90 per cent of North American's playing illegally

[VampDude]

Via: HEXUS.gaming

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.

Source :: Strategy Informer (http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/189/scottish-gamers-create-piracy-headache-for-nintendo)

edit: Correction issued http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=88787

[Sonicboy 101]

I think 90% is exaggeration.

[VampDude]

I think 90% is exaggeration.

I would say about 40%, as there are over 10 million DS units in North America, which is roughly just over 4 million people playing illegal DS games.

[JKKDARK]

Shame on these 90% of north american DS players, they are ruining the gaming industry :mad:

[VampDude]

they are ruining the gaming industry :mad:

It's also China, Hong Kong and Taiwan that are ruining the industry.

[goity]

No way it's higher than 10%, surely. I know I've never seen anyone using one. This is way, way overexaggerated, especially since computer nerds aren't exactly Nintendo's core market. I'm guessing over 10% of their market are quite young and quite old people, who don't have the computer literacy to use such a thing.
This is complete worrymongering.

[ExcruciationX]

It's also China, Hong Kong and Taiwan that are ruining the industry.
I was about to say that.

This is way over the top...

[krakenx]

Of the 6 people that I know who have DS's, 0% have an R4. Two of them (~33%) have a flashcart of some kind, but keep in mind that these are people who know me and have seen me using mine so that percent is higher than the general population.

To further debunk the statement, if we assume that the R4 has 60% market share of the flash cart market (an overstatement but roll with it), but 90% of all DS users are using it, that means that well over 100% of DS owners are using a flash cart of some kind, which is impossible. Furthermore if 20.2 million DS's have been sold in north America to date (wikipedia), that means that 18.18 million R4s would have had to be sold. There is no way anywhere near that number have even been produced.

Isn't it sad that the media (newspaper in this case) prints propaganda with no fact checking? Surely someone at the newspaper office would have thought "Gee, I don't have an R4 and my friend doesn't either how could this be true?"

[JKKDARK]

I was about to say that.

This is way over the top...

You're north american. Do you play illegally?

[Cloudhunter]

99% of statistics are made up.

Statistics mean nothing anyway, they can be twisted to mean anything.

Cloudy

[Brainy142]

LOL That CAN'T be true (look at ds sales) also I'm part of the people who DON'T pirate because i want more games to come and I want game companys to stay alive.

lol 90%

[wiggy fuzz]

massivly blown out of proportion - welcome to the media

and what's wrong with buying games? (a question to nobody in particular) i mean, a little price drop would be welcome (£29 per game), but nothing beats actually getting home, ripping open the clear case, playing the game then trading it in later for some pc games. i do that. it's fun. i've gotten some pretty cool pc games just by playing some ds games and selling them when i'm done.

[Eviltaco64]

It's also China, Hong Kong and Taiwan that are ruining the industry.

ehrm...Brazil? xD

[quzar]

I think most of you are misinterpreting what he's saying. I'm fairly certain that it is meant to say "90% of those who are pirating NDS games in North America are using the R4 to do so" as opposed to "90% of Nintendo DS owners in North America are pirating the games".

To that end, he may be correct (and it would be much easier to find out).

[`The0n3]

This is why they should make games cheaper, with gas prices and things are record highs anyone that likes games and previously purchased them legit is gonna have to make sacrifices and if they see 60 dollars for a r4 and a memory stick and unlimited games (which I would not endorse its wrong and highly illegal) who wouldn't do it? Thats the things the world needs to be worried about is the effects of gas prices, they need to forget the gaming industry and think about the things that matter.

[JKKDARK]

ehrm...Brazil? xD

And on every country where games are not published

[Rebrek]

I don't see how that statistic is even possible. I know OF 2 other people in my school complex of around 1500 students who even have flash carts (Microsoft has an enormous grip on the market here and DS's are usually only owned by kids too young to know how to work one). Considering that all three of us have Datel GnM, there is no pirating speak of. I have a in 1 and the only gba games I have on it are the ones I bought; the only ones I thought worthy of my money. Pfft, show me real data about this and then I'll get serious. This seems like a joke to me; the only pirating I've heard of around here was someone who got their hands on a homemade disc of the Japanese version of Kingdom Hearts 2.

