DSi Features Enhanced Anti-Piracy Measures?

[Michael Grimm]

DSi Features Enhanced Anti-Piracy Measures?

Complaints and angry posts are popping up in assorted gaming forums regarding the DSi's inability, or possibly refusal, to play bootlegged software.

While the average response is most likely "Well it serves those pirates right.", the issue stems from customers who unknowingly purchase bootleg games sold through internet retailers. Bootlegged games sold through retail outlets can be very convincing and can resemble their official counterparts almost identically. If the owners of the pirated carts really are innocent as they claim, it seems unlikely that they'll have any kind of financial recourse other than to complain to their online retailer of choice about the bootleg games, or just stick with their DS/DS Lite.

Of course Nintendo has made no direct statement on the issue, other than this canned spokesperson response:

"Nintendo vigorously fights the illegal copying of video games around the world. All of our hardware and software includes technological features that combat video game piracy, but we do not disclose what those specific features are."

While the reasons for not detailing their specific security procedures are obvious, it seems if there were increased anti-piracy measures Nintendo wouldn't be hurting itself by simply confirming or denying their existence.

Even if the new measures are thwarting old bootlegged games and flash carts, including the Action Replay and R4 among others, a number of sites are already selling new DSi compatible flash carts. Whether or not Nintendo will continue fighting the battle against piracy via its system updates is unknown.

Source: <a href="http://kotaku.com/5213054/dsi-includes-new-anti+piracy-protection"
target="_blank">www.Kotaku.com


Permalink

 

[Flying-Emu]

People are complaining? They know it's dangerous to buy copies of videogames online. They shouldn't be surprised.

They shouldn't be complaining to Nintendo; they should be complaining to the source they bought the games from. It's not Nintendo's fault; they're protecting their interests, and I applaud them for that.

 

[Sir Ollie]

But the DSi has already been hacked

oh wait i see now

 

[ratix2]

its not that buying games online is risky, its just that consumers need to be careful of where they are buying their games from. most illegimate sites usually have something to tip consumers off to the fact that the sites are bad to begin with. selling new games for well below the retail cost is one of the biggest, many times these sites well sell supposedly new, unused games for as much as 50% off what they would be at retail. if buying from amazon or ebay, check the seller out. if they are from china or russia the likelyhood that they are illegimate is much higher than if they are in the us, canada or western europe. and if your buying new and not used, go with trusted sites, walmart, best buy or gamestop (it really hurts me to say those last two). its pretty easy to make sure your not getting ripped off, but consumers just need to pay attention.

 

[Flying-Emu]

*snip*but consumers just need to pay attention.

That's my point. It's dangerous to buy games online if you don't pay attention. Which... nobody does.

 

[sheic99]

People are complaining? They know it's dangerous to buy copies of videogames online. They shouldn't be surprised.

They shouldn't be complaining to Nintendo; they should be complaining to the source they bought the games from. It's not Nintendo's fault; they're protecting their interests, and I applaud them for that.

What about the people who want to play homebrew and freeware games that are created for the DS. People who have Bob's game could no longer play it.

 

[IxionIndustries]

Meh, in some way the mighty Pirates will find a way to hack it. But I never really cared about games for the DS, so I never bothered with trying to Torrent them.

 

[Flying-Emu]

What about the people who want to play homebrew and freeware games that are created for the DS. People who have Bob's game could no longer play it.

Tough luck. The game did not receive Nintendo's SOA (Seal of Approval), and therefore is not certified to be run on their systems. I understand the frustration, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. Homebrew and Freeware games are not guaranteed by Nintendo to work on their system. Their system is not meant for it. If people wish to play "homebrew" DS games, then they can shell out the extra cash for a Nintendo DS Lite or Fatty.

Nintendo should not have to weaken its systems defenses to play games that they aren't receiving a lick of cash for. It's all about money; if they don't make money off of it, why should they allow it?

 

[scotth266]

Huh? Pirates complain because the new system is hard to hack? Honestly, who cares? Does this new DS play any differently?

It all seems rather pointless.

 

[mistwolf]

Whether or not Nintendo will continue fighting the battle against piracy via its system updates is unknown.

Because that worked so well for Sony.

 

[kazork]

I can just hear it now...

Mew mew mew
My DSi won't play illegal games
Mew mew mew
How was I to know it wasn't a legit copy, I thought $10 was the retail price. There was no way to know it was a scam at "ds-copygames.com"...
Mew mew motherfucking mew

Fuck pirates, they are scum. Double-fuck idiots, they are worse.

thank you! you made my far to early morning a little bit easier.

ppl are stupid

 

[Spyalt]

When are people going to start paying attention to buying games online?

 

[KDR_11k]

This'll help tracking the counterfeiters I guess, if people complain that games from a certain retailer fail to work on their DSi Nintendo knows who to sue.

Meh, in some way the mighty Pirates will find a way to hack it. But I never really cared about games for the DS, so I never bothered with trying to Torrent them.

I don't think that's what it's about. There are tons of counterfeiters in China and Russia (and some other countries) that produce counterfeit game carts and sell them as legit copies. They aren't torrented, they're bought at retail. I don't think it's fair to place all the blame at the buyer's feet, the counterfeiters work hard to trick people into buying the fakes so it's likely that at least a part of the fakes couldn't have been spotted by the buyer beforehand.

 

[cattedge]

One of my favorite games is the very rare Electroplankton. I was super sad when my ds was stolen with the game inside. I got a DSi for my birthday and my brother bought me a copy of Electroplankton to replace my stolen one. Unfortunately, it was a counterfeit and will not play on my DSi although it was sold by Play and Trade and works on the DS lite.

How am I to buy a real, legit copy of this game? I could scour E-bay and pay $110 for a copy that may or may not be real. The counterfeit was $50 by itself!

Although piracy is a problem, I am the one who is paying for the DSi having piracy protection. I cannot verify the legitimacy of a rare game from an online retailer until I have it in hand and have already paid for it. Because Electroplankton is rare, there is no way to buy the game new and I have to get it from E-bay or other online sites since it almost never comes into stores used. All I want is my copy of Electroplankton back! I understand the need for piracy protection but everyone in this forum who is like "pirates should rot, who cares about piracy protection" forgets that people like me, who are not pirating, can get stuck paying good money for games that don't work. I want Electroplankton back :-(