Nintendo has claimed victory in a court case to stop Dutch retailers selling Wii modchips and R4 cartridges for the Nintendo DS.
A court in the Netherlands has ruled against 11 Dutch retailers that Nintendo claimed were illegally selling DS R4 cartridges and mod chips for the Nintendo Wii.
DS R4 carts can be used to play ‘backup’ (for which, read ‘pirated’, say Nintendo) copies of games for the Nintendo DS and DSi. They do have a couple of legitimate uses – playing homebrew apps and games and playing MP3s from SD card, for example – but Nintendo is concerned about the ease by which you can download a DS ROM and play it from a microSD card in an R4 cartridge.
Similarly, the mod chips on sale allowed unscrupulous Wii owners to play games from homemade DVDs and memory sticks, including pirated games downloaded form the internet.
The Hague District Court rejected the retailer’s rather cheeky defence that Nintendo’s objection was an act of unfair competition.
Nintendo issued the following statement in ‘let that be a warning to you’ mode,
Nintendo takes this action not only for the company’s sake, but in the interests of its partners who spend time and money legitimately developing software for Nintendo video game consoles and systems, and customers who expect the highest standards and integrity from products bearing the Nintendo name.
Not available any more | £n/a | Nintendo (via MCV)
