Nintendo has successfully managed to ban R4 Flash Carts in France. The R4 cards are already banned in the United Kingdom but according to a press release issued by Nintendo today, they’re now officially banned in France. The Court has imposed over 460,000 Euro in criminal fines, damages payable to Nintendo in excess of 4.8 million Euros and, in some instances, ordered suspended prison terms.
“Nintendo supported this criminal action not only for the company’s sake, but for the interests of its game developer partners who spend time and money legitimately developing software for Nintendo’s game platforms, and customers who expect the highest standards and integrity from products bearing the Nintendo name.”
– Stephan Bole, Managing Director of Nintendo France.
Do you think they know that the 3ds has been hacked?
I’d be surprised if they didn’t.
Well not fully so they probably not worrying about it that much yet.
Do you know that in the middle east has the R4, & its still so famous, it has for the DS, DS LITE, DSI, DSIXL, & 3DS, PLUS THE WII !!!
YESH YESH!
How do you get a video to show in a post?
Just post the link, I found that out by accident.
^this.
Thanks!
I laughed xD. it’s a good thing they won imo.
I always like it to make someone smile :)
DAMN, that’s 4.8 million Euros lol, that equals 63969600 US dollars, that’s enough mullah to fund another AAA game or 2
Hell yeah it is.
Eh, no, you’ve made an error in your conversion. It’s a little over 6mil, not 60mil.
oh i came from a couple years in the future, thats accurate, dollar drops that low after The Great Default of 2013.
lol yea i saw that a bit ago but alas we got no edit, so its gonna stay….what an eyesore…well anyways 6.3mil is still alot
LMAO, good one.
What bout other Flashcards?
I believe it’s all Flash Carts in general.
Good. Buying a r4 card is basically like stealing hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars worth of games. Banning them can only be a good thing. Action Replays I can tolerate for the purpose of pokemon, but r4s are horrible and disgraceful to nintendo and its developers.
What about people who just use them for homebrew?
Are there actually people who do that?
Yes. I think it’s immoral to illegally download things – but homebrew, I’m all for.
I would agree, but homebrew in its own is kinda illegal as well, don’t they need official dev kits to make games with Nitnendo’s permission?
You buy the console. It’s yours, right?
If they want to make homebrews illegal, then we should rent the consoles and give them back once we’re over. Since we buy the console, it’s nonsense that homebrews are illegal.
I am using Acekard 2i on my DSi to watch anime on my DSi while on plane. I bought my DSi. Why would someone be upset of such a use? If this is illegal, then it’s about time the law gets refreshed.
Buying the console does not mean u bought rights to the software to make games on it. because i bought a PC i can go an pirate Maya, or Flash and go and make some small games for PC then to publish them? is that fair to Autodesk or adobe (even though adobe kinda deserves it)
Terrible reasoning. Homebrew should not be illegal.
Try to follow the logic here greencheese: You buy the hardware, NOT rent it. You then get, say, a movie viewer that you downloaded from someone who developed it themselves. Then you watch movies that you ripped from your DVD collection to watch on a roadtrip. Tell me when does this become illegal?
Pirating Maya in your example is when it became illegal. What if you made your OWN “Maya” software but freeware like Blender and let it be run on 3DS software (for some dumb reason) that requires homebrewing.
It’s only when you start to sell things is when things get iffy.
that’s the thing I’m all for open source an all that, the blender thing is a great comparison, but the license to create games/programs for a console that i don’t have the license to create games for, that’s what Nintendo(or any other company) doesn’t like (its kinda dumb but that’s what it is), making games for a console is fine, but there are procedures, if u want to ignore that procedure, then look at Kongregate and Mojang, they’ve made tons of money being on the indie scene on pc.
There are procedures if you want to sell what you created.
I buy DSi -> I mod -> I’m fine.
I buy DSi -> I mod -> I offer my mod to my friends -> I’m fine.
I buy DSi -> I mod -> I try to make money with this mod – > I won’t be fine.
