While details are scarce, we can imagine a lot of popular carts (like the R4), if not all carts, will be affected. Should Nintendo and friends win the suit, selling and importing such carts will be illegal, meaning that people would have to resort to the black market to get their hands on one.
We understand why Nintendo and other companies would want to fight the good fight against piracy, but we can't help but fret over the impact on our precious homebrew hobby. At any rate, we'll give you more information as this case unfolds.
[Via Joystiq; Thanks, Kimiko!]
_cg_oct22_kjgfdhd_thumbnail.jpg "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars")
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
7-29-2008 @ 1:40PM
Roto13 said...
Pokemon is a company?
I can't say I blame them. If it was just homebrew that'd be one thing, but how many people with these cards don't use them for piracy? (And before four or five of you pipe in with "ME! ME! ME!" remember that that means absolutely nothing.)
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7-30-2008 @ 9:48PM
Christopher said...
Everything I play on my M3 Real, I own a retail copy of.
7-29-2008 @ 1:51PM
1p5v said...
Nintendo is the new RIAA.
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7-30-2008 @ 9:51PM
Christopher said...
Not yet. Let's see if they start tracking torrents and suing grandmas claiming they downloaded the new GTA DS game from their Apple computer. (remember that claim?)
If they do that, THEN they'll have reached the low of the RIAA.
7-29-2008 @ 2:06PM
Taedirk said...
I'm a bit surprised that *everyone else* is surprised that this is only occurring in Japan. When I first read about it, I took a second to think. One of the major European (or was it just England) groups is harping on R4s already, and I'm positive there's a clause in the DMCA that says even thinking about something like a flash cart is grounds for one of Creedy's black bags. At least I've already picked up a CycloDS before they become verboten.
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7-30-2008 @ 9:54PM
Christopher said...
What I find funny is that they have some of the biggest black market rings right on their own doorsteps and their worrying about imports into Europe and the US. WTF?
If you ask me, that's a big FU toward anybody that's not in Asia. How can you focus on piracy abroad but not on your own turf? Again, WTF?
7-29-2008 @ 2:32PM
deadlylife said...
I know that homebrew and owning a flashcart is 100% legal if you don't pirate, but, will this mean that owning one in the US could become illegal? I would hate to give up my precious homebrew just because some people pirate.
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7-29-2008 @ 3:46PM
rikki said...
No. Modchips, flashcarts and the like can't really be made illegal.
However, USING any of these articles for even just homebrew may already be illegal in the US (not in the UK, and definitely not in Australia!) because of the Draconian -- err, I mean Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Quote from The Register about the Lik-Sang modchip fiasco which pretty much sums it up:
"Under the DMCA, if Sony or Microsoft uses a "technological measure" to protect a copyrighted work, it is illegal to attempt to circumvent the measure -- even if the purpose of the circumvention is not to infringe the copyright."
Fscked up? Yes. But there you go. :(
7-30-2008 @ 2:01AM
deadlylife said...
Um... they didn't prevent us from doing it, they just didn't allow us to, there's fine line there, am I still safe with homebrew?
7-29-2008 @ 2:43PM
ChangeOfFate said...
Nintendo, you'll have to pry my CycloDS away from my cold, dead hands.
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7-29-2008 @ 2:48PM
ChangeOfFate said...
Apparently CycloDS website has reached it's bandwidth limit for now. Possibly due to the recent news?
Any comments on this DSFanboy? :)
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7-29-2008 @ 2:55PM
Turbo said...
This is good. And bad. All the pirates are getting what they deserve, but all the homebrew is being destroyed, as the makers will stop making homebrew... mabye. What if Nintendo made their own flashcards, that could only use homebrew and not emulators?
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7-29-2008 @ 3:07PM
wpboyce said...
they would just find away around it
7-29-2008 @ 3:42PM
Char6296 said...
Hang on, I thought they were. DSVision, I think it's called... but that's in Japan only, so none over here.
7-30-2008 @ 8:40AM
Jamar said...
That, and the DSVision only has paid content.
7-30-2008 @ 9:57PM
Christopher said...
Yeah, don't you find it utterly IRONIC that this is happening shortly after their launch of DSVISION? Hmm...
7-29-2008 @ 3:17PM
ChangeOfFate said...
Go to teamcyclops.com and see if you get the huge ACCOUNT SUSPENDED banner.
What's going on here???
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7-29-2008 @ 3:46PM
Taedirk said...
Bandwidth exceeded, due to awesome. See numerous Firmware releases in the month of July.
7-29-2008 @ 3:40PM
Char6296 said...
Methinks that by Pokémon, they mean Game Freak.
Anyway, I'm at fault here, I do pirate games. Not all... but most of my games. (One of them's a backup. ;D) I admit that I'm wrong, insert expletives about me (I'm a girl, if that helps your swearing spree) here. But I do like homebrew, so I hope that homebrew doesn't stop. I like my World of Sand and Colors! very much. And Moonshell and DSOrganise.
But hey, at least I'm not in the black market. Yet.
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7-29-2008 @ 4:36PM
Chrono said...
There is a company dedicated to marketing Pokemon stuff. It's called the Pokemon Company (does what it says on the tin).