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Nintendo Blocking Counterfeit Game Machines
An anonymous reader writes "Nintendo won a court case Monday which "prohibits retailers from selling products that look like Nintendo's game controllers from its older Nintendo 64 game console, which can be plugged directly into televisions to play games."" These were apparently being sold nation-wide in mall kiosks. Shady.
Well, I'm not sure if they'd be legal to buy, but it is illegal to sell, even if you only sell to people "who already have a legal copy."
If you had super powers, would you use them for good, or for awesome?
My 14 year old bother inlaw got one of these for a birthday a while back. It had a full version of Contra on it. The Konomi code even worked. There were also a handful of other Nintendo games I recognised. Of note was a topdown shooter that I had played alot when I was younger. Can't remember the name. Although in this bootleg version you couldn't collect powerups. They were letters if I recall.
The other thing was the port on the bottom that gave the impression that you could plug 8bit NES games into the controler. My other bother inlaw was douped into believing that it would work. The cartidges we tried fit perfectly.
Supposedly the controller came with 65000 games but there were only about 25 or so actual games. They were merely repeated over and over like the old 100-in-1 bootleg Nintendo cartridge that had serveral versions of the same games.
BASE Conflict for Quake 3
Had something similar in the local mall by me, as well. They would only take cash at the stand. If you wanted to use credit card, you had to go to a neighboring stand (apparently run by the same people) which was selling unrelated junk. Sketchy, but the ROMs all apppear about right. *whistles*
what the hell is a 'junk character', anyway?
Urgh, the ROM argument. No, that does not make it legal. They're selling someone elses product to you, without paying or having the permission of the owners.
(and btw that argument doesn't hold true for ROM's either, no matter what some emulation site says. Theft is theft, at least admit it)
I saw one of these in a booth at a huge fair in Dallas and called information immediately to get Nintendo's legal department on the line. The nice lady gave me an email address, and when I got home, I drafted the following letter. Amazing how stupid the guy manning the booth was, by the way, as you'll see below...
To whom it may concern,
I was at the State Fair of Texas today in Dallas, and inside the fair are a variety of booths with local crafts and the like. One booth was a bit odd, however - it featured a video game system that plugs directly into a TV and features older, nostalgic games, much like the recently-popular Pac-Man joysticks and the like. This one was different, however -- it copied the N64 controller to a T, if done in a much cheaper fashion, so at first I thought it was the iQue that is currently being sold in China.
But it wasn't. This system featured over 7,000 NES ROMS in its memory: Perfectly-emulated copies of games like Super Mario Brothers, Duck Hunt, Bubble Bobble.... I didn't even bother copying the list, because basically, every single NES game ever made was included in this controller. The controller, sold with a light gun peripheral, was sold for $40 a pop at the stand. I checked the box for any seal of approval from Nintendo, but all I could find was a Chinese copyright. Though I didn't write down that information, the guy behind the counter was foolish enough to hand me an information sheet with contact information for the responsible company, which I've copied below:
Super Joy III TV Game
Performance Marketing Co.
3861 Royal Troon Dr
Round Rock, TX 78664
512-244-7776
www.epowerplayer.com
The above website address actually includes all the information I listed and then some. This "Super Joy III" is some shady stuff, and as a dedicated Nintendo fan for many years, I am appalled to see such blatant disregard for Nintendo's copyrights in a for-profit product, so I called Nintendo of America on my cell phone and got this email address from the receptionist. I hope this is the correct contact information, and furthermore, that action is taken against this company's activity.
Please feel free to contact me with any further questions.
Thank you, (name and contact info removed)
http://www.classicgaming.com/vcsp/ has a NES portable based on one of these. Yes, they're all quite shady. Many come with a lightgun. They're based on a NES-on-a-chip (yes, there's actually a chip that does everything that every chip in the original NES does). Some have (Famicom) cartridge ports (if you want to run US carts, get an adaptor - http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=159&prod ucts_id=171 is one that I've heard is good), and if not, there's always wiring a US cartridge port to the board and giving 5V to the ROM chip (which appears to be how to do it if there IS a cart port, but no cart).
No, it's not an emulator. The menus on those things are straight 6502 (or whatever the hell variant the NES used - same difference anyway) code. They use something called a "NES-on-a-chip". Part numbers I've heard are "NMOS 6582" (used in the Game Axe line), and the "NT6578" (used in at least those NES to SNES adaptors, and most likely everything with a blob-like chip for a CPU). It's a complete NES chipset on ONE chip.
Your wife buys you a crappy controller with 76 nintendo games on it that are freely available online via P2P. She spends $60 on it and it's a surprise for you.
Do you a) tell your wife she bought a stupid thing that's completely worthless, but you appreciate the thought or b) point out that it's a con and say "you know, there are some things I'll pirate online, but we probably shouldn't support the industry."
In the first case she chose a bad thing for you through ignorance. It's like you're disappointed in her. In the second, she was conned. She can feel righteously angry at the vendor. They're equally true.
B is much kinder, and there's really nothing wrong with it. It's the spin I'd use, and it's *certainly* what I'd use when lambasting the clerk for a return.
I think this guy did the right thing. It was illegal, and he didn't want to be a party to a crime. His wife probably wouldn't have bought it if she knew it was illegal. I've seen these things in the malls, but never bought one because of obvious copyright violations.
However, I have purchased most of the Jakks Pacific licensed game units. Itt's a great idea, as long as you don't break the law.