Purpose is to control quality. If it’s free and if it’s not approved by Nintendo, people will know it’s not official, they try it for fun, that’s all.
Ok, lets see here any more replies and this will turn into 1 letter per line.
If i build a car, for lulz, and I take it on the road for lulz, I have no license to drive, but since I built it for lulz the DMV wont come out to get me right? sure there is the whole threatening lives and such, (unlike home-brew stuff, which is perfectly fine, just leave it to pc games an stuff were its perfectly welcome there), but the fact is that’s how it the DMV wants it, u need a license to drive(and the car must be approved too but that’s too much for this example) anything on their roads. Therefore to make games for a Nintendo platform u need approval. that’s just how Nintendo rolls. Its wrong, but it is what it is.
On our way towards 1 letter per line! :P
Public safety, my friend, is a different domain compared with entertainment. You don’t consult the IP law to decide if a vehicle is safe or not… I mean, I understand what you tried to do, but this is pure demagogy and therefore, wrong.
Here, we’re talking about IP, that’s all. Safety isn’t the subject. And so, you can do what you want, as long as you don’t sell. Homebrews are legal.
looks like we can’t reply to anon’s comment. Goodbye 1 letter per line.
Woah… *blinks*
Homebrews are legal I think. Thing is : Cards like Acekard, R4, etc. are being sold. Lol. Nintendo would need to produce the mini-sd cartridges and sell them, forbidding the use of downloaded roms of course. Then, everything would be fine, we could have a community of modders and Nintendo would pwn. I mean…. I looooved watching dragon balls on my DSi on my way to Japan ;)
ok, there’s no reply button so i am going to reply here.
The car example was just a concept for the idea I wanted to portray. not to be taken directly and literally. I’m not saying that home-brews are legal or illegal, what I,m saying is that Nintendo has the right to do these things on the console they made, if they think its wrong to use these flash cartridges on their system then they have all the right to exercise there right to protect their business practice.
Now like u said if these cards were given freely or if Nintendo themselves distributed them, we would have a different story
No no no. Homebrew is fine. There’s a stark contrast between making a game and publishing it. If it’s not published, there’s no problem. Read the international copyright convention.
What if you only put games on the card you already own so it’s like a way of carrying around a mass of games with less space consumption and more ease, would you allow it then?
This is what I used to do because I had around 37 games and I played all of them a lot, and carrying around an r4 with those 37 games made it easier on me. So I am pretty sure that is fine as long as you own them.
I do this too, it makes perfect sense. But yeah, it sucks that the system that makes that possible is also the system that makes it simple to download games you don’t actually own. I’m sure the percentages are 99% piracy, .5% Homebrew, .5% consolidate purchased games to a single card.
I did the same with my Wii, it’s GREAT to have all my games in a coverflow menu and never have to touch a DVD. But again, probably mostly used for piracy… =(
We need to BUY the games to support the development of future games.
they should ban those cards in america too
Doing so is to violate our rights. They should not. Guess they should also ban candy. Because it’s bad for you.
what rights, rights to break copyright law? since when do we have that?
^this
^ This ^this
^THIS THIS THIS
^This ^THIS THIS THIS
It’s not the right break copyright laws, it’s the right to backup games that you own without fear of unreasonable search and seizure. Should we also ban VCRs?
Most copyright laws are limiting contribution from outside sources, such is the case with Sony lawsuits which would’ve made it illegal for research groups to use their PS3s linked together as super computers in order to complete calculations at greater speeds. That’s why most forms of “piracy” aren’t illegal. And as soon as you start making things like this illegal in America you will begin to limit the amount of knowledge a collective community has, and limit advances in science. There’s an interesting article on TED that I recommend looking up. It talks about how the clothing industry has no copyright laws, and how it’s one of the most successful industries in the world, despite people try to replicate it, and despite the music, movie and gaming industries loosing money. It’s because open source forces people to strive to make a superior product. The problem with copyrighted industries is they don’t need to make anything superior because they are only competing with themselves.