[williew705]

I have a hard time feeling sorry for Nintendo. This is the company that will release a game they made over 15 years ago, add a couple of lame bonus features and sell them to the masses for almost the same amount people payed for them so many years ago.

Nintendo does not have any bestseller values either. The only games that seem to drop in price are the ones that are not current bestsellers. Sony was very kind for starting the greatest hits editions of their games, with all of the best selling games being under 20 dollars after being out for over a year.

This is just a sign of a changing culture and time. I don't think we will be seeing Music, Movies, and Games in the department stores for too many more years to come. Eventually we will probably all be downloading our entertainment from large databases, and paying for each download, that is if they manage to kill file sharing in the time being.

The R4 is convenient, in its ability to store many games on one cart, as oppose to having to carry several with you. If Nintendo would release an official replica of this, and have pay downloads, much like i-tunes has done with music, they could probably gain more potential customers. Devices like the R4 also enable us to use the DS to it's full potential with mp3, video, and programs like DS organize. The fact that the Max media dock existed was a selling point for the DS for me.

I think alot of the money we shell out when we go to the store is for the manufacturing of the product, not the games themselves. The current state of homebrew production is showing that Nintendo needs to up the ante on their part if they want to compete with what people are releasing on their own for free.

Seriously... How many more brain training games do we need?

[crookedmouth]

I use my DS for home brew and emulation. I'm not a big fan of the DS commercial games anyway. Everyone I know that has a DS, has no clue even what an R4 is or would be afraid to use it. He is giving the basic DS user too much credit.
Saying 90% of North Americans pirate DS games is BS. US DS hardware sales are around 17.7 million units. Thats 15.89 million R4s or similar devices being used by the evil US. DS software sales are record breaking, as are computer and video game sales.
I'm not defending piracy but come on this figure is absurdly inflated. I'd believe 5% tops perhaps(although thats probably too high),
Lets go after Hard Drive makers next because you can use that for piracy also, how about mp3 players? DVD burners, perhaps?
The video games industry is bigger then the Movie and Music industries.
I mean seriously this insults me, and it should most people here.

[Basil Zero]

Shame on these 90% of north american DS players, they are ruining the gaming industry :mad:

LOL.

Like you dont ^__-

[fook123]

Im north american and I dont know anybody with any type of flash cart, and I use a games n music, I couldnt play illegally with it if I tried.

[redsyrup]

Amoungst my friends the serious DS players actually buy their games, and they buy good numbers of games. The causal players use flash carts, and they hardly ever complete a game.

[sabernet]

I call bullshit on this one. I want to know where they got their figures, what questions were asked, which demographic was interviewed and how large a sample was taken.

This sounds an awful lot like the RIAA tactic of pulling stats out of their asses like the "All college students have pirated or will pirate music" quote.

[bandit]

HAHAHA 90% play illegal games? If that was the case, stores wouldnt be stocking games or selling them. If it was 90%, you think Nintendo would have done something about the hardware or software?

Whoever actually believes that 90% of North Americans play illegally should be shot and suspended from this board (JK)

[wiggy fuzz]

Whoever actually believes that 90% of North Americans play illegally should be shot and suspended from this board (JK)

Quoted for truth - nintendo might be run by some children (who are raking in the cash) but they're not stupid. what gets me, though, is nintendo don't update the firmware for the ds - unlike sony. i'd have likedto see some new updates, like - i dunno... a calculator?

[goity]

Apparently this was never said by anyone... complete bullshitting by the paper.

[quzar]

Correction issued http://www.dcemu.co.uk/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=88787