Nintendo, Chinese government hunts down pirates

by Dan Dormer { Oct 22nd 2007 at 11:06PM }

Nintendo doesn't get along well with pirates. Maybe they don't like peg legs. Maybe scurvy gives them the creeps. Perhaps, a problem with parrots? Whatever the case may be, let it be known if you're found producing mod chips or game copying devices, Nintendo will raise anchor, drops the sails, and charge at you full speed ahead in a game of aquatic chicken ... and they don't blink (because a corporate entity doesn't have eyes).

Playing the Governor Alexander Spotswood to Supreme Factory's Blackbeard (read some history, damn it!), Nintendo "requested" the Chinese High Court (assuming the role of Lieutenant Robert Maynard) to stop a "global distribution operative involving game copying devices and modification chips." The court raided Supreme Factory, collecting over "10,000 game copying devices and mod chips." Nintendo joined forces with the US Government back in April in an attempt to help curb piracy in China. Guess that's working out well for them.

Tags: HongKong, Nintendo, Piracy

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

F1 @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:13PM

That pictures Hilarious!!

bleh @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:27PM

There's absolutely no way that Nintendo will ever win this war. And what's more, they shouldn't. I still haven't seen any advantages that the Virtual Console offers over a free ROM. Kudos to whoever is shirking their undeserved profits.

kennethrios @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:32PM

Undeserved profits? This is about a little bit more than ROMs. (i.e your love of stealing)

Chaotic (FDF - Fry) @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:35PM

I want all my games to be free, dammit! I shouldn't have to pay for anything!

bm @ Oct 23rd 2007 1:35PM

"I still haven't seen any advantages that the Virtual Console offers over a free ROM."

You're right. Hell, I still haven't seen the advantages any game ever made offers over a free ISO download off the internet!

Get a job, you worthless hobo.

plyx @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:28PM

Nintendo: World Police.

kennethrios @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:47PM

A worldwide police state run by Nintendo wouldn't be half bad. All of our emotions would be suppressed save for happiness, we'd wear pure white turtle necks, and we would smile a lot while playing video games (because of the forced sedative, of course). I need not say what system we would be playing.

Blast Processing Megadrive @ Oct 23rd 2007 12:06AM

We'd all be playing Virtual Boys, right?

JanJan @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:29PM

I hope Nintendo sends Ninjas to hunt down these Pirates

kennethrios @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:41PM

This reminds me of a story that my psychology professor told us on night. Apparently these several mad people honestly believed they were Jesus and we’re somehow able to talk with each other without letting go of the fantasy. Interesting stuff!

Nailio @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:45PM

Nah, Ninja's are too hard to manage. Ever heard of Siamese fighting fish?

Same thing

gonk @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:51PM

man pirates 3 sucked balls

and didn't nintendo do this same thing like 2 years ago?

B3astofthe3ast @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:54PM

I thought it was completly legal to mod your system?

drun @ Oct 22nd 2007 11:55PM

I'm in China and I guess that raid just doesn't mean a lot, sale continues. Personally I do love genuine copies because pirates really spoil your gaming habit if you get a game with soooooooo low price. I really miss the time when DS was just released and no pirates appeared yet and everyone was waiting for the favorite game to be released (imported).

And also one damn thing, that Wii is not region-free, and there's no Asian/Chinese/even Hong Kong or Taiwan ver. console (PS3 and X360 have simplified-Chinese ver!). So I'm using a Japanese one and I could only play Japanese games(myself fine reading JP or EN, foreign language majored.), but I'm not in Japan and I'm not free to buy any JP games and store owners not pleasant to import many.

Ah, I do hope pirates be wipe off. Don't play games if you can't afford it. Damn, I really hope everyone here understands this.

gonk @ Oct 23rd 2007 12:20AM

i understood most of it, nice try :)

drun @ Oct 23rd 2007 12:40AM

Oh, the last "HERE" means in China, not Joystiq or somewhere else...thanks gonk ;)

Prototype @ Nov 1st 2007 6:26PM

Just curious, is part of this due to government restrictions (slimmed down Xbox 360 and PS3), or is it all the companies themselves not investing the time into it?

drun @ Nov 2nd 2007 1:51AM

the biggest frustration is that...the government NEVER encourage gaming. It's evil, it spoils children, and, it's the child thing. Also people are so getting used to piracy, they're not evern interested in genuine PC games which only cost 69 yuan for a imported copy. But if there's a choice, I think people will be willing to pay.

we've got a quite nice EA agency here, we already have imported FIFA 08, so it's pretty quick. So I think the major point is still the attitude of manufacturers.

