Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Nintendo On the Hunt For More Scalps

Posted by Soulskill on from the no-not-literally dept.

rjch writes "After its recent win against mod chip piracy in the Australian Federal courts, Nintendo is now on the prowl for other companies to sue. 'Nintendo will pursue those who attempt to jeopardise the gaming industry by using all means available to it under the law. In particular, Nintendo is currently contemplating bringing further actions against other sellers of game copying devices in Australia.' The game company said since 2008 it had pursued over 800 actions in 16 countries to stop game piracy, confiscating 'well over' half a million game copiers for the Nintendo DS. The company said piracy affected sales, the price of video games, and employment in the video game industry." Reader daria42 sends in a related piece asking whether Nintendo is being too harsh over this and the recent $1.5 million settlement with a man who leaked New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

15 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. Right to Tinker. by headkase · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Conveniently what gets forgotten with "anti-piracy" jackbooting is my right to tinker. I don't give a damn that console makers want to totally lock down "their" systems. It's not "theirs" its mine, I bought it at the store. All this crap preventing me from running Linux on my XBox without screwing up Live (if I wanted it) is bull. Go away, it's mine - you don't like that? In a perfect world it wouldn't be my problem, but hey, we get the best laws money can buy.

    --
    Shh.
    1. Re:Right to Tinker. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      All this crap preventing me from running Linux on my XBox without screwing up Live (if I wanted it) is bull. Go away, it's mine - you don't like that? In a perfect world it wouldn't be my problem, but hey, we get the best laws money can buy.

      You're half right. You own the XBOX, you should have the freedom to tinker. You don't own Live. It's a service, which runs on servers owned and maintained by Microsoft. They (rightfully) are able to do whatever they want with their networks, including but not limited to kicking off modded consoles.

    2. Re:Right to Tinker. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And conversely, Microsoft wants people who will be connecting to their matchmaking systems to have stock, default hardware. Microsoft wants to mitigate issues causes by people interested in cheating online. Microsoft wants to minimize the time that they have to spend on CSR because of the modding community.

      I just want to be able to boot into Linux, have all the fun I want compiling my kernal or what-not *THEN* shutdown Linux, boot normally into XBox and join a live game and *NOT* have my console banned because some nefarious unsupported hack was detected.

      Microsoft gives you this option. Go buy a developer kit for several thousand dollars. You can have your cake and eat it too.

      {Writers note: don't get me wrong. I hate the DMCA, I hate copywrong restrictions, I hate DRM. But, in the same regard, Microsoft has it's own rights too. Your freedom to tinker stops at the front door of Microsofts' property. Their property being their servers.}

    3. Re:Right to Tinker. by headkase · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Tinkering is always swept under the big piracy rug. If tinkering was addressed separately it wouldn't need to be associated with piracy. Until manufacturers specifically address tinkering then whenever piracy comes up then the tinkerers have to speak up too. Because until tinkering tools are available you have to use piracy tools.

      --
      Shh.
    4. Re:Right to Tinker. by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      By forcing me to share partitions and software and bricking the console on system updates if I make my own Freedom, isn't that tying the issues?

      You're not forced to share partitions. You can swap hard disks without even opening the console. Is it arduous to have to do this? Sure. Is there some other way to be sure that you're not using a rootkit to cheat? Nothing that Microsoft is capable of, that's for damned sure. Preventing the user from tampering with the operating system is the only responsible way to control cheating on Xbox Live. It's also the only way to ensure that users aren't taking content which Microsoft has promised will be protected out of the system. And of course it doesn't actually ensure that, but it does raise the bar considerably.

      If you want to mess with the system, that is your right, as you say. And if Microsoft wants to ban you from Xbox Live as a result of messing with the system, that is their right. And if you don't want them to restrict you in this way, you have the option to not purchase their product. As I previously stated, purchasing the system is simply voting for the status quo. True, you can buy the system used; but if you want to purchase DLC (or for that matter, download game updates) you're going to have to follow the stated rules. Under capitalism, spending money is the most important type of vote you can cast. You get one vote per dollar. Capitalism is a kind of tyranny of the masses (who have a bunch of money if you count them en masse) and the asses — the robber barons who have all the cash. The masses want a locked-down Xbox Live, to which there are real benefits. But you're not forced to own the system, or use the service, so who's really being hurt here? The only way you can be injured is if you vote for injury. If you wanted a more open system, why didn't you buy one?

      And before you ask, yes, I would love to be able to run Linux on my Xbox 360 without tampering with using Live. But since I can't, I guess if I really wanted to run Linux and have limited use of the hardware in the Xbox 360, I'd buy one of the many systems banned from Live for modification, which includes a modchip. These systems can't use Xbox Live, so they won't be getting the system update that blocks Free60... although Free60's root page is 404, fun fun fun.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:Right to Tinker. by LordLimecat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You agreed to the contract though! So you really dont have a leg to stand on-- and if this was a case of "shrink wrap contract" that "I didnt have a chance to read :( " then you should have returned it-- unlike software, 99% of stores have NO issue supplying refunds for consoles. It really sounds like youre bitter because the world doesnt revolve around you and MS didnt build the features you want into the device you purchased. Why dont you just build your own damn powerpc setup and tinker with it instead of demanding MS spend dev time and resources catering to you?

  2. Homebrew 90% of the reason I bought a DS by Scoth · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Personally, looking at what homebrew was available and such for a DS was a large portion of the reason I bought it in the first place. I also got good use out of DSLinux for random stuff until I got my ipod touch (jailbroken, of course) which gives me everything dslinux has and more.

