronicle.com]