Now even Microsoft lower the price of Vista here, the home basic cost 499 yuan (official price), about 70 USD, and home premium cost 899, about 120 USD. Still expensive but at least they tried.

But the habit of using cheaper pirated disks is hard to adjust. It's not a problem of time...just nobody try to twist it.

dustandechoes91 @ Oct 23rd 2007 12:36AM

yet the mu and the vii are still out there

Psaakyrn @ Oct 23rd 2007 12:40AM

1) The whole software IP market is messed up. Software has high production costs, but low reproduction costs. Essentially meaning that either (a) you don't sell enough to make up for costs, or (b) you manage to make up the costs, and every single extra copy sold is essentially pure profit.

2) Even if it's messed up, we're still bound by law. So long as the papers are signed, as long as the IP owner says so, you MUST pay up to have their IP, at least until said IP expires. Generally either eons after they make a profit, or when the IP is lost.

3) Companies like to maximize profits. So they do not like to lose their IP (See example: Disney and copyright extension). Once the IP is lost, the potential profit for said IP is essentially maxed out.

Frankly, the only way to fight this trend, is to sell your IP in deferrence to traditional rules. But you stand to lose out in potential profits in doing so. And almost everyone likes money.

hartleyshc @ Oct 23rd 2007 12:52AM

Reminds me of the good ol' Bung days.

ColossalHat @ Oct 23rd 2007 1:24AM

Meh, my view on piracy is that it's not going to make a big enough dent in sales to hurt the companies. Not only that, but emulators have barely caught up to the PS1 so there's no worries of losing much profit there.

Maybe it's because the Wii is very similar to the cube that Nintendo's so crazy lately about piracy. Then again, Nintendo's always been pretty touchy about their stuff. Kind of like how a two or three year old kid will horde cookies or toys and whine about it for days if you touch them (or give them back and play with the darn kid).

Psaakyrn @ Oct 23rd 2007 6:25AM

Of cause, there's also this clause which states that you must be actively protecting your IP in the face of IP infringement, or you could be risking being deemed trying to get more money out of possible settlements, or something similar. I'm not a lawyer, so I don't know all these technical terms. :x

ClawShrimp @ Oct 23rd 2007 8:51AM

I just recently got back from Beijing and can say without hesitation there is no way Nintendo can beat piracy there (let alone Shanghai).

Modded consoles are sold by default (I couldn't find anywhere that stocked un-modded units), such is the blanket acceptance of piracy.

Bootleg Wii games are sold everywhere, not just game stores or markets. Hell, I had people approching me on the street with suit-cases full of them! 10 Yuan each!

I don't support piracy in any way shape or form, but Nintendo has to be realistic.

LaughingTarget @ Oct 23rd 2007 10:38AM

I agree with you as well. Pirates are dirt (offense intended to those here who pirate) and shouldn't be given any quarter or pity. Theft is theft, no way to rationalize around it.

If Nintendo really cares that much about piracy, they could cut down on it significantly by not producing their products in China. The main reason any of these games get out on the market in the first place is because they get stolen from the production facilities. They somewhat have the idea, a cursory examination of all my Wii games show Made in the USA on every bit of it (box and manual, disk doesn't show that but I assume it was stamped here as well), but they do have extensive Chinese facilities, particularly the Wii itself.

The first step to cut back on Chinese piracy is to not produce anything you consider a valuable IP there. Since most companies continue to outsource to China, the reality of it is the cost of ongoing piracy in China is cheaper than producing the products in a nation that has low instances of piracy.

Darkwolf @ Oct 29th 2007 2:29PM

Bottom Line: If it's on the NET, it's fair game.

GGMM @ Dec 6th 2007 2:05AM

Where is Nintendo China Company located?

GGMM @ Dec 6th 2007 2:10AM

Nintendo China has its regional headquarter in Suzhou, and commercial center in Shanghai, and serveral sales offices in Beijin, Guangzhou, chengdu, Shengyan,etc.
Compared with the rival Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo has strong and early-bird advantages of presence in Chinese market.