ELSPA considers legal action against R4 cards

[Darksaviour69]

ELSPA considers legal action against rogue retailers selling R4 cards; piracy damaging console sales

Sales of DS titles are suffering due to the rise in popularity and availability of R4 ‘piracy’ Cards, MCV can reveal.

The R4, along with similar devices such as the M3, N5 and TT, allow users to download games illegally and play them on a DS. And the cards can be bought from a host of retailers, including the likes of Amazon, eBay traders and independent retailers.

But ELSPA’s IP Crime Unit manager John Hillier has warned the trade that unless the sale of these items halts, the trade body will be forced to act.

“There are various SD cards for the DS that illegally circumvent the copyright protection in place and allows copied games to be played,” he explained to MCV.

“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.”

A spokesperson for Nintendo added: “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.”

According to MCV sources, casual games remain largely unaffected by these cards; it is titles that appeal to traditional, hardcore gamers – those consumers who are also more tech-savvy – that are suffering a decline in sales. Doug Bone, UK sales director at Square-Enix, whose Final Fantasy titles are said to be amongst those affected,
explained:

“The growing availability of these R4 products is certainly alarming. The undeniable fact is that they are predominantly bought for software piracy and steps should be taken to restrict the distribution channels available.

“In the short-term it is the responsibility of the trade to ensure these products don’t hit the shelves. For every game pirated and so not bought, we suffer as an industry.”

Online retailer Simply Games stocks the R4 card, with MD Neil Muspratt explaining:

“Simply Games has only recently started selling them and it was as a direct result of larger retailers getting involved, mainly Amazon,” he explained. “They have been reasonably popular but we’re considering removing them in the near future.”

Via MCV UK (http://www.mcvuk.com/news/31128/DS-The-Shocking-Truth)

[zevende]

I sincerely hope that everyone in ELSPA dies of cancer.

[kcajblue]

lol. seriously.

and why is it that they only ever name the R4.

i always find that funny.

but seriously, this is stupid if they take legal action on flash carts.

[TechRat]

You should read the comments on MCV UK. Practically everyone is in support of the ELSPA. It's really sad how the mainstream public believes that these cards are used solely for piracy.

Unfortunately, the truth is that most people probably DO use them for piracy. This puts the homebrew scene in a really bad position. I wish these cards could support homebrew without allowing the execution of commercial DS roms. That, I think, would be a good compromise. Sure, you'd still have emulators for older systems, but that isn't nearly as bad.

As Uncle Ben once said: "With great power comes great responsibility". How true that is here. These are powerful devices; people need to be more responsible with them.

[goity]

but they don't actually illegally circumvent copyright protection, do they?

[JKKDARK]

Sadly more people use it for piracy than homebrew :(

[da_head]

I sincerely hope that everyone in ELSPA dies of cancer.

seconded

[Auriman1]

It's true. Deny it all you want, but piracy is the main reason for DS/GBA flash carts. Sites that offer them normally don't even mention homebrew, just the ability to play backups.

[Qmark]

Backups aren't piracy.

[kcajblue]

Sites that offer them normally don't even mention homebrew, just the ability to play backups.and thats exactly why people get them for that reason.

the sites use that as their way of getting it sold.
they dont base it off of homebrew because people looking for them would say "wtf is homebrew?"

[masterchief929]

I sincerely hope that everyone in ELSPA dies of cancer.

Thirded (if that is a word. :D)

[mikebeaver]

I sincerely hope that everyone in ELSPA dies of cancer.

My Aunt died of cancer, so don't throw it around like some kind of joke you sick ****er!

Mike..

[rikseaside]

Backups aren't piracy.

They are when you don't own the original cartridge!

If Nintendo had any sense, they would launch their own flash cart designed to work with the Wii's Virtual Console & DS game demo downloads. They could set up a homebrew channel as well (or at least have a section of their website dedicated to it) and actively encourage gamers to get involved in developing new games and other apps. If it was advertised as much as their other products they would soon dominate the market in flash carts.

[masterchief929]

mikebeaver, its not like he was wishing it on any of your family members. and although it is sad that somebody in your family has died of cancer it does not give you the right to act like a jerk. i have a close friend that is probably going to die of cancer, my best friends mom died of cancer, but i dont act like a jerk becuz of that. it may hurt when a loved one dies, but that is no reason to make other ppl miserable.


on a side note, i completely agree with with rikseaside, Ninty could use this to their advantage. use it to regain the money they just lost from their previous law suit.

