The vending machine came in the wake of a crackdown on R4 cartridges which can be used to play pirated video games. As we posted previously, Nintendo announced that it and 54 software game companies were filing a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court against companies that import R4-type devices, using the Unfair Competition Prevention Law as the legal grounding.

According to Nintendo, 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.

In addition to the suit, Nintendo launched a website devoted to collecting information about R4 sellers. "It's getting increasingly difficult to track down R4 sellers as day by day they get more ingenious, flourishing online and complicating matters," said Nintendo in a written statement. Because of this, Nintendo is calling on the strength of the masses to eradicate the sale of these devices.

The website Nintendo has set up has an anonymous form that can be filled out. Selectable choices include retail stores, internet shops, online auctions selling R4 devices. Another choice includes "game software uploads" — or those sites or individuals making DS games available online. There's also spaces for dates and time, a box for details and another box for the shop's address or home page. Nintendo has said the information collected via this site has been "extremely useful".

任天堂も悩む「マジコン」、なんと自販機　大阪・日本橋で撤去へ (1/2ページ) - MSN産経ニュース [MSN]

As we posted previously, 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.

According to Nintendo, 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.

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 addition to the suit, Nintendo launched a website devoted to collecting information about R4 sellers. "It's getting increasingly difficult to track down R4 sellers as day by day they get more ingenious, flourishing online and complicating matters," said Nintendo in a written statement. Because of this, Nintendo is calling on the strength of the masses to eradicate the sale of these devices.

The website Nintendo has set up has an anonymous form that can be filled out. Selectable choices include retail stores, internet shops, online auctions selling R4 devices. Another choice includes "game software uploads" - or those sites or individuals making DS games available online. There's also spaces for dates and time, a box for details and another box for the shop's address or home page.

Today, Nintendo announces that the information collected by this website has been "extremely useful".

"We would like to say that the information we have collected from so many individuals has been extremely useful and offer our sincere gratitude for everyone's cooperation." Nintendo goes on to say that with the cooperation of all, the legality of this issue will be concretely resolved.

[Pic]

Nintendo leading the legal charge against the R4, even asking individuals to anonymously rat out retailers selling the devices. One Akihabara R4 retail shop recently closed due to "adult reasons" — some on the Japanese internet are inferring that the heat from Nintendo has caused the store to shutter.

R4 cartridges are used to pirate Nintendo DS video games.

This Den-Den Town "store" in Osaka is advertising its R4 wares with a sign board that notes, "These products are not illegal." The R4 exists in a gray area legally. There's a court injunction against the Chinese R4 makers for "violation under Japan's laws". Last year, Nintendo (and 53 other sofware companies) took action against the makers of the R4 cart.

Osaka is already home to the R4 vending machine.

Signs in the apartment building direct customers to the "shop".

This is not to say that R4 devices are not being sold openly in cities like Osaka and Tokyo, because they are. But for how long?

後を絶たないマジコン販売、任天堂やソフトメーカーが再提訴に踏み切るも営業続行 [GIGAZINE]

According to Nintendo, 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.

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 addition to the suit, Nintendo is turning the heat up on retailers who sell the devices by launching a website devoted to collecting information about R4 sellers. "It's getting increasingly difficult to track down R4 sellers as day by day they get more ingenious, flourishing online and complicating matters," said Nintendo in a written statement. Because of this, Nintendo is calling on the strength of the masses to eradicate the sale of these devices.

The website Nintendo has set up has an anonymous form that can be filled out. Selectable choices include retail stores, internet shops, online auctions selling R4 devices. Another choice includes "game software uploads" — or those sites or individuals making DS games available online. There's also spaces for dates and time, a box for details and another box for the shop's address or home page.

As recently as last week, countless retailers in Tokyo's Akihabara and Osaka's Den Den Town were openly carrying and selling R4 devices.

Nintendo Fraud Form [Nintendo] [Pic]

Back in November of last year, it seemed as though R4 cartridges would not work in the then new DSi units. However, by May of this year, dedicated DSi piracy devices had hit the streets. Multiple R4-type DSi-dedicated devices began appearing as well, making it possible to load downloaded games on to the DSi.

This latest DSi update seems to have once again nixed piracy devices for the DSi. According to one Japanese site, the update makes it impossible to use the following cartridges: DSTTi, Hyper R4i, ak2i, R4 Ui, R4i Gold, EZ Vi.

Last year, Nintendo and 53 other companies took action against the makers of the R4 cart, a device which allows, among other things, the pirating of games on a DS.

DSi　FW 1.4J　人柱 マジコン対策 [NET ゲーム裏技徹底解説]

Since R4 piracy devices use cartridges with SD Card slots, it was possible

Gpara deployed on trains last week — and did profiles of the DS players it spied on the train. Those profiles include the approximate ages, gender, type (student, salaryman, etc), what platform the individual was using and the approximate time window.

On the first day, Gpara spotted 106 individuals on the train playing the DS throughout a chunk of the day. Out of those, five of them were using R4-type piracy devices — four of them were men, and one was a female college student. One of those five, a businessman, was using the piracy device to play Dragon Quest IX.

During the second day, Gpara observed 109 individuals on the train playing the DS. Out of those 15 individuals were using a R4-type device to play DS games with only one playing a pirated version of DQIX. The pirates varied from middle school students to college students to female office workers to businessmen.

