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Nintendo go after R4DS sellers

by Steven Williamson on 11 July 2008, 09:09

Tags: Nintendo DS, Nintendo (TYO:7974), DS

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Following the recent release of a Wii firmware update that prevents owners from using Datel’s 'Freeloader' to play imported discs, Nintendo has now switched its attention to its DS and the huge problem of piracy.

With ELSPA’s backing, Nintendo is attempting to curb sales of the notorious R4 DS flash card, which allows users to download software for free to play on their hand-helds. According to a report on TechRadar, the two companies are specifically targeting the likes of trading websites such as Amazon, where the card is currently showing in the UK site’s top 12 electronic devices.

ELSPA has also warned that it may take action against anyone selling the R4DS.

“There are various SD cards for the DS that illegally circumvent the copyright protection in place and allows copied games to be played. The supply of these items is an infringement and an offence under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Trade Marks Act 1994. ELSPA’s IP Crime Unit works closely with the enforcement agencies to stop this supply and prevent instances of intellectual property theft,” said ELSPA’s IP Crime Unit manager John Hillier

In a statement released yesterday, Nintendo said:

“We are monitoring the situation with R4 cards and working closely with our legal teams to identify any infringements on our IP and will take action where and when appropriate."

There are no official statistics, but it’s believed that millions of DS owners have bought an R4 chip and are currently playing games illegally.

On Destructoid , a member a DS owner going by the name of Space Moose said, “I would never have purchased a DS if it wasn't for the R4 chip. Nintendo still got my 140 bucks for something I had absolutely no interest in buying to begin with so why the hell should they care?”

Source :: TechRadar


HEXUS Forums :: 6 Comments

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Posted by Whiternoise - Fri 11 Jul 2008 15:46
The damage has been done though. If they wanted to stop the problem, they should have nipped it in the bud before loads of people bought the cards.

The major problem now is not the buying, it's back to the same old problem of downloading. Which is going to be very hard to stop, and the only way i can think they'll manage it is either to bring out a new DS that won't play the flash carts (although no doubt they'll be cracked by pirates) or to add stuff to the new game carts so that just downloading a ROM won't work.

Or.. thirdly a firmware update that will be mandatory for playing new games. As far as i know, Nintendo have never released a new firmware version for their DS's, with the exception of the Lites, perhaps? As it's reasonably easy to replace the stock firmware, i imagine Nintendo would simply put it as a “download play” option on all their new carts.

They'll still be stuck with people buying abroad and bringing in though. And whatever they say about it helping Piracy, they still sell record numbers of ds's/games!

Oh and the TechRadar article is a bit misleading. The guy doesn't really seem to know what he's talking about - “There are various SD cards for the DS that illegally circumvent the copyright protection in place and allows copied games to be played.” - Well yeah they're the same ones you can put in your phone..
Posted by Workaholic - Fri 11 Jul 2008 18:13
They'll still be stuck with people buying abroad and bringing in though. And whatever they say about it helping Piracy, they still sell record numbers of ds's/games!

When I was in HK last week, quite a few of the smaller computers/gaming shops in smaller shopping centres had stopped selling them as the HK government had been clamping down on them but then when I went to the Golden Gate Computer Center in a different town literally each stall had them for sale (although they didn;t have them all for sale.)
Posted by father smurf - Fri 11 Jul 2008 18:35
And what about people who use these things simply to use home-grown software?

This isn't illegal software - and some people only use the DS forthis.
Posted by Whiternoise - Fri 11 Jul 2008 19:00
Yep, it's a strong case for the carts.

The argument in court is that it doesn't circumvent copy protection. IE you don't have to break your DS apart to do it, it doesn't void the warranty, and you're not hacking anything either. The illegal bit is downloading the games. Much like bittorrent is used by Linux fans to get new distros quickly, it's also criticised by music companies for facilitating easy piracy. People will argue that an R4 is no different from a CD, and so long as they're not downloading commercial games, they're not breaking any laws. As i said, if Ninty want to stop it then they need to do it in a way that won't cripple the homebrew market. However, you do have to sympathise with the companies, if every person downloads FF:XII - who would otherwise have bought it - that's 500,000-1,000,000 x £25 they're missing out on - although they'd only get a fraction of it.
Posted by Lanky123 - Fri 11 Jul 2008 19:08
Do developers not have to be licenced by and pay royalties to the maker of the console? That's why Sony and MS sold their consoles at a loss so they could recoup it on increased game sales?

If so presumably you could make a case for the R4 being a game since it goes into the game slot, and therefore if Ninty don't want it made it's up to them?

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