<![CDATA[Kotaku: R4]]> http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/base/img/thumbs140x140/kotaku.com.png <![CDATA[Kotaku: R4]]> http://kotaku.com/tag/r4 http://kotaku.com/tag/r4 <![CDATA[Here's the 3DS Already Running an R4 Cartridge]]> Not 24 hours since its release, here's the Nintendo 3DS running the notorious R4 flash cart. It's not that much of a surprise - probably doesn't even qualify as a hack, as a 3DS is fully backward compatible with DS cartridges, essentially what this is. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5771197&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Kiss Your Copying Software Goodbye, Japan!]]> Under current Japanese, it is illegal to upload or sell pirated games and movies. It is legal to copy for one's own personal use. Better get all your personal copying done pronto, because that's going to get harder. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5706925&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Nintendo Try To Block DS Pirates Via Firmware Update]]> Earlier this week, Nintendo quietly released a firmware update for its DSi handhelds, the sole purpose of which seems to be to stop people from using flashcarts on their consoles. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5633487&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Capsule Toy? No, Win An R4]]> For ¥400 a pop (US$4.75), Japanese capsule toy machine offers folks the chance to win an R4 — a device Nintendo is trying to block. As seen in Osaka's Den-Den Town electrics district by Julie via Ai Amano. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5628352&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[A Highly Questionable Source For the Nintendo 3DS's Release Date]]> We do not know when Nintendo is releasing its 3D-glasses-free portable, the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo has said sometime this financial year. A super shady seller of R4 cartridges, however, is more detailed. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5623264&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[R4 Piracy Devices Banned In The UK]]> A British high court has ruled against R4 companies Playables Limited and Wai Dat Chan. It is now illegal to import, advertise and sell R4 cartridges in the United Kingdom. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5598447&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The Most Pirated Nintendo DS Games Are...]]> You know it. I know. People pirate Nintendo DS games. It's so bad that Nintendo is spearheading a lawsuit to stop piracy. Yet piracy continues. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5558896&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Nintendo Blames DS Piracy For 50% Sales Drop In Europe]]> Nintendo has been cracking down hard on sellers of R4 cartridges (and similar devices) lately. Want to know why? The Japanese company is blaming them for a 50% drop in sales of DS games in Europe. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5520462&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Nintendo "Piracy" Store: Now You See It, Now You Don't]]> Well, that was quick. Real quick. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5517545&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Take That, Nintendo!]]> Forget Osaka's shady R4 cartridge retailers, the city has one shop that is openly advertising the device. And rubbing it in Nintendo's face in the process. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5514911&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[A Japanese Game With Goddesses About...The Game Industry?]]> A video game about the game industry? That could be pretty boring. Inside baseball. Zzzzzz. It would need something to sexy it up! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5513301&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Nintendo Goes To Court Again, This Time Over DS Piracy]]> Nintendo has won its second legal victory of the month in Australia, with a seller of R4 flash cartridges in the country ordered to pay the Japanese company over AUD$500,000 in fines. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5474375&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Man Facing Prison Over R4 Cartridges]]> It's not just the Japanese throwing people in prison over R4 flash cartridges; Britain is in on the act too, with a man sentenced to prison for importing R4 carts. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5450691&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[R4 Vending Machine Will Be Removed From Osaka's Den-Den Town]]> Earlier this summer, a vending machine selling R4 devices appeared in Osaka's electronics district, Den-Den Town. The vending machine will be removed from the area. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5422203&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Nintendo Thanks People For Ratting Out R4 Retailers]]> Kyoto-based game company Nintendo created an anonymous form for collect information about the sale of R4 cartridges in Japan. This information will be used by Nintendo in its legal suit. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5401050&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[R4 Sales Get Shadier And Shadier]]> See those signs? They read, "Majikon" — Japanese for R4. And they are pointing into a random apartment building. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5382926&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Ready To Rat Out R4 Sellers? Nintendo Is Here To Help]]> Earlier this year, Nintendo announced that it and 54 software game companies were filing a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court against companies that import "R4 Revolution"-type devices, using the Unfair Competition Prevention Law as the legal grounding. