Video Game piracy is a large and growing international problem. It is a problem that stifles the growth of the creative development community.
Nintendo of America filed a lawsuit against the owner of website HackYourConsole.com. That website, Nintendo says, blatantly promotes and sells unauthorised Nintendo games. They also sell devices and services that circumvent Nintendo’s security for the Nintendo DS system and the Wii console.
HackYourConsole.com developed a global business that sells not only unauthorised copies of Nintendo games, but also devices that can copy games including the R4 device. These devices circumvent nintendo’s technological protection measures. These protection measures are used the Nintendo DS family of handheld systems.
HackYourConsole.com also has a fee for service that office to hack and modify the Wii console and allow it to play illegal software.
Not content with attacking nintendo’s market, HackYourConsole.com also claims they are an authorised distributor for 3DS gateway cards. These cards have not yet been released for sale. This gateway device has been promoted as being similar to the R4 board game copier.
Nintendo says that these game copying devices severely undermine the sales of video games created by thousands of developers. The devices also allow playing of games that were downloaded illegally.
“Piracy on the Nintendo DS system has a huge impact on games sales,” said Jools Watsham, co-founder and director of Renegade Kid. “It can affect everyone involved, including the many honest players out there. If independent studios, like ours, are unable to recoup the money they invest into game development, through the sales of their games, we will unfortunately see fewer independent games developed in the future.”
Nintendo is not the only company taking aggressive steps to prevent the spread of the copying devices around the world. Other game companies and trade organisations such as the Entertainment Software Association are working with various law enforcement authorities to prevent their proliferation.
Nintendo also asks people to report people who copy games as well as illegal Nintendo software and other piracy-related activities, by calling Nintendo at 800-255-3700 or by sending an email to piracyscene@noa.nintendo.com.
See more about Nintendo’s fight against piracy, visit http://ap.nintendo.com.
