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Nintendo clamps down on sales of R4 News
DS News by Robert Purchese
Nintendo has outlined to Eurogamer a worldwide effort to clamp down on sales of illegal Wii and DS game copiers such as the infamous R4.
The push starts at home, in Japan, where a civil action has been filed against a quartet of companies selling the crafty copiers. Nintendo demands that import and sale of the devices must stop immediately and damages be paid.
The Mario-maker is doing this to help partners "who spend time and money legitimately developing software" for the Wii and DS, not just itself.
Nintendo needs your help, too: "It's getting increasingly difficult to track down R4 sellers as day by day they get more ingenious, flourishing online and complicating matters," wrote the company in a statement (translated by Kotaku). The result: asking Japanese people to fill out an anonymous form should they encounter a naughty seller, pin-pointing their location, URL or even sharing their names.
Here in Europe, Nintendo told us the push is equally hard, with 300 actions "supported" across 16 countries since 2008. That drive, incidentally, netted 200,000 contraband copiers.
Countries under scrutiny include Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands and New Zealand, plus Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, the UK and the US. Nintendo is working with Chinese police to "pursue" the (presumably moving) factories responsible for making the "infringing devices".
Nintendo is also hard at work here in the UK, working with the Queen to train front-line customs and police to spot and confiscate the copiers.
"ELSPA is coordinating the seizure of tens of thousands of devices; 285 auction sites (Amazon & eBay) offering game copiers have been terminated; 81,889 notices have been sent by our Internet monitoring vendor terminating illegal DS and Wii software; and over 85,500 illegal game copiers have been seized. Earlier this year, Camden Trading Standards and the Metropolitan Police raided a business in London, seizing over 50,000 game copiers in just one raid," Nintendo told us.
So watch out: Mario's about.
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Poster
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Psychotext
05/10/09 @ 15:57
+12
Plenty of reputable dealers sell the in the UK... but then they're not illegal over here. At least the actual item isn't.
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+6
The thing Nintendo or any other manufacturer won't win on in court is that it's not illegal to sell 3rd party carts or mod devices, but it is illegal to distribute them with copyrighted game data, or fit the devices for you.
Seriously Nintendo, 'grassing-up' your mate's favoured online 'R4' shop will lead you nowhere. |
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reelbigkris
05/10/09 @ 16:10
+14
The R4 card is a rather disturbing item that has legitimate uses but has been exploited by the general public. Every day I get asked by a little old granny if i sell R4 cards for her grandson and it seems that every Nintendo DS i sell, the person buying it openly announces that they have no intention of buying games as their mate has an R4 card. This is blatantly the most craziest piracy crime known to man when people openly tell game stores that they intend to steal!?
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+14
Let's be honest shall we?
Most people on here will buy an R4 for homebrew, but end up trying a commercial game or two. You like it, you're going to buy it. A month or so later you have about ten commercial games you've never bought sitting on your R4 and suddenly playing NES games on your DS isn't such a priority. Or you're a housewife who's bought one of these things with the sole intention of never paying for a full release game again, and probably not even realising how illegal or immoral it is. |
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+2
What annoys me more than R4 are the people who sell obviously illegal carts with multiple games on them.
... often using paypal and romancart (whoclaim they won't allow pirated goods...yet still allow them continue taking payments....despite being reported multiple times) and google ads which keeps allowing them to advertise (despite selling clearly prohibited items). Some of those site have been around for years...but despite being illegal they seem impossible to shut down...as even when they are shut they just open up again with a slightly different name a few days later. There's a UK based site that has been shutdown and re-opened under a different name half a dozen times. I don't know how they get away with it. |
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+12
just take a trip on my daily train to work everyday and you will see people with the DS machines all playing copied games. I see more and more people using copied software. That includes woman and men in there 30's and 40's. I was on the bus last week and two builders in there late 40's both got out DS machines and started a two player game with copied software.
I have said it before on this site. I was in gamestation last year looking at DS software and the shop assistant actually told me not buy any games and instead he will tell me where I can get them for free. If he is telling everybody that you can see what kind of problem nintendo have. My reply was "no thanks I like to support the industry mate"..
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 05/10/09 @ 17:27
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+13
If only Nintendo could get the DSI store in the right kind of shape to compete with the freedom of gaming something like the R4 offers.
