Home > "The Industry", (co)production, intellectual property, videogames > ?!? 90% of US Nintendo DS Users are Pirates ?!?

?!? 90% of US Nintendo DS Users are Pirates ?!?

January 31st, 2008
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I’m not that big into the use of massive punctuation, but I really couldn’t help myself in this case. Apparently, 90% of US Nintendo DS users are using devices like the R4 or the DSTT to pirate software for the Nintendo DS. That would mean that only one of my fellow friends with DSs should NOT have one of these. Except that as far as I know, I’m the ONLY person with one of these in the area, and I don’t use mine for piracy.

PocketGamer.co.uk - 90 Percent of US Gamers are Playing Pirated Software

UK trade body ELSPA has claimed that an astonishing 90 per cent of of all DS users in North America are playing pirated games using devices such as the notorious R4 cartridge.

Not only does this reek of simply made up numbers, it should be noted that these devices have more than one use. You can use them to play video files, MP3s, or *gasp* develop your own DS games. And it seems that only the boys over at GayGamer.net have managed to hit the nail on the head.

GayGamer.net - You are All Pirates (According to the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association)

Kudos on that outlandish statistic, 90% of us use the R4 to pirate software. Working on a sample (IE: everyone I’ve ever met) the number of people I’ve seen with one of these is a big zero. The article reeks of fear mongering, essentially he’s trying to get anti-piracy laws changed in Scotland by scaring the crap out of game retailers, which can in turn lobby the government to make third party bootable DS cartridges illegal. After all, if they outlaw these, it would increase their potential profits by 900%.

I guess this means that likely in the coming months Nintendo will continue to pursue legal action against these companies (you cannot find many R4s any more, though there are alternatives…). In the mean time I continue to import them one or two at a time in an effort to protect my right to speak on my DS (Yes, I’m stockpiling them out of principle). I wonder if they’ll raid my apartment hoping to find gobs of pirated ROMs, and will rather find one highly peeved no-longer-Nintendo enthusiast.

C-out

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  1. Mark
    January 31st, 2008 at 21:27 | #1
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    I only know of two people who have an R4… Well, three now that I see Casey has some.
    Actually, I mostly use mine for music… pirated music!

  2. Casey O’Donnell
    February 1st, 2008 at 07:54 | #2
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    Yeah, I’m not sure where they got their statistics, but it is very disturbing. The only people I know with these devices are using them for homebrew game development.

  3. Grant
    February 1st, 2008 at 11:21 | #3
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    I wonder why statistics from anti-piracy groups are always so unreliable? Michael Geist posted recently about the MPAA’s piracy figures being off by a factor of 3, and there was something similar with the RIAA a year or so ago..

  4. Mark
    February 2nd, 2008 at 10:05 | #4
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    I would guess their stat is something like 50% with a std deviation of +-50%. Being crazy reactionaries, they estimate high.

    Or maybe it’s like 90% +-80% but when reporting stats in the news, no one reports the standard deviation.

  5. Casey O’Donnell
    February 2nd, 2008 at 13:27 | #5
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    I’ll be curious what The Sunday Post has to say about it, but one way or another, it appears that either ELSPA is backpedaling, or The Sunday Post made the article up. Hard to say which. From DS Fanboy:

    “[John] didn’t quote The Sunday Post on any figures whatsoever.” The spokesperson asserted that the Sunday Post conflated quotes from Hillier about R4 sales in the UK with an article from Singapore about DS piracy in that country (hence the 90% quote, which is still likely to be ridiculous). The specific article isn’t named, but we believe it’s this one. It’s amazing that a quote about the UK plus an article about Singapore somehow generated a statistic about North America. But who cares about facts when you’re busy alarming the public?

    Coverage can be found here:
    GamePolitics.com - ELSPA Denies 90% DS Piracy Quote
    GamesIndustry.biz - ELSPA Distances Itself from DS Piracy Report
    DS Fanboy - ELSPA: Not all of us are Pirates After All

  6. Casey O’Donnell
    February 8th, 2008 at 11:57 | #6
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    Now it’s just annoying. I no longer feel sorry for ELSPA getting misquoted.

    What we need are some people to start shouting much louder that these devices are also about free speech.

    I’ve decided that unfortunately as long as DRM and the DMCA are being used to shut off my access to these devices (and shut me up), then they are by and large “broadcast” devices. This brings them under the jurisdiction of the FCC.

    If developers want to argue that games are speech and art, then these devices need to be mediums or technologies that I too can use. I may not be able to use established distribution channels, but I should be able to produce. If games are speech, then we must be allowed to speak on them. If not, then they are something else.

    MCV - ELSPA Crackdown on R4 Piracy:

    “The ELSPA IP crime unit is evaluating the R4 game copying device, as it allows for the downloading and play of illegal Nintendo DS software avaialable by the internet,” an ELSPA spokesperson told MCV.

    “We are aware that Nintendo has taken actions against these devices in other countries and we are working closely with them to consider the next step in the UK.”

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