R4 Chip Costing Nintendo Millions in DS Software Sales
Piracy of gaming software is by no means a new phenomenon. Bootleg copies of popular titles have been sold overseas for over a decade now, and in more recent years the Internet has accommodated easy and free distribution of software through illegal downloading websites. As time passes, the process of obtaining pirated copies of games is becoming easier, less expensive, and more widespread. As a result, this practice is starting to cost the gaming industry millions of dollars each year in software sales.
As the Nintendo DS is enjoying widespread popularity and record-breaking sales, it has also attracted the interest of piracy companies looking to cash in on some of Nintendo’s profit. Recently, the Revolution for DS, or the R4 chip has experienced high sales numbers despite the fact that it accommodates the practice of software piracy. What makes the R4 chip unique among other more traditional methods of piracy is that much like re-writable CD’s and DVD’s, the R4 device itself is not guilty of breaking any copyright laws.
Essentially, the chip acts as a general storage device that allows users to play digital content off of their DS hardware. Although the device can be used for perfectly legal activities, such as playing legally obtained music or videos off of the DS, it can also store software for illegally downloaded DS games, and can run these titles almost flawlessly on the DS hardware. Needless to say, this is quite concerning for Nintendo, and the company has started to crack down on the sales and distribution of the device.
Despite Nintendo’s best efforts, the R4 chip is now available within many retail electronics stores in Japan. The stores that sell the chip deliberately avoid discussing the exact nature of the product with their customers in order to avoid legal repercussions. Many even refuse to publicly disclose their sales totals for their own safety. Specifically, an advertisement for one of these stores in the Akihabara electronics district reads:
New R4 shipment has finally arrived! You know what it does! Absolutely no questions will be answered concerning this product . . .
Although the video game piracy industry has gained a small victory with the sale of this product at retail, Nintendo will continue to fight against the use of the R4 chip for illegal activities. Recently, a representative from Nintendo stated:
We are keeping a close eye on the products and studying them. But we cannot smash all of them.
Times Online
via Kotaku
I have had an R4DS for months and let me tell you its a great piece of kit, it basically gives your DS the functionality of the PSP, playing music and video and even better is that there is a growing community that are creating there own games for the DS that you would never be able to play otherwise.
I will admit i have downloaded some DS roms.You can play any region DS roms, which means that you can play any DS game as soon as it comes out in Japan with many games automatically detecting English and working perfect, even the online works perfect from every game.
I am stuck in Europe and have to wait months for our version and We still have to pay prices that you wouldn’t believe and i can only afford to buy so many. A single new DS game costs €49.99 which at the current exchange rate is about $75US.
Nintendo has really missed the mark with this and its simply because there is no need to ever update firmware for the DS.
Now you might say oh tut tut tut thats dishonest but if you tried being stuck in an English speaking country and waiting for localisation for a region free device you would have been fed up too.
Mind you if i feel that the game is good enough after i download it and once it becomes available i do purchase it.
The single handiest thing about the R4DS is that with a 2gb micro SD card you can carry as many games with you as you want without ever changing cards, then listen to some music and watch a movie.
Another good thing is that it lets you try games that you would never, ever play otherwise. For instance I would not be aware of the genius of Osu Tatake Ouenden if it weren’t for my supercard lite.
Also I gotta ask, why have an article about this deivce on this website? All you’ve done is birng it to the attention of a few hundred/thousand new DS gamers….
I am in exactly the same boat as WolfeatingRaven.
This is crap, I have a R4, and I still have around 30 purchased titles. I use this neato cart for homebrew applications that devs are too scared to produce. Not to mention that I can backup all my nDS games and place them on one 2GB microSD. So when I go to a friend’s house I don’t have to drag a suitcase full of games. Nintendo is just finding something to cry about just like the RIAA.
I would never have bought a Nintendo DS if I had not heard of the R4. In other words, thanks to the R4, Nintendo sold another DS.
I only bought one game for the DS because frankly I don’t care enough to buy DS games. Every game I download is not a lost sell. I would NEVER have bought them in the first place. If anything, they are lucky I am playing the games for FREE because otherwise I would have never heard of them.
I think it’s retarded to think that there are a bunch of people unlike myself – people that would have bought the games if it wasn’t for the R4. That is simply untrue. The R4 may be costing Nintendo money but nowhere near as much money as they think.
@Karmarogue
While I agree that you are not costing Nintendo money by not buying a game (beacuse you wouldn’t have bought it anyways). Just like I would never buy a Metallica album, so downloading “Ride the Lightning” doesn’t mean that they lost a sale, cause they never had one to begin with. But seriously dude, give the 3rd parties some props and pick up the game if you enjoy it.
First party games will sell no matter what, but what about the 3rd parties that don’t really get the credit for creating fun nDS games? I mean nDS games are cheap compared to console games, I usually find them for under $20.
The Nintendo DS is one of the best systems that I have owned in a long time, has a awesome diverse library, long battery life, and unmatched gameplay. And while I agree that the R4 isn’t costing Nintendo money, if you really enjoy a game that you wouldn’t have given a chance if you didn’t have the R4, pick it up next time it’s on sale!
@Billie,
The one game I bought? Izuna the Unemployed Ninja – because I knew it needed the support and I love roguelikes… which is another reason I own a R4 – for the homebrew roguelikes!