And you thought all pirates looked piratey, ha! Wrong!

山手線に"不正利用者"はこんなに居た！「マジコン調査隊」報告No.01／ゲーム情報ポータル：ジーパラドットコム [Gpara]

Best part? They're all sold out.

Nintendo has been fighting the R4 piracy flash carts and fighting them 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.

Retailers in both Akihabara and Den-Den Town do continue to carry the R4 devices. However, stores are apparently trying to liquidate their inventory before it becomes illegal to sell R4 devices in Japan.

マジコン販売の最先端はマジコン自販機 [Ota Road]

Earlier this month, retailers in Tokyo's geek mecca Akihabara were still carrying the device. However, stores are apparently trying to liquidate their inventory before it becomes illegal to sell R4 devices in Japan.

When it does, expect more scenes like this — guys in back allies, open car trunks, etc. And that cash register on a cardboard box? Classy.

「マジコン闇の市場」　フツーに売ってる秋葉原 [Akiba Blog]

In late 2008, Nintendo (and 53 other companies) took legal action against the makers of the R4 cart, a device which allows, amongst other things, the pirating of games on a DS.

In the wake of last week's injunction, Yahoo! Auctions Japan has issued a notice that putting R4 devices up for sell on its site is now prohibited.

Even after the Tokyo District Court's injunction, stores in otaku shopping paradise Akihabara continue to opening advertise the R4, and the device seems widely available. Sure, there might be a lag for retail to catch up with the recent decision to prohibit selling the devices, but don't expect the R4 business in Japan to dry up any time soon.

マジコン違法判決後のアキバ　「任天堂勝利　販売禁止間近！」 [Akiba Blog]

The Tokyo District Court has found against the Chinese makers of the R4 - officially known as the "R4 Revolution for DS" - and granted an injunction against sales of the device, prompting Nintendo, Square Enix & Capcom to issue statements proclaiming that they're a "violation under Japan's laws".

Most outlets have already halted sales of the R4 following pressure from the lawsuit (and the publishers, such as Nintendo & Capcom, backing it), but this ruling now makes it official: you can't legally sell the thing in Japan.

The statement concludes with the 54 companies saying they'll continue to pursue other manufacturers of similar devices.

It'll be interesting to see what effect this ruling has on the status of the R4 in other markets.

You can see the proof above. The ad - proclaiming the device to be a "featured partner" of the paper's site - says the R4 "allows you to watch movies, play music, browse pictures, read E-Books and more". "More" being, in many cases, the use of pirated software on the DS.

Course, the ad isn't being paid for by the manufacturers of the R4 themselves. It's supplied by a British online retailer who just happen to sell the R4. But still! It's a delicious irony, considering the device's questionable legality in the country.

[The Telegraph]

Citing the efforts of Nintendo and third party publishers under the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, Yahoo! points out the legality of these devices themselves has still yet been disclosed by the courts.

From a Yahoo! posted notice: "As noted in the Yahoo! terms of service, selling illegal goods through the auction is prohibited and obviously illegal."

Yahoo! goes on to warn users that users must judge "with prudence" the legality of these devices, because if the devices themselves are in fact deemed illegal, then criminal action will be taken against those selling and buying the devices. "Please take this as a warning and use discretion."

Nintendo has helped to spearhead a R4 piracy crackdown. Last fall, three individuals were arrested for selling R4 carts with pirated games on them. A cram school employee was arrested last December for selling pirated games for R4 devices.

These R4-style carts are still readily available on Yahoo! Auctions Japan. Interestingly, they don't appear available on Western online auction site eBay.

「マジコン」の取り扱いについて（2009年1月21日） [Yahoo! Auctions Japan]

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]

イーちゃんとDS [Rola SMILY Diary via Livedoor News]

ＤＳゲーム無断販売で逮捕 著作権法違反容疑で３人 [47NEWS via my game news flash]

According to this story on DigitalBattle, the new DS model will crash if you try to boot with an auto-booting flash card in the slot. Menu-bootable cards will load, but the DSi will crash as soon as a menu item is selected.

On the one hand this may make a dent in game piracy, but it looks like it will scupper legitimate Homebrew developers too. Hopefully Nintendo will be able to come to some compromise - possibly involving that intriguing SD slot...

Flash Cards No Longer Work on DSi [DigitalBattle]

"Adding an SD slot makes a bunch of sense for downloadable content given the way things are going," offered Brown. "I just hope they've done something to counter the mass piracy that exists via the R4 on the Lite. It scares me that with an SD card input, that might leave it even wider open that it was on the original device," added.

I've known suburban housewives with flash cards for their DSes, so if you ask me, it really doesn't get much easier than it already is.

Team 17 boss cautious of new DSi features [GamesIndustry.biz]

There are companies that sell downloads without any license in the U.S.A., while a considerable number of pirated copies of game software are available in the Chinese market. In response to these situations, this lawsuit took the initiative for the whole industry in terms of taking countermeasures. It does not necessarily have a great effect at this stage, but we intend to send a wake-up call to such companies in the future.

That last line's interesting. Particularly if you're involved with the R4 - or other similar devices - and your boots were previously shaking. Their heart's not really in it!

[Capcom]