BW/BW2 Corrupted game cart? Please help, ASAP

[lotusoftheleaf]

My brother has Pokémon Black and has been playing it for awhile now and has almost beaten it. I wanted to show him how to set up Wi-Fi and download the Liberty Pass just now, but when I start up his game I get the message "The save data could not be accessed. Please turn off the system and re-insert the cartridge."

I've tried starting it up on both my DS Lite and DSi XL just to make sure the system wasn't the problem, and also tried my own White Version which worked on both, so it must be his cart.

I looked on Google for an answer, but all the help forums I find mentioning the problem are for emulators. This is an actual game cart. I bought it from Amazon and it looks legit to me, so does this mean it's some pirated cart or did he somehow corrupt his save data? I have no clue what he could have done to it, but I know he's usually not too careful with his things and lets his friends borrow stuff all the time. Is there anyway to fix the game for him or is the cart completely useless now?

 

[Chariblaze]

Oh... wow.

Er, the save wouldn't be corrupted, because you would still be able to play the game and start a new file or something. I'm no expert, but I would suspect that the battery was shaken away from the cart or something. First, you may want to check if the game is covered under a warranty (I doubt it, but you should still check). If you don't have one, you might want to tap the cartridge in a few places. Not enough to hurt anything, but enough to see if it helps (I doubt it, but the option is still there).

I've never heard of this error, though. Did you buy from Amazon themselves, or one of the other sellers on Amazon?

 

[lotusoftheleaf]

I bought it directly from Amazon.

I finally managed to find a thread on the Nintendo Tech Support forums with someone getting the exact same message on their SoulSilver game. He said the problem arose after he accidentally dropped the game from a fair height, which sounds like something my brother would let happen with his game. According to the thread, Nintendo told him they could repair it but it'd cost about the same amount as buying a brand new game. And it looks like we're just past the 30 day Amazon return policy.

Thanks for the help anyway. Since the game is already broken, I might as well try taking it apart and seeing if I can find the problem. I guess this will at least teach my brother to take better care of his stuff.

EDIT: And I just talked to him about it and he admitted that the other day he was tossing the cart into the air and catching it, and ended up missing and letting it hit to floor. He doesn't seem to care at all. So much for learning to take care of his stuff...