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.

Marketing rule #1: If you want people to want your product, imply that not wanting it is somehow abnormal.

That seems to be the idea behind WhatsWrongWithU.com, a site promoting the Xbox 360 in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. The English version (for Singapore) starts things off by posting a a big, "What's Wrong With U" on your screen and drives the point home by showing a snazzy picture of the system with a hand scrawled "You don't want this?" next to it. And what if we don't, huh? You won't be our friend? You won't share your lunch with us? What?

If the rhetorical question didn't convince you, how about a list of six totally gnarly features for the system, like "awesome gaming experiences" and "looks cool." The Xbox 360 has it all, and if you enter your e-mail address, you can have some awesomely rad Xbox 360 icons, emoticons and wallpapers, as well as more advertisements in your e-mail box.

We can't really picture the type of person who is going to be swayed by the petty schoolyard logic behind this site. In fact, because of this site, we'll now always associate the Xbox 360 with Eddie Murphy's ill-advised single WazUpWitU. Marketing rule #2: Being associated with Eddie Murphy's singing is not a good idea.

[Update: Fixed typos in the headline and 2nd parapgraph. Thanks commenters.]

The websites for Sony Hong Kong and Taiwan confirm that the Playstation 3 will launch in both territories on Nov. 17, the same day the system hits North America and six days after it hits Japan. Only the 60GB version will be available initially for NT$17,980 and HK$3,780 respectively, with the 20GB version coming in December for NT$14,980 and HK$3,180.

Non-Japanese Asian markets tend to get systems much later than their brethren in the land of the rising sun -- both the Xbox 360 and DS Lite launched in Taiwan months after their Japanese counterparts. The quick launch is made more quixotic because of Sony's well-reported supply problems, which recently led the console-maker to scale back launch shipment projections in Japan to 80,000 units. Taiwan tech site DigiTimes quotes Sony Computer Entertainment Asia Managing Director Tetsuhiko Yasuda as targeting a million buyers in the region, but didn't indicate how long it might take to reach that number.

[Thanks D123]

According to PlayGadgets.com, a large shipment of black DS Lites bound for Europe, along with a stockpile of DS games, has gone missing in Hong Kong. The estimated value of the merchandise, which was sealed in a cargo container, is 18,000,000 Hong Kong dollars (roughly $2.3 million).

Some reports suggest that black DS Lites have recently entered Hong Kong's 'black' market, prompting police to suspect that the missing cargo container has indeed been stolen. Police are offering a 1,000,000 HKD (almost $129,000) reward for information about the lost goods.

[Thanks, Sean]