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**Rumour** Nintendo gets tough on piracy with 3DS
News reported by 
(Editor)
March 07, 2011, 11:44
 
Nintendo are truly going all out with the Anti-Piracy measure with the 3DS. GoNintendo has picked up word from retailers in Japan that they will check any 3DS systems brought for trade in because Nintendo are going to brick systems via firmware updates if a flash cart shows up in the activity log.

Nintendo actually acknowledging that they will brick systems is probably going to get them a lot of flack from hackers and pirates but i say bring it on, its great to see Nintendo really leading the way here. The text below is from a sign seen at a retail counter in Japan.

"Dear customers who resell Nintendo 3DS "
"non purchase able 3DS system"
In case if you use equipment which is illegal or unapproved by Nintendo or if you do customization which is unapproved by Nintendo, there is a possibility that Nintendo 3DS become non bootable by system update.

- From Nintendo 3DS terms of agreement

Because of terms of agreement above, Enterking refuses to buy 3DS system with record of illegal or unapproved equipment.

"Request to format before you sell"

To protect from leaking your personal and internet connection information, We ask customer to format system. In case purchasing could not be established after you format 3DS system, Enterking is not responsible for lost datas and settings. Please understand before you format.

See the original GoNintendo articles here and here

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03/07/11, 11:44   Edited:  03/07/11, 12:00
 
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Fuck you Nintendo.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 11:47
Unsubstantiated rumour, at least for now, right?

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 11:49
I suppose this will make homebrew nigh on impossible without a lot of hacking but I don't blame them considering how widespread the use of R4 cards are.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 11:49
@Pandareus

I don't think so considering retailers in Japan have signs up about it.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 11:51
@warerare

Right, but those retailers may just be covering their asses.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 11:55
@Pandareus

I wouldn't have thought retailers would just put these signs up based on rumour. Surely they have heard something, I will add rumour to the title as a precaution.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 12:00   Edited:  03/07/11, 12:00
X-pert74 said:
Fuck you Nintendo.



Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 15:02
@Simbabbad
I think it's a reaction to he probability that homebrew will be a "brickable" offense, even if just to circumvent the region lock.

It's a small price to pay, but this is a good move overall I think.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 15:25
I'm not very confident in NOAs localization efforts, so it is kind of disappointing that they feel the need to both region lock and to brick machines that try to get around the region lock. Sure 95% of people who homebrew steal games with it, but some people just want to play the games that NOA won't bring over for one reason or another.

But... I've been too lazy to homebrew my Wii this generation anyway, and I'd probably be too lazy on 3DS, so personally I'm not very worried about this.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 16:20
Basically it's a standard warning that custom software (which Nintendo doesn't test) maybe cause problems when updating and could harm the system. That's all. They can't guarantee it'll work.

Just like opportunities have arisen before and never taken, they can't brick consoles playing illegitimate software. It's like how Apple cannot stop jailbreaking. It's not illegal in all areas and they would be sued over it.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 16:41
Should one be concerned if you've never pirated and always paid developers the money they've deserved for creating the games I've enjoyed playing? Even if one could have EASILY pirated if he so desired? No? Then to hell with the others. Calling somebody a pirate is not a compliment.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 16:49
@Dark_sidEr What areas is playing illegal software not illegal in?

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 17:10
Personally I never understood why all companies DIDN'T do this. Make the punishment more severe and people will stop doing it. Or at least, more people will stop doing it. So you get a little flack from a few loud people online for a little while, it isn't like the majority of folks are going to say "Oh, I can't hack the system, I'm not buying it." You still wind up with the best selling system ever and you also don't lose a ton of money to pirates. Win win win.

If this is true, I commend them for doing it and I hope Sony, MS, and any other hardware creators follow in suit.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 17:43
I do think that the threat of real danger would serve as a real deterrent. Like, if companies went after random people for using torrents of copyrighted material, instead of just the 'power-users', I don't think torrenting would be nearly as widespread. The actual fines for stealing that stuff are pretty steep. But most people have no fear of getting caught. Just like in the Napster days. Only the people who shared tons of stuff got busted, when those were actually the more generous people, in a way.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 18:07
Good.

Fuck pirates.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 18:25
Whatever the case, has Nintendo actually stated that they will brick the machines? It seems more like resale shops being worried that updates may cause trouble if there is unlicensed software installed and therefore they won't buy units that have this software installed, and that is perfectly understandable. Even right now if you take a Wii that has mods, there can be issues, right? Like used shops wouldn't want to just sell a Wii with mods to a consumer?

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 18:35
Deerock69 said:
Should one be concerned if you've never pirated and always paid developers the money they've deserved for creating the games I've enjoyed playing? Even if one could have EASILY pirated if he so desired? No? Then to hell with the others. Calling somebody a pirate is not a compliment.

When I was younger, I would "borrow" copies of PC games from friends. If I liked the game, I would buy it. If I didn't I would delete it. I still have some of the disks, but I've never re-installed the games.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 18:38
Well, Nintendo usually warns the user when an update could brick modified systems. And the update is optional. Maybe that's legal.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 18:43
Phalanx said:

When I was younger, I would "borrow" copies of PC games from friends. If I liked the game, I would buy it. If I didn't I would delete it. I still have some of the disks, but I've never re-installed the games.

This means no more "borrowing" copies of games. You'll have to borrow the real carts or rent them I suppose. Or just not buy the games, but generally speaking that's a small price to pay to the company making the game, since you are in a minority of people who still buy the full game if they like it. Most people simply beat the games and then find some reason why it "makes sense" not to have bought it. One I always used to use when I pirated things was "It wasn't worth the price they're charging, that would have been a rip off." Oh, or "They have enough money, they're a billion dollar company." Very easy to rationalize stealing with that one...

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 18:51
anandxxx said:
Well, Nintendo usually warns the user when an update could brick modified systems. And the update is optional. Maybe that's legal.

The update isn't optional anymore, though. Well, no I guess it may be. You just can't use Street Pass on online functions. Now firmware is updated automatically, unless you shut off those features.

Posted by 
 on: 03/07/11, 18:52
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