More info on copyrights here: http://www.untwistedvortex.com/2007/03/20/downloading-pirated-anything-is-not-illegal/
I don’t believe u see the point, they are not making something new out of stuff people pirate, they just outright take it and add nothing back. I go and copy Mario Galaxy 2, and play it, see the credits and I’m done. where is knowledge being added there? the only knowledge there is that i know how the game ends and saved 40$
I agree that having the tech available for evry1 makes the software so much better, such as Firefox, but that’s open-source, not everything is open-source
The cards aren’t developed for piracy purposes. It’s just an example of people taking good technology and corrupting it.
The companies could of added something to read piracy protection and such, but the problem was the cards were being manufactured and the kernels were being updated to purposely override/overlook the anti-piracy measure on the ROMs and that’s why it got abused.
So you think outlawing a development tool is good because there are people out there that abuse it?
if the ratio of people who use it and abuse it is high enough compared to the non abusers (which it is) then yea. and the companies never tried to make it otherwise, they purposely ignored the fact that the majority of people were using it for piracy and actually helped them.
Haha, mate, why don’t you look up a thing called the Video Game Crash of 1983?
Caused largely by everyone developing whatever the hell they want. Nintendo saved the industry by limiting input. Learn your history.
That was 83 when video games were something relatively new. Take a look at the software industry. It is open to third party developers but you don’t see a crash in the software industry, despite all the low quality junk out there.
The crash was due to people developing a number of bad games through and through just because they had an idea. Now they support third parties, but they do so through proper documentation. Imagine if all of a sudden they started shipping games like Angry Birds in retail boxes at $50 just because they have an idea. Homebrew and independent development is good, and in some places, they have laws that support that and backing up your games. However, when people learn of those things, it just becomes easy for them to just download and copy a retail game that they got from the Internet using those flash cards. That’s the whole debate. You may say that people have the right to back up their games, but how do these companies know you actually bought the product?
I think it’s funny how most people complain about the threats from Nintendo, yet we’ve all been made ‘fully’ aware of this since the day you turned on your 3DS. It’s kind of funny how many people don’t (ever) read user agreements…like the one you have to click ‘I accept’ in order to download the updates.
It basically states that there is the possibility that any unauthorized content on the system could render the system completely unplayable after an update…and yadda yadda, not to do it.
yeah, lets spend hundreds of euros buying games now…
Exactly, as intended. BOO HOO, YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY SPEND MONEY AND SUPPORT A GAME DEVELOPER! POOR YOU!
SO basically the people who already have a flash card are lucky.
I’m happy for this. I may support independent development and stuff like homebrew, but when people use these as an excuse to just pirate games, then that hurts the industry in general, not just Nintendo.
So you think putting a lockdown on independent development is the way to answer this threat?
Make a PC game or an iOS game. No need to develop specifically for the DS. No body starts at the top. If you want to work for a that kind of hardware then build a portfolio and send a CV to Nintendo. Or start your own game development company. And hope that it succeeds.
Agreed :)
Start with game maker or something, or the new Windows 8 supports lotsa programming stuff and easy publishing
So you think a computer is on equal programming grounds as a DS? Despite the functionality of a DS? If that were the case then why bother buying a DS?
If they can develop for a DS, then they most certainly can develop for the PC. In fact, they could just get an iOS or Android dev kit and make games for those. Development is one thing; pirating is another. You can tell me all you want about an open platform. The thing is, these companies spend billions of dollars creating these machines and millions more on games. Granted, Nintendo games sell like hotcakes, but small developers that have finally gotten the resources to publish games on these machines get the short end of the stick. Independent development may sound like something novel in early stages, but when they grow in size, they feel frustrated that they can’t sell their games because there are mediums for people to get these games illegally.
Good for them! now get this done in North America despite what the guy above said. Its just not fair for the people who buy there games legally.
Good news for Nintendo, I just looked on R4 flash cards, and didn’t know what the devil they were until I saw a Youtube video of them.