    It's a shame there's not a better way to separate out the homebrew and piracy. Although I suppose Nintendo probably wouldn't like the homebrew either since it's "competition"

  3. Spectrum of Headlines by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nintendo On the Hunt For More Scalps

    Certainly one way to look at it. Here's a spectrum of possible headlines:

    • Nintendo Promises Investors That Sales Will Be Protected
    • Nintendo Goes on Offensive to Protect Bread and Butter
    • Nintendo Values Low Percentage of Sales Over Homebrew
    • Nintendo Sets Legal Precedent, Proceeds to Push the Envelope with More Prosecutions
    • Nintendo On the Hunt For More Scalps
    • After Realizing Its Bloodlust Has Not Yet Been Satiated, Nintendo Creaks Open Its Coffin to Aim Its Legion of Lawyers on More Third Party Companies Just Looking to Make a Buck by Helping Hobbyists Only to Be Raped by Nintendo in Front of Their Own Children By Way of the Twisted "Justice" System the World Has Come to Embrace

    So, congratulations, you had one final step to go before I would have considered your headline over the top or 'spin.'

    --
    My work here is dung.
  4. Two reasons PC games can be cheaper by tepples · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The PC version is cheaper for at least three reasons I can think of:
    1. Sony and Microsoft monopolize the manufacturing for games on their console platforms, charge a substantial royalty per copy, and enforce this through code signing. On the other hand, Microsoft does not require that PC video game publishers pay for the "Games for Windows" program.
    2. On PCs, downloadable continued play packages (DLC) have to compete with freely distributed mods. Mod developers generally do not pass the "your organization must be this tall to develop for our platform" bar that the console makers set.
    3. Console games, especially those rated E through T, are more likely to support split screen due to bigger TVs, but the feature gets left out of PC games because there aren't enough home theater PCs to justify the effort to most publishers. Nor do most PC games appear to support the sort of "spawn installations" for LAN play that StarCraft supported. Not having to optimize for split screen cuts some of the development and testing effort, but it makes multiplayer more expensive for households with more than one gamer. So it's not the choice between a $60 game for a PS3 and a $100 game, one copy for each of the two gaming PCs in your household.
  5. What are they thinking? by drej · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The only reason I kept my Wii is because of all the homebrew you can run on it. If it weren't for that I'd have sold it a long time ago. Why is Nintendo so eager to alienate everyone who isn't a housewive or a "casual gamer"? Why are they trying so hard to alienate their entire former fanbase? First they stomp down on the fanmade Zelda movie, now they're prowling around sueing everyone they don't like. Why? As if piracy is really hindering their profits. The main customers for Nintendo are now casual gamers who don't even know about homebrew and therefore shove enough money down Nintendos throat anyway. Everyone else wouldn't want to buy or keep a Wii on the account of there being less and less worthwile games, so the result is that Nintendo is actually losing business by hunting down everything piracy- and homebrew related. I know I'm gonna get modded down as Flamebait, but I don't care.

  6. Re:Then vote with your $$$ for tinkerable devices by headkase · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Where I'm coming from is that it's mine, it's sitting in my living room. I actually can live without Live if it came to that but here's where they get me: someday there will be a system update. This proverbial update will brick my hardware because it assumes that I don't own it. All I'm asking for is a menu option: "Boot other OS" It's simple, and if mandated by government - you know Microsoft won't do it - then there is zero percent chance the proverbial system update will take away my hardware.

    --
    Shh.
  7. Why Wii? by tepples · · Score: 2, Informative

    The only reason I kept my Wii is because of all the homebrew you can run on it.

    What makes a Wii better for homebrew than, say, the Aspire Revo that drinkypoo mentioned? Is Wii's Hollywood GPU really that much more powerful than a GeForce 9400M, and if so, does homebrew really take advantage of it?

    1. Re:Why Wii? by drej · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm not saying it's better. It's just the only reason I kept my Wii, which I've originally bought for the games oh so long ago. As there are barely any games left worth playing (at least for me) the ability to run homebrew relatively hassle-free (you don't even need a modchip) was a huge reason for me to keep it. Of course there are other, and probably better alternatives, but why buy another piece of equipment when you already got a working one you're not using for anything else? (I know I'm voicing only my personal opinions here by the way, but I'm sure there are others who think alike).

  8. Then vote for XNA or a used fat PS3 by tepples · · Score: 2, Interesting

    All I'm asking for is a menu option: "Boot other OS"

    I understand that. Have you tried a used fat PS3 instead of an Xbox 360? And have you tried joining XNA Creators Club, which (incidentally) Apple copied for the iPhone developer program?

    It's simple, and if mandated by government

    I don't see that happening any time soon. In 2002, when the current President of the U.S. Senate was a senator, he introduced anti-counterfeiting legislation that would have pretty much criminalized homebrew for being "counterfeit".

  9. Re:Sure it does by LordLimecat · · Score: 2, Insightful

    People who don't want to pay simply aren't going to, even if that means they just don't play the game at all. But people who do play, even if they pirated, may generate sales for the company through word of mouth.

    Seems like youre ignoring whether or not the act is right or wrong, and simply focusing on the net effects for society. I was under the impression that the basic purpose of a justice system was to punish actions that are wrong-- that is, to mete out justice.

    I dont mean to support the judgement one way or the other, but it seems like every time one of these conversations on piracy comes up, everyone wants to justify it by claiming that the net effect is good for society. I would reply that true or not, that is irrelevant; if a person is not entitled to a product, and they get ahold of it, it seems perfectly valid for the justice system to punish them (within reason).