[Steely]

An official homebrew channel thing would be awesome. But say Nintendo makes a flash card, people will buy it. Then, they're going to find out that other cheap cards exist that allow you to play ROMs, then they're going get those cards, therefore adding to the group.

I guess the best they can do is get it off some retailers.

[Cevius]

Prehaps Nintendo should consider making their own type of flashcart that allows users to play homebrew, and download games from Nintendos online store, like steam. Most users just enjoy the convenience of not having to cart around 50 odd games, and instead having it all on one card.

Its not like the rom sizes are very large, and if Nintendo has control of their roms, they could make their own methods of anti-copying, like registering the games to that specific card/users account.

[mikebeaver]

mikebeaver, its not like he was wishing it on any of your family members..

No but he was wishing it to members of ELSPA, who, last time I looked all had families of their own, so he was indeed wishing death to someones loved one.
Don't call me a jerk please, again I find that offensive also, just because I think that what someone said on a public forum is unacceptable (and have reported said post to Admin) does that mean I am a jerk? No! it just means that what someone thinks is a joke is sick, if it had been a racist joke then there would have been uproar, as it was a comment about someones (potential) i'll health there is nothing.

On topic: I feel that piracy IS killing the DS scene, the amount of people I know who buy a DS and instantly buy a flash card is inumerable, hardly anyone I have spoken to recently buy's any games for the handheld any more, it has become almost as bad as the PSP.
It would be a shame to see homebrew on the DS dissapear, but think it would be good for the industry as a whole if the flash carts did dissapear out of the site of your everyday gamer, if it continues then the games made will just dry up, like on the PSP.

Flame away,

Mike..

[Drego]

On topic: I feel that piracy IS killing the DS scene, the amount of people I know who buy a DS and instantly buy a flash card is inumerable, hardly anyone I have spoken to recently buy's any games for the handheld any more, it has become almost as bad as the PSP.
It would be a shame to see homebrew on the DS dissapear, but think it would be good for the industry as a whole if the flash carts did dissapear out of the site of your everyday gamer, if it continues then the games made will just dry up, like on the PSP.

To be honest, there haven't been that many great DS games that came out within the past couple months. Ones that come to mind would be FF Tactics, and The World Ends with You. Most of the other games are like "coach" games and ones designed for younger audience. Now I buy my games, but the real reason I got my M3 is for homebrew. When I saw Doom and Descent, I bought it right away.

As for piracy, Nintendo could make their own cart, but that wont fix the problem. Neither will protection on the roms. To be honest, and it hurts to say it, piracy will never go away. Maybe someday people will realize that homebrew is better than piracy...

PS: On a side note, PSP is far from dead.... Should look at the sales $$.

[da_head]

No but he was wishing it to members of ELSPA, who, last time I looked all had families of their own, so he was indeed wishing death to someones loved one.
Don't call me a jerk please, again I find that offensive also, just because I think that what someone said on a public forum is unacceptable (and have reported said post to Admin) does that mean I am a jerk? No! it just means that what someone thinks is a joke is sick, if it had been a racist joke then there would have been uproar, as it was a comment about someones (potential) i'll health there is nothing.

On topic: I feel that piracy IS killing the DS scene, the amount of people I know who buy a DS and instantly buy a flash card is inumerable, hardly anyone I have spoken to recently buy's any games for the handheld any more, it has become almost as bad as the PSP.
It would be a shame to see homebrew on the DS dissapear, but think it would be good for the industry as a whole if the flash carts did dissapear out of the site of your everyday gamer, if it continues then the games made will just dry up, like on the PSP.

Flame away,

Mike..

i think some people take things waaaaaaaaaay to seriously. especially things said by random strangers on the internet -_-

[kiariki]

You should read the comments on MCV UK. Practically everyone is in support of the ELSPA. It's really sad how the mainstream public believes that these cards are used solely for piracy.

Unfortunately, the truth is that most people probably DO use them for piracy. This puts the homebrew scene in a really bad position. I wish these cards could support homebrew without allowing the execution of commercial DS roms. That, I think, would be a good compromise. Sure, you'd still have emulators for older systems, but that isn't nearly as bad.