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Nintendo should stop this in Tepito, Mexico City.
Nintendo should stop it in both Americas!
I reckon they should have just banned game download sites so we could still play homebrew games. y homebrew games.
I hope Nintendo stops this in NOA and Australia next.
Also, Nintendo really needs to look carefully with the Wii U homebrew. theres a possible change there will be wii u homebrew.
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If Nintendo made their systems open to homebrew then there would be no need for things like this. Apple at least got it right by opening their software to third party developers. This limited the need for “jailbreak”ing an iPod/iPhone.
This hasn’t accomplished anything in the battle for ‘piracy’ besides limit the ability for homebrew and independent development. It’s a shame that such censorship is becoming standardized in our world, and a bigger shame that so many of you think it’s a good idea to limit what people can do just because there are some bad eggs out there.
Don’t get your knickers in a twist. Nintendo said that they were gonna let people develop for Wii U….or 3DS. One of the two. I forget which.
Just pointing out that limiting resources for external developers isn’t a good idea. The US can’t ban R4 cards because copyright laws state that once you own a product it is yours to do with what you want. So if you buy a computer from HP you can open it up and add stuff to it. Or if you have an iPod or DS you can do the same.
Going down this route that Europe and France have gone down lead to making it illegal to make changes or even break a warranty on products which you own.
ohyeah because my ipod hasnt been jailbroken lol
If you are a US Citizen you have the right to jailbreak your ipod. You also have the right to port Mame games to it, or even Minecraft. You dont have the right to steal newly developed games.
Just as if you are a US Citizen you have the right to open up your DS, put R4 cards in it, try to over clock it, etc. This verdict is taking that privilege away from those of us in other countries.
you still need to buy dev kits for apple. As for Nintendo, they support people who want a career in video game development. However, they have stated that they have no intention to support “garage” development, which is essentially the people who make an app like the one you use to show your friends like the peeing app on iOS just to make some money.
So who are they to say what you can and can’t do with a device you own? Should computer makers start doing the same? Is it ok for HP to say “You can’t install that program on your computer cause it’s pointless and dumb.”? Third party apps are developed and pick up fanfare for a reason. Look at minecraft if you want an example. If laws like this continue then third party application/software will no longer have a place.
And most of the programs that were imported into apple through their dev kits were originally written for jailbroken iphones. It was only after apple realized the error in shutting down their systems that the app market was made and they were imported.
Good let’s hope they ban it everywhere I still got my old r4 from a couple years ago that I haven’t used since early 09 and I don’t like it besides I was hesitant when It was purchased for me because I wanted to keep buying games and I love nintendo to much to rip them off thousands of dollars I already have eight 3ds games purchased
Oh great, more of the “piracy is killing the gaming industry” bullshit.
You know what’s great about flashcards? the fact that I can play fully translated japan exclusive games.
Tales of Innocents
Soma Bringer
Mother 3 (Funny how there’s still a campaign to get this to the states)
There’s also great homebrew such as Minecraft and Touhou.
Although DRM is less of an issue on the DS than it is on the PC it doesn’t take long for someone to crack it.
It IS killing the gaming industry.
I agree on the part and JP-exclusives, but it’s not fair to someone who wants to pay to have the game imported. The fact that you’re stealing from Nintendo just to be able to say “ha ha, i’m better than you” is bullshit.
O no!! Thy blocked the R4, the world’s sorriest flash cart out there and it’s been banned in 3 countries. Flash carts are redesigned, sold under a different name, new devs create new carts, and as long as ANY DS takes a cartridge this will continue. CycloDS EVOi ftw.
i know hacking is wrong but is there a way now that they banned them to get my sav file on a normal pokemon black game(please reply i have lots of hard to get pokemon)
Now if you have those files on your computer then you can get the pokemon off the GTS using DNS servers off wi-fi. Google pokemon selcetor and then upload your pokemon amd then change your DNS numbers under your internet conection on your DSi or game what ever you use for a DS. Then go to the GTS and collect. Now you have to upload files indvidualy but you dont have to change the DNS numbers until your fully done. change them back to normal once your done or you wont be able to comunicate on wi-fi
I’d be really surprised if they manage to ban them in south America, games and consoles here get WAY to expensive, it’s a rip-off!
