Search

[kkan]

from HEXUS GAMING news .....

90 per cent of North American's playing illegally

A newspaper report suggests that in North America approximately 90 percent of DS gamers are now using the notorious R4 piracy chip to get their illegal fix of hand-held gaming.

“The implications are massive. In America it's thought 90 percent of Nintendo users are playing pirated games because of R4,” explained John Hillier, Manager of ELSPA's Intellectual Property Crime Unit in an interview with the Sunday Post.

The Sunday Post also contains a report about the situation in Scotland where it’s believed the chip is sold for approximately £40 from various websites and traders. The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) say that the chip “gets around the protection built into the Nintendo DS to prevent playing of unauthorized games. The R4 in effect blinds the console and makes it think it's seeing a genuine game. Trading standards and police are finding these devices in raids on people who sell pirated games.”

Hillier told the newspaper that the offence for selling these chips could lead to up to two years in jail or an unlimited fine.

ELSPA say that the R4 chip has devastating consequences on the gaming industry, that’s despite Nintendo reporting record software sales recently with 5 million units sold of Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old Is Your Brain? 2.8 million units sold of More Brain Training From Dr Kawashima: How Old Is Your Brain? And Nintendogs recently hitting the 8 million mark.

“That's the real danger �" you may think you're getting a good deal but using the R4 is risking the future of the games industry," concluded Hillier.

more on this  ...

ELSPA claim foul play

Last week we told you that the The Sunday Post reported that the manager of ELSPA's Intellectual Property Crime Unit claimed that “90 percent of Nintendo users are playing pirated games because of R4”.

According to the newspaper John Hillier was referring to the North American market where the chip is currently used to play illegally downloaded DS games for free.

ELSPA has today told Games Industry.biz that at no point during the interview did Hillier quote any figures.

“ELSPA would certainly never presume to comment about America or anywhere else outside of the UK," said the spokesperson.

ELSPA say that the questions directed at Hillier by the newspaper were purely about the availability of the chip in the UK, but instead "the quotes from The Sunday Post were ascribed to his name from another article which originates from a website in Singapore. This, it appears, is where The Sunday Post first found out about the supposed R4 situation and for some reason unknown to John have quoted him on what this article said."

Of course, it isn’t the first time , nor will it be the last, that a mainstream media outlet makes things up just for a juicy story.

[anuarbin]

all this fanfare only promote r4 to greater height.
why the media does not promote supercard?

[Doggy124]

Maybe they just think "Flash cart=R4" and don't know M3 SC etc...

[kkan]

Maybe they just think "Flash cart=R4" and don't know M3 SC etc...

yeah have they not realised that M3 SIMPLY = R4 too?

I just need the updates to the kernel  as stores are getting stock of R4's back in now anyhow

[kkan]

hummm just found this

DS gets downloadable content with official DSVision flash card peripheral


Piracy ahoy! AM3 and Dai Nippon Printing have partnered up to release the DSVision digital content platform for the Nintendo DS in Japan. The device -- which is officially licensed by Nintendo -- features a MicroSD flash card and a standard-sized DS card adapter. Users will be able to download movies, music, books, and manga from the DSVision website, and download the content onto the MicroSD card for portable viewing/listening.

Of course, we're more intrigued by the device's ability to put other content on the DS. Piracy? Who said anything about piracy? The DSVision could do a lot to mainstream the DS's homebrew development community, especially with its official endorsement from Nintendo.

DSVision is due for release in Japan this January, at a suggested retail price of ¥3,980 (or approximately $37 USD). The online digital content store isn't due to open until March. We smell a hot import item...

now it all becomes clear with the R4

NINTENDO WANT A PART OF THE ACTION/PAYROLL!!!

I think R4 team should counter sue NINTENDO for stealing their patent!

[anuarbin]

I remember reading a rumor about this somewhere.
I never believed that it was true though.

[Perseid]

I read this too. Total and complete BS. You can't buy these in any store(in the US at least) and you have to have access to download the ROMs. Most people have no idea these exist and wouldn't know what to do with one if it was given to them.

My made up percentage? 5%.

[Devil_Spawn]

my guess would be no more than 0.5m ds flash carts in total, but it could be alot worse than that... they sort of spread around, one person gets one, then soon their entire group of friends do

[dai_uk]

I think if it was too big a problem we'd see the Big N bringing out a successor to the DS purely to resolve the issue! no I don't mean like a new ds I mean a new generation of console.

[Hi]

they sort of spread around, one person gets one, then soon their entire group of friends do

I'm not so sure; I've had personal experience with the situation. (I don't promote piracy, but I DO promote homebrew; homebrew is a wonderful thing, in my opinion.)

At camp, everyone plays video games. Now, I don't take the word everyone lightly. Sure, maybe not EVERYONE in the camp played video games, but seriously, very, very, VERY, close to everyone in the camp plays video games, and yet, not one of them owns a flashcard. (I've found a few people who know of the existence of homebrew, but they keep their knowledge to themselves.)

And thus, with my super-natural, mystical, magical, godly, all-powerful Supercard, I became this guy:  . (Not a position I particularly like- people begin to agree with what you say because they want you to like them. Anyone who really knows me is aware that I'm willing to make friends with anyone, regardless of their opinions...)

Anyway, when people started asking me, "Where did you get the Supercard?" "How do you use it?" "I want one" I'd answer their questions, and be sure to tell them anything else I thought they'd need to know. And did anyone actually buy a Supercard? Not one. People don't enjoy buying online from a store they've never heard of before, even a store like RHS which has good reviews and everything. And getting flashcards to work always requires effort- the chance that someone will be able to just fire up their flash card, DIDI patch their Homebrew, throw it on their flash card, and have no problems, is about 1.5%.

This... surprised me. From the day I read that it was possible to play movies and music on my NDS, I immediately started saving up my money. This was a big thing- I'd found something amazing, What gamer in their right mind could find out about homebrew and not want to use it themselves.

The answer: many people.

Word may spread, sure, and people will go      , but they won't go any farther than that. (And thus, I was able to trick about 75% of the camp into thinking that their was a DS download station both inside the camp's building, and on our camp bus.  )

[Doggy124]

People don't enjoy buying online from a store they've never heard of before, even a store like RHS which has good reviews and everything. And getting flashcards to work always requires effort- the chance that someone will be able to just fire up their flash card, DIDI patch their Homebrew, throw it on their flash card, and have no problems, is about 1.5%.

That might be true in US which most flashcart seller are website.

But in my country...in the slot2 days
many people that buy DS don't even know what slot1 in the DS is for.
Some one even asked me "why nintendo put this slot(1) on DS?"

99% of real shop(not online store)that sell DS, they also sell flashcart.
Even in department store.

there is only few people who buy real game. (too expensive)

[Hi]

 

Wow...

Doggy, out of curiosity, what country do you live in. (Unless that's private, of coarse.)

[dai_uk]

Using my super spy skills (ok looking at the profile) Thailand :-)