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5374259&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Nintendo Slips In Anti-Piracy Measures Into DSi Update]]> That recent DSi update that brought Facebook to Japanese DSi handhelds also brought something else: software to combat R4-type piracy devices. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5327010&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Let's Research Game Piracy On Japanese Trains]]> Field research time! Website Gpara wandered up and down train carriages on Tokyo's Yamanote Line, looking for players using R4 piracy devices. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5319013&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The R4...Vending Machine]]> Forget those mythical panty vending machines! This vending machine in Osaka's Den-Den Town is selling R4 devices. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5307988&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[This Japanese Supermarket Prize Game Is Ironic]]> More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5225783&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[In Akihabara, R4 Retailers Take To The Streets]]> Nintendo has been fighting the R4 piracy device and fighting it hard. There's a court injunction against the Chinese R4 makers for "violation under Japan's laws". Yahoo! Auctions is prohibiting the device's sale. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5171236&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Court Injunction Or Not, R4 Devices Still On Sale In Akihabara]]> The Tokyo District Court ruled an injunction against the Chinese R4 makers for "violation under Japan's laws". You'd think that would mean one couldn't walk into a game shop and buy one. You'd think. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5162563&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Japanese Court Blocks Sales Of The DS's R4 Cart]]> Last year, Nintendo (and 53 other companies) took action against the makers of the R4 cart, a device which allows, amongst other things, the pirating of games on a DS. Today, they won big. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5161340&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[The Telegraph, Brought To You By Nintendo DS Flash Carts]]> Interesting example of "different horses, different courses" at work here. While companies in Japan are trying to erase the very thought of the R4 flash cart, in Britain, the R4 can advertise on the Telegraph! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5146765&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Yahoo! Auctions Japan Issues R4 Warning]]> Yahoo! Auctions Japan has a warning for those sellers putting R4 carts on the online auction blocks. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5137591&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Retro Gaming Pin-Up Model Tells Off Game Pirates ("Yaargh!")]]> Hey! Everyone's favorite retro gaming idol Haruna Anno has some harsh words for you illegal downloader pirate people. Very harsh. How harsh? This harsh: "[Not paying for games] is the same as not paying your dinner tab or shoplifting," she blogs during a break from writing "Chrono Trigger" in Japanese calligraphy. "It's stealing. Don't think you've really played the game if you've done this... I do not think people who don't buy the games have the privilege to enjoy them." Well, that wasn't that harsh. Still. Remember, this is coming from a person who once played Chrono Trigger for 36 hours straight. She's the anti-Rola Chen and so not joking around. Haruna Anno is serious business. DS版『クロノトリガー』が発売前に流出に [杏野はるなの日常。via Sponichi Annex] [Pic] More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5099582&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Even Pin-Up Models Like R4]]> See it? Look closely. In the DS cartridge slot. In the cart in the cartridge slot. The Micro DS Card. It's there, we think, look. Just as Kyoto cops are cracking down on the R4 business in Japan, Japan-based Chinese bikini model Rola Chen is totally using a R4. And totally taking pictures of herself using it. And totally putting that on her official blog. She writes, "During times when I'm waiting around, I play my DS! ...Now, what game do you think Rola?" Dunno, but we're pretty sure Rola didn't pay for it. Arrest her, officers! More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5089933&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Mother And Son Arrested In R4 Piracy Bust]]> The Nintendo copyright crackdown continues! The Kyoto Prefectural High Tech Crime Prevention Unit has arrested three individuals in Osaka Prefecture in connection with selling R4 style piracy devices with games on them. The R4 can be inserted in the DS Lite and has a small slot that the Micro SD card goes into. Data is stored on a Micro SD and downloaded via a flash drive. Not only did the police arrest Yasueda Okada, the 58 year-old president of the company selling R4-type devices, but also her adult son who is a suspect in the case. A third individual is in custody as well. All three have denied any wrongdoing. You know what they say, the family that sells R4 together, gets and arrested and goes to jail together. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5086747&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Your R4 Cart So Will Not Work In A DSi]]>
Click to view The camera and bigger screen and internety stuff may look good during a product announcement, but Nintendo probably have an altogether different reason for pushing the DSi onto the market. One related to their burning hatred of the R4 cartridge. As this video above shows, the trusty R4 won't work in the new DS handheld, nor will a ton of other similar devices. Of course, this won't stop new, improved models of those carts from being developed, but for now, you might want to hold onto your DS/DS Lite.