I don’t know what to say to all of this besides Nintendo takes gaming seriously along with its hard working programmers and stuff.
Personally, I hate piracy. Good to hear this going on in Europe.
I really dislike people who pirate games. I had a friend once who literally downloaded over 4000 dollars worth of games, games that I pay for. (with my allowance, so it really doesn’t actually mean much in terms of earning the game, but still.)
I also really hate people who pirate movies.
Really, i went on holiday and found a shop full of pirated DVD’s and video games.
I was $30 – $40 on a lousy ds game, and I use an r4 card and you say that I am stealing? You are an idiot not to use an r4 card. Greedy game developers charge you too much on a crap game. Then on xbox and psn they charge you for dlc. Now they charge to use servers to play certain games, making used games worthless on trade-ins or resale. You tell me who is stealing from who? There will always be a way to mod any system. Hats off to those hackers saving me some money.
I waste $30 – $40 on a lousy ds game, and I use an r4 card and you say that I am stealing? You are an idiot not to use an r4 card. Greedy game developers charge you too much on a crap game. Then on xbox and psn they charge you for dlc. Now they charge to use servers to play certain games, making used games worthless on trade-ins or resale. You tell me who is stealing from who? There will always be a way to mod any system. Hats off to those hackers saving me some money.
If I like a game, I generally buy it. I bought an Acekard a while ago, and usually try games out, and if I like them enough to play them a lot, I buy them. But why buy a game when a lot of them are just shovelware and worthless? Developers keep on pushing out terrible games, and it’s not worth $30 to have a crappy game. And trading them in to GameStop generally isn’t worth it either. I have only a handful of DS games now, mostly the main Pokemon games. Unless it’s worth buying, I’m not giving the developer money for a game I would not enjoy. I understand why Nintendo wants them banned, but it’ll still be really easy to obtain them regardless. eBay exists. And customs won’t be looking for those. The DS might as well be over, they need to worry about the 3DS and getting people to actually want it. So far, it’s been pretty dismal for them.
You know how NOA is not releasing Xenoblade, TLS, and Pandora for Wii? Because they know aside from it being a niche market, most people in that niche will just pirate the games. They are watching it happen in the european market right now.
I think FINALLY we’ve seen the DIRECT consequences of piracy. Maybe the idiots will finally realize there ARE CONSEQUENCES to their actions.
lol, pirated stuff is not that “big” in there, they should come to asia and not only nintendo would surprised, but sony as well ~ lol
Ahahahahahah! You will never catch us.
…
I swear, it’s impossible. I don’t know a single person who owns a DS without R4 (me included). The richest people I know own R4. They’re only rich because they buy orig at all. Lots of people don’t even know R4 is illegal (me included before a few years ago).
Thats cause in most asian countries it wasn’t illegal until a few years ago. I know this was the case in Japan.
Wow, that’s a lot of cheese!! So what’s the plan now Nintendo seem like a good idea for an upgrade or new gameset huh…;)
Good, they need to ban R4s. Even if you think you are using them legitimately, others are not, therefore, it is ruining the gaming industry. I personally don’t mess with those carts. I buy my games legitimately. I don’t want to be tempted to steal games, because stealing IS a crime.
I’ll stick with my Edge card, lets me play my NES game backups on my DSi anytime I want instead of lugging a TV and an NES with me, I don’t pirate anything with it, just legal backups of games I already own. instead of carrying like 30 games with me I have them all on 1 little card. They shouldn’t be banned just because of a few bad apples, even on most flash developer sites they say they shouldn’t be used for pirating games. Anyone who thinks they should be banned needs to GTFO.
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You hit the nail on the head with a good posting with a lot of
great information
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