DS flash carts a form of 'information terrorism,' says Japanese trade group

[wraggster]

Japan's Association of Copyright for Computer Software president Yutaka Kubota expressed to Famitsu grave concerns about the proliferation and use of Nintendo DS flash cart devices such as the R4DS.

Referring to the volume of illegally downloaded DS software, Kubota remarked that, "It's not a matter of numbers anymore," adding, "The fact is that you can download any Nintendo DS game as much as you want, so there's no way to even calculate the damage. This is an issue that affects our national interests, and personally, I see it as a form of information terrorism that is crushing Japan's industry."

In the interview translated by 1UP, Kubota called on the magazine's readers to stand firm against piracy, saying that, "I want them to be aware that unless we do something, nobody will be able to make the games they love to play. Not only will gamers wanting to play new games not be able to play anything, but people who want to join the game industry in the future will have their dreams trampled upon."

Japan's laws do not currently forbid the purchase of devices like the R4, nor the downloading of commercial software for use with them. A new copyright bill under review would make it illegal to download copyrighted media, but doesn't expressly give authorities the right to arrest offenders.

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/20/ds-flash-carts-a-form-of-information-terrorism-says-japanese/

[Krisando]

There only games god >.< they need to get into meat production or something If they wan't to moan about the use of flash cards. Hell no would I buy any games if I couldn't gat for free, I only buy the ones Im very sure to enjoy which is a very small percentage.

[Torgod13]

And they are still #1 in hardware and software sales for both the DS and the Wii.. hmmmmm Damn those pirates for taking them out of the #1 position.. no wait.. they are still in the #1 position.. Opps sorry.. my bad...

[RoCP]

And they are still #1 in hardware and software sales for both the DS and the Wii.. hmmmmm Damn those pirates for taking them out of the #1 position.. no wait.. they are still in the #1 position.. Opps sorry.. my bad...

I agree. I'm just thinking WTF! At least we BUY their Ds and Wii!

[Jeric]

Personally they should look at the flash cart and go 'how can we make use of this technology' rather than 'WAAAAAHHHH pirates are stealin our games!' The DSi's sd slot is a good idea, one that just might convince me to get one down the road. However what about a flash cart for the ds for this kind of stuff? C'mon nintendo. Your educational material at least could make use of something like this.

[soulanger]

This is so damn annoying.
Really!
Most people out there who are pirating dont have money to buy games.
So there wouldnt be any sales increase if they did cease flashcarts.
Okay now lets compare the sales of the ds to the PS3, a pirate-free gaming platform shall we?

Total Nintendo DS games sold as of September 30, 2008: 454.63 million. (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20880)

Total PlayStation 3 games sold as of June 30, 2008: 94 million (http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdataps3soft_sale_e.html)

....!
Holy!!! Shit!!
O_o
we are ****ing killing nintendo! :O

But man, the real reason this is pissing me off, is because people who buy flashcarts for homebrew and not piracy are getting involved. :( They think flashcarts is for pirating only. :(

[LDAsh]

I guess it's hard to target "software", since it's everywhere in so many hard-to-track places, but you're right that if flashcarts are targetted, it's homebrew users and budding wannabe developers that suffer too. And that would be really heart-breaking.

But no matter how you try to spin it, it's true that piracy (whether hurting #1 sales or not) does affect the quality of new developments for that platform. Developers can't possibly get the time or money from publishers to produce great games if those publishers are convinced "it will only get pirated", and I don't think it's up to most developers to be able to say otherwise.

[Wolfman774]

Why dont they just start making flashcarts, then everybody would still buy stuff from them.

[indaman]

Why dont they just start making flashcarts, then everybody would still buy stuff from them.

They tried with the DSVision.

But it's finally just a crap overprotected capable of only playing films and ebooks (and you have to pay for them, except for some of them given for free).

[firedragon_jing]

Ok, this is just ridiculous.

When I start developing games, I know they are going to get pirated, no doubt about it, but if people pirate the game I just know it's because people actually want to play it for the most part, and if it's good enough the people wanting to test might just go out and buy it. If not word of mouth will spread to gamers who feel compelled to do the legit thing and buy the games. Many people who pirate are never potential buyers in the first place, and sometimes pirating can lead to more potential buyers if they find enough enjoyment. It doesn't harm much of the key demography. Sure it's becoming easier but many people still don't go to those lengths or are simply unaware.

If you get too bent up on this, you'll never succeed in producing anything worth while, people pirate not only because they poor or unwilling to help out, many are afraid of wasting money and time on a game that will be no fun to play, and if you can make a game that can break the mold a large amount of people will buy it regardless. Shovelware is the only thing that needs to be concerned since people can tell it's crap and not bother with it, only that's not a problem since most people with the smarts to pirate aren't swayed by shovelware, leaving the uninformed to still purchase it. Piracy came with the internet, there is no getting around it, no magic button to make it go away, you live and deal with it and try to make it work towards your advantage. Make it so they're more willing to put their hard earned cash down and you won't have to worry about it, or put it out on the PS3, though sales will be higher on the Wii and DS even though piracy is up, just stay away from the PSP, though with the 3000 series and it's growing popularity now I say it has a decent future ahead.

[User Name]

Yeah duh I mean look 2001 Wow there stealing GBA roms lets leave them alone. 2009 Great Scott there stealing our ds games oh no instead of us following this great idea lets sue them and make them hate us so we get more money. Come on it's homebrew we use it for and the roms I've down loaded I have owned a legal copy of can't they leave home brewers alone maybe we should sue them for something?

[mattsaysfooey]

With a flashcard/mod you can make total use of the console/portable you purchased. Without a flashcard/mod you can do only what they want you to do.

[Esposch]

What you 2 guys above me have to say is true. I used to think flash carts were only for piracy, and though much along the lines of this guy. However after borrowing a friend's for a few weeks I realised that homebrew on DS is really great, and after placing the order for my flash cart I am thinking of getting a PSP.

That being said, it's still obvious that these carts (with very few exceptions) are designed for piracy. I mean a passme and GBA cart works better than a Slot-1 cart for homebrew, but is hit-and-miss when it comes to piracy. Which method is the most widely used? I really hope that the developers will put homebrew support in their consoles so you don't have to modify them, and I have a sneaking suspicion that the PSP2 will. If it does then I will insta-buy!

~Esposch