More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5077726&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[DSi To Stop Flash Cards, Kill Homebrew?]]> The Nintendo DSi may come with an SD card slot, prompting fears of even easier piracy, but the redesign will close the boot exploit that allows flash devices like the R4 to load arbitrary code. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5072726&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Could The DSi Encourage Piracy?]]> So we've got a new DS coming our way, with a slightly bigger screen and a really crappy camera built in, but for some folks out there the big news is the built-in SD slot, a feature that was some worried that the DSi might make rampant DS game pirating even easier. Speaking with GamesIndustry.biz, Team 17 studio director Martyn Brown echoes my concerns over the sub-par camera and suggests the SD slot might become yet another entry point for pirates. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5058108&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Capcom Explain R4 Lawsuit Participation]]> In case you missed it, Nintendo and 54 other companies are engaged in a legal battle against the forces of evil. Evil being the R4 cart for the DS. One of those 54 other companies is Capcom, and in a conference call they explained the reason behind their participation in the suit: More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5044010&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[DS Half Elf Tentacle Assault Game STOPPED!]]> This summer, doujin circle Team-DSX planned to release DS title Half Elf Tentacle Assault at Comic Market. The self-made game's entirely homebrew and certainly does not have the Nintendo Seal of Quality — and never will! However, the Comic Market preparation committee has cancelled Team-DSX's registration, meaning that the circle won't be allowed to sell their DS game. There's no word whether Nintendo was behind this, but the facts that the R4 cartridge was on the Half Elf Tentacle Assault poster and that Team-DSX seemed to be selling the R4. (Nintendo has taken legal action against the R4 in Japan.) Team-DSX originally planned to sell Half Elf Tentacle Assault in Akihabara as well. However, the doujin circle's website is currently blank. Hit the jump for a pixelated version of the game's flier. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5036342&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[R4 Price Going Up In Akihabara]]> Not only is Nintendo's legal action against R4 cart spiking the sales, it's also spiking the prices. Check out this Akihabara retailer on July 29th when the news was first announced. R4s were going for ¥2,980 (US$28). The following day, the price jumped to ¥4,980 at the same retailer. And today? This shop's price hit ¥5,980 ($55). Pics of that after jump. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5031834&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Nintendo And 54 Companies Battle Evil R4 In Court]]> Click to viewNintendo has just announced that it and 54 game software companies are filing a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court against companies that import "R4 Revolution for DS"-type devices, using the Unfair Competition Prevention Law as the legal grounding. Nintendo is asking for the cease of marketing, sales and importation of these Chinese-made devices. The R4 allows easy software piracy by fitting right into the DS's cartridge slot. Data is stored on a Micro SD and downloaded from websites via a flash drive, and the R4 has a small slot that the Micro SD card goes into. In a statement released today, Nintendo announced that these R4 devices "allow illegal uploading from the internet", adding that "it is causing severe damage to our company and software makers, and this is something that we cannot possibly overlook." In conclusion, Nintendo adds that such devices hurts the growth of the entire game industry and steps must be taken regarding the legality of R4 carts. It's important to note that this legal injunction is for Japan only. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5030319&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[British Industry Group Not Impressed With The R4]]> Enjoying your R4 carts, Britain? I bet you are. Designed as they are to run code on a DS, many use them for homebrew, but some, obviously, also use them to pirate legitimate DS games. And it's those folks attracting the attention of the authorities, spoiling it for everybody else. The ELSPA (Britain's industry body) reckon that the sale of R4 (and other, similar) carts "is an infringement and an offence under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Trade Marks Act 1994", and from here on they'll be investigating any and all retailers stocking the units. It's important to note that at this stage this is more of a warning than a direct threat, as they haven't come out and called for an immediate, blanket ban, but I imagine a stern warning is all it will take for many small retailers to quit stocking them anyway. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5023708&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[Nintendo Spooks Retailers Into Pulling R4 Carts]]> R4 carts, you either love 'em or hate 'em. People who want to play pirated DS games, they love 'em. Retailers in Akihabara, they love 'em, because they sell a fuckton of them. But Nintendo? They hate 'em. And may have started doing something about it. We knew that they'd begun to grow concerned over the carts late last year, but over the past week many specialist retailers in Akihabara have put up notices saying they'll no longer be selling the R4, following threats made by Nintendo. Same goes for some Japanese online retailers. So is this the end for the naughty little cartridge? Eh, probably not. Nintendo may be able to strong-arm the little guy, but not the littler guys they don't even know about. Or the internets. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=373240&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[R4 Cartridge Discovered in GameStop Ad]]> Kotakuite razmig snapped this rather interesting photo at his local GameStop. In a sign promoting the Nerf DS case, he noticed something a little strange. Right there in the case, nestled among the other games is an R4 cartridge. For those not in the know, the R4 is a popular product that will allow its users to download and play DS games illegally through the use of a Micro SD card. Mind you, the cartridge itself is technically not illegal, but given GameStop's hard stance on this type of thing and Nintendo's recent crackdown on piracy, I'm rather surprised this ad made it through. Having been a graphic designer, I know these things get looked at by a number of people before it goes to print and I would think someone would have caught it. Guess not. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=357402&view=rss&microfeed=true <![CDATA[90% Of United States Is Pirating DS Games?]]> John Hillier is the manager of the UK-based The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association's Intellectual Property Crime unit. And he just made one hell of a claim about the American piracy market for the Nintendo DS.
In America it's thought 90 percent of Nintendo DS users are playing pirated games because of R4s...takings from Nintendo DS games in the US are lower than any other console...
Seriously? Is this guy for real? Because we can't believe that 90% of DS owners have even heard of the R4. More »
]]> http://kotaku.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=351119&view=rss&microfeed=true