This. When a 'modded' console offers a much better experience other than pirating, as is the case with DS and PSP (and the first Xbox), surely it makes more sense to find out what makes them better, and to work with that, rather than just putting fingers in ears and start whining. A modded PSP plays PSP games better due to not having to use the disc so increased battery and quicker loads, and the ability to convert original PS1 discs to be used on it (I know they want to make money by selling them again, but most people won't have the originals anyway and they're cheaper to buy on PSN than eBay with the current decent pricing). Those are the reasons I use it. But the thing is, despite having it for entirely legitimate reasons, the fact that it is now so ridiculously easy to quickly download a game "just to try out and see if it's worth buying" then end up never getting around to buying (I have shamefully done that a couple of times) means people who might not ordinarily pirate end up doing so. Same applies to DS. I know it's not a huge number of people compared to blatant pirates who will always find a way and don't care, but there must be a fair number of scumbags like me who think they're well-intentioned but sometimes find themselves pirating something thoughtlessly for no other reason than "they can", and the only reason that "they can" is because the thing that allows them to do so is something that really should be on the system in the first place. Work with, not against, the pirates. They cannot be beaten. |
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GrumpyLlama
05/10/09 @ 16:33
+5
I have a R4 card and have never played a copied game on it. I use it mainly for the spectrum emulator which is excellent and the odd bit of homebrew which is usually crap. So we are not all filthy pirates!
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EarlBassett
05/10/09 @ 16:44
+1
R4? What's that? Thanks for the heads up EG :)
Anyway, "The Mario-maker" - am I reading the fucking Sun? |
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+6
Well, I hope it works. As has been commented already, the amount of people, many with absolutely no technical knowledge whatsoever, who use these devices is frightening.
The PSP benefits from the fact that hacking one can be intimidating and technically challenging. These R4s are just plug-n-play. Also, what's with the tabloid-style article? |
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+4
"Metropolitan Police raided a business in London, seizing over 50,000 game copiers in just one raid," Nintendo told us.
So... what's a game copier? A human? A piece of hardware? I thought the R4 was just a device for facilitating the running of ROMs from an external memory card. Surely it's like video recorders in that way - you CAN use them to tape stuff off the telly or from another VCR, but that would be naughty. Or MP3 players - you CAN use them to play cheeky downloaded MP3s, but that would be naughty. Or computers - you CAN use them to download stuff off the web, but that would be naughty... Or am I missing a fundamental key bit of info here? |
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+1
>DS games are way too pricey
compared to what? Do you know how much it costs to make, duplicate and distribute ds games? If not, then you're not in any positiion to say whether they're worth the price or not are you? >it is Nintendo's own damn fault. Is it also the fault of the people who are making games for the hardware? Afterall - its them who suffer the most from these things. |
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Markusdragon
05/10/09 @ 18:20
+4
I downloaded a firmware for my R4 (and it's many legitimate practical uses), and got told that my R4 was a fake and had been blocked from working.
Thing is, the original company that makes R4 doesn't exist, so I got moaned at for having an illegal copy of an illegal copy of a device mostly used for playing illegal copies. Then my head hurt, and I had to go lie down until it all went away. |
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StooMonster
05/10/09 @ 18:27
+2
I know several people who've given them to all their kids and have never bought a DS game, my kids come home from their houses and ask why they can't have an R4 and get all DS games. These are the same type who own Xbox 360 and have never bought a title; and don't own a PS3 because they can't get pirate games.
I digress, I see R4 in London on the tube, in lifts, on trains, and on aeroplanes. It's a wonder that anyone actually sells any software for Nintendo's handheld platform; there are so few of us buying it, and so many freetards. |
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+3
Taking them down is not the best solution, see what a fight napster takedown has been. The success they had was because of the accessibility of music. I hate the fact that I have to carry 20 cartridges with me every time I go on a trip. With R4 I would only have to carry 1 card with all my games - in the NDS directly. If NDSi would have a possibility to upload the old cartridges inside I wouldn't need an R4...
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richorchard
05/10/09 @ 21:27
+1
Like a previous poster here has said, I too get loads of customers where I work asking if we sell R4 cards, or where to get them from. Obviously, I just tell them to buy real games. But I do admit having a flash cart for the GBA.
In my case, it's simply so I can play gameboy colour games (with super game boy borders!) on my Game Boy Micro. Which would be absolutely impossible otherwise. Another obvious benefit is being able to backup my many, many GBA cartridges onto one cartridge, which is perfect for the little micro. For a console solely designed for ultra-portability, having to carry around a heckload of carts kinda defeats the whole purpose. But yeah. The GBA is a dead console. So hm, kinda different. Or is it?
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 05/10/09 @ 22:28
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0
I have a R4 card... is this what they are talking about? Or is it some kind of R4 copying device?
You can have a pretty fun time with devKitARM and libnds. My pong game kinda sucks but it was fun writing it. malexous: I have one that works with the DSi, but it's not the original maker. It seems that there are now multiple producers with their own "R4s".
Edited 2 times,
most recently on 05/10/09 @ 22:36
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richorchard
05/10/09 @ 21:37
+2
Skurmedel -
Yep, it's the R4 card you've got that they're clamping down on. Although it has perfectly legitimate uses such as homebrew and media players, it's main selling point for the majority of DS owners, like it or not, is the prospect of FREE RETAIL GAMES OMG |
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0
Hm... okay. But, is the card in itself illegal if you really use it for legitimate stuff? I'm sure it's legal in Sweden, I know at least one street shop where they can be bought, but what about the UK? I mean if you can prove it's just homebrewn stuff on there...