As Uncle Ben once said: "With great power comes great responsibility". How true that is here. These are powerful devices; people need to be more responsible with them.

At least you can't pirate Wii games using the homebrew channel.

I actually bought my M3 simply just for Lameboy, though.

[agenericperson]

An official homebrew channel thing would be awesome. But say Nintendo makes a flash card, people will buy it. Then, they're going to find out that other cheap cards exist that allow you to play ROMs, then they're going get those cards, therefore adding to the group.

I guess the best they can do is get it off some retailers.


It would be nice but it will never happen. Wii dev kits are very pricey. I find it funny Microsoft actually encourages homebrew (for a fee).

I don't mind anti-piracy. I just wish homebrew wouldn't always get clumped together with piracy. If Nintendo had cheaper dev kits, we wouldn't need to homebrew.

[masterchief929]

i think some people take things waaaaaaaaaay to seriously. especially things said by random strangers on the internet -_-

i completely agree with u.

[crookedmouth]

Can you blame them(ELSPA)? I mean really, people buying them for there kids, new carts with 100% compatibility, being able to buy a dstt,acekard2, or r4 at amazon.com(for less then most games).
They talk about computer "savvy" hardcore gamers? WTF? An 8 year old can drag and drop and use google. I'm no angel, I've used a lot of arcade roms and old computer games since I found out about emulation,but must admit that the ease of acquiring and using these devices is undoubtedly damaging the mainstream handhelds like PSP and DS. The funny thing is, I'd buy the next GamePark handheld if the DS suddenly stopped being able to run homebrew,however hardware is not where the real money is made.
On a side note, I think wishing cancer and death on ELSPA members is kind of pathetic. I'm not overly serious either but basically 1 out of 3 people will get cancer in their life, so theres a good chance that they may. Perhaps something like "hope their forced to watch American "reality" TV til they die?", I don't know.

[rancor01]

mikebeaver: dude,you seriously need to either grow up, or get off the internet. Dont cry everytime someone says anything remotely offensive to you. Thats freedom man, the right to be offended.

Second - Ive lived in Tokyo for 3 years now, and I got my Supercard back in August 2006. Back then, I didnt see ANYONE on the train with a backup card... These days, its close to 40% of people I see with DSs have a card in their slot-1 with a micro SD in it, so I assume its an R4 or something... Seriously, here in Tokyo every store sells these cards, and it looks to me as if people are buying them by the truckload, and NOT using them for homebrew...

[Akoi Meexx]

but they don't actually illegally circumvent copyright protection, do they?

Actually, yes. Regardless of whether or not you're running homebrew, the hardware itself circumvents the ds's internal protection. Shane Monroe has an article on this somewhere on his site, I'll try to dig it up.

Edit: Found the article: Link (http://www.monroeworld.com/myfaq/index.php?action=artikel&cat=4&id=106&artlang=en)

[stevo11185]

i seem to remember a judge in the UK saying that modchips werent illegal..... and this is what ds carts are. Its all BS reall and down to one man to decide whether its right or wrong. I dont see how they plan on suing a chinese company where there is no DMCA applicable (i think) also i dont think modchips are illegal there.

[stevo11185]

but they don't actually illegally circumvent copyright protection, do they?

only applies to US and UK i think

[Epic Pie]

Sadly more people use it for piracy than homebrew :(

My R4 only has homebrew, lol.

[Miles111]

The fact is, whilst they may claim that the R4 is making the video game creators lose money, only a small percentage of those who pirate would even BUY the original game. Plus, whilst I don't pirate games for my DS (I have an R4), most game developers are faceless corporations as such, immorality is driven out of the equation, if they weren't illegal I'd have pirated many a game for my DS by now. I end up completely confused when I see people like TeenDev who bash the R4 when it's just another flashcart that can be used for homebrew or anything. To be honest, it's just countering the free software revolution homebrew is helping.

[Qmark]

They are when you don't own the original cartridgeThat's not a backup.

[rikseaside]

That's not a backup.

That was my point. They can't really market it with the phrase "plays ROMs downloaded illegally from the internet" so they call them backups instead. Most DS owners are unable to make backup copies of their games but that doesn't mean they will only download ROMs of the games they have paid for.