Nintendo wants pirates to walk the plank

Mike Bantick
Friday, 15 February 2008 09:40

Your IT - Entertainment

Software piracy is costing Nintendo millions of dollars per year, now Nintendo of America is calling for law makers to scuttle pirates and the havens they dock in.

Talking recently about how the highly successful year at Nintendo, specifically the frenzy that has seen the DS hand-held and Wii console take number 1 and 2 slots in hardware sale, Jodie Daugherty, head of Nintendo America anit-Piracy has given an insight into how much software piracy is wounding the gaming giant.

"The unprecedented momentum enjoyed by Nintendo DS and Wii makes Nintendo an attractive target for counterfeiters," said Daugherty.

"We estimate that in 2007, Nintendo, together with its publishers and developers, suffered nearly US$975 million worldwide in lost sales as a result of piracy. Nintendo will continue to work with governments around the world to aggressively curtail this illegal activity."

Thursday saw Nintendo ask the US Trade Representative to urge other governments to get tough with illegal software copying and trade.

Targeting China specifically, noting it as the “primary source” of pirated DS and Wii software, Nintendo noted that last year authorities in the country nabbed 1 million fake Nintendo products in a showy clamp down on the underground industry.

Nintendo also waggled an accusing Wii-mote at Paraguay, Hong Kong, Latin America and Korea which the company said “has emerged as the leader in distributing illegal game files via the Internet.”