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 05/10/09 @ 22:47
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+2
While we can all claim about it being legal, the portability, all the awsomeness of these "tools", but lets be fair, the main purpose is "free". Like "oh but I hack my PSP not because I, can play er... free games but because UMD kills my battery". Come on..., the operative word here is "free", don't BS.
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LudusSolers
05/10/09 @ 23:43
0
Really. One the one hand I vehemently oppose piracy - even wihout getting into the semantics as to whether it is/isn't technically stealing, it does the industry no good whatsoever and is robbing developers or well-deserved earnings.
That being said, I think Nintendo can do their bit to discourage it by refreshing their online offering to include a more expansive demo service given that the existing function on the DS is so poorly supported. Also, some sort of official home dev/homebrew support would be great - unless they plan to open up the DSiWare service to bedroom coders. Investing in those two functions would surely cost less than the action they're taking now. But there again, who am I kidding - this *is* Nintendo we're talking about... |
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0
LudusSolers is right. It would be very interesting to see all platform holders provide better game download systems, with the option to import games you already have (this seems to be a major stumbling block currently). Some legal and commercial emulators of old systems may also encourage people to buy old games (though I guess there's some major legal wranglings that stop this). For them all to support homebrew bedroom coding more would be ace too. If all of this was done, it would remove all the legitimate reasons for these cards.
The 360 is probably closest to this: good download system (XBLA) and the facility to write code for it (XNA). The PS3 and Wii have some emulation credentials. None of the systems are quite there though. Also, why is it the DS and PSP that are so heavily hacked? The PS3 is barely hacked to my knowledge. The Wii is a bit. Is the 360 hacked at all? |
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TheMoonRat
06/10/09 @ 01:30
+1
360 is very hacked. But then there's the mass risk of those doing it getting caught then banned from xbox live; and considering xbox live is a definite plus in terms of the experience of a lot of games, I think it's a good balance between carrot and stick. Carrot in terms of xbox live slick goodness, with great integration in games; Stick in terms of potential to get banned from losing all that.
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-3
@ Smelly: In my opinion DS games are too expensive for the amount of entertainment they deliver. I can get AAA games for my PC cheaper than I can the glorified browser games they release for the DS. Why should I pay so much more for inferior DS based entertainment?
The manufacturing cost of the games is irrelevant. If I cut a £50 note into little pieces and wrote this message out as a collage of the fragments and then e-mailed a picture too you would you be happy to pay me £50 for it? Of course not. The fact it would have cost me £50 to do that wouldn't make the end result worth £50 to you. None of that justifies piracy of course. That's why my DS is rather dusty and I take my laptop everywhere I go. |
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+2
persus how much do you think DS games are worth?
http://www.find-games.co.uk http://www.gamestracker.com Games such as GTA: Chinatown Wars can be found very cheaply on the internet. It was £9.99 at Play but is now £14.99 at Amazon, GamePlay and Game. Brand new from reputable companies and IN STOCK.
Edited 5 times,
most recently on 06/10/09 @ 06:59
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0
Not many parents will want to shell out a hundred quid on a handful of games just to keep their nippers quiet. There are so many overpriced shite games on the nds that it's not going to take much to convince them over morals to buy an R4 once they learn about it.
Anyhow, the R4's old hat now, surely the big N's going after newer DSi compatible cards. Apple's Appstore has far more reasonable prices for mobile gaming and provides free 'lite' games so you can check stuff out before purchasing the full version. |
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+2
Piracy will never be defeated by technical means or by prosecutions. Same as the unwinnable war on drugs, its a simple case of supply and demand.
As a youth, I used to play pirated games on my Amiga. As an adult, I only play genuine legit games as I accept stealing is wrong, and I care about gaming as an entertainment medium. Sadly, there are many children and parents (I know some) who own multiple handheld consoles but not a single legit game. Because they don't care. |
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+2
I've got to somewhat shamefully admit that I've got an M3, and that while I bought it mainly for SCUMMVM and the brilliant Nitrotracker, the amount of DS software I've bought has plummeted since I got it.
It's not something I'm proud of but despite good intentions I'd simply be buying a cart to sit in a box while I play the game off the card anyway, and making the choice to do that when I could buy an xbox game with the same money is a peculiar kind of mental gymnastic manouevre- good in theory but in practice it never seems to happen. I know this makes me a bad man. I'm not sure that when my (original series) DS conks out that a DSi is what I'll be getting though- I love the DS but unless they sort out the DSi store and open it up then the iphone apps store looks much more like the sort of place where I can get my combination of useful software and games and pay for them legally. I hope for nintendo's sake that they do sort it out. |
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