ANALYSIS: Nintendo piracy

The DS is the most successful games machine of all time. It has sold over 132 million units since its 2004 debut and has housed some of the most successful video games ever released.

But there’s a problem.

Since 2007, DS piracy cards – such as the infamous R4 – have plagued the handheld. Software sales have fallen, developers and publishers have reduced their DS output and the console sales have slowed. Even big-name titles, such as Take-Two’s Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, have suffered.

It’s not known exactly how many DS copier cards are on the market. However, the fact that Nintendo has seized half a million of these devices between January 2009 and July 31st 2010 shows the scale of the problem.

But Nintendo isn’t a company to be rolled-over by IP thieves. The platform holder recruited the best anti-piracy experts, liaised with the Governments of the world and took the biggest offenders to court. Nintendo fought back.

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