Nintendo Files Two New Lawsuits In Continued Clamp Down On Switch Piracy

Live by the sea, die by the sea, ye scurvy lubbers!

Yeah, even some official stores in 3rd world country (which i am in) do sell modded/pirated switch console for almost double the price of regular switch.

@denjinx5 Hmmm... So what what you're saying is I can sell a modded Switch for triple the price?

2024 seemed like the year we were supposed to get a Switch successor. But instead they're saving components and taking people to court instead?

"Just bring back the Thousand Year Door and Luigi's Mansion 2, that'll distract them!"

Not very surprised by this, but it's hard to really side with Nintendo when they essentially have infinite money and they perhaps lost a few million in sales from some pirated games. That's nothing to them. They will still exist as the enormous multi billion dollar company for years to come.

I don't blame people who want to pirate games. Is it scummy? Sure! Always gonna side with the average person pirating some software over some mega company any day, however. Goes for everything, not just games. Just don't pirate indie projects, the people behind them actually need every penny they can get.

Good to hear, if they don’t want to spend money on Switch games, they don’t have to play them at all. Not sure why people try this in the first place, I can’t imagine this being that profitable…ignoring Nintendo’s warning has to be an awful decision for them, Nintendo takes these things very seriously. I guess some people will never learn their lesson.

Go get em. Systems not on sale? Fair game. But for a current gen console these people are just looking to get something for nothing.

@gcunit Isn't that typically the life of a pirate itself?

“ In addition to selling hardware hacks, the defendant also offered mail-in modding services and modded versions of Switch consoles, for the less technically inclined. These were reportedly loaded with pirated games, according to the complaint.

"Defendant not only offers the hardware and firmware to create and play pirated games, but he also provides his customers with copies of pirated Nintendo games," the complaint reads.”
Incredibly dumb but not surprising.

"Run by Ryan Daly (aka "Hombrew Homie", apparently) Modded Hardware had built up a reputation for selling fully modded Switch consoles, memory cards that enable pirated downloads and other modding services"

"the lead moderator of the r/SwitchPirates subreddit"

Remember when hacking current gen consoles involved at least a sliver of public discretion?

It's a different thing when it's old stuff that isn't readily available, but pirating with the intention of making money off of it, well, you're on your own buddy... Good luck winning in court, lol.

sigh Another day, another of lack-of-common-sense-itis. Can't people just...oh, I don't know...APPLY COMMON SENSE when doing modded consoles. Just doing it in the dark or do VIP access-only members or...something...!

Why do this out in the open? They're just making bait outta themselves for Nintendo to swipe in & deal the blow to them. And yet, folks have the gall to call Nintendo the bad guy when this crud happens.

Anyways, sorry for the rant. I said my piece & that's done.

The defendants in both lawsuits blatantly admitted to doing something illegal. These lawsuits will be over faster than a Super Mario World 0 Exit speedrun.

@DripDropCop146 sure. usually people mod the switch, slap 128GB storage, and sell it double the price. Want to sell at higher price? just slap more storage.

@DanijoEX-the-Pierrot That's... kinda why I wrote it, as in 'Rest in plastic/sewage polluted waters you dirty rats' kinda thing.

@Matl
They didn't lose sales...
Those people would never have bought the games anyway.

@Matl Sorry, I just can't agree with that. You can't say it's okay to steal from a million dollar company, but it's wrong to steal from the indie dev who's just starting out. It's stealing regardless.

@WaffleRaptor01 there’s a word for that. It’s called hypocrisy.

@Matl:

So, only steal from approved sources, those being entities you've assessed as having sufficient funds, yeah? Gotcha. 👍

Perhaps you could apply for the role of Minister for Theft Approval with the next UK government.

@Matl

These pirates stole over 60 million dollars with just TotK. That’s just one game. Imagine how much when you factor in things like Mario and Pokemon.

Nintendo used jail. It’s super effective!

@Kimyonaakuma Your comment doesn't make any sense.

really my main hope is that the clampdown on piracy doesn't end up resulting in more practices that screw over legit consumers more than they do pirates which if anything would only serve to incentivise piracy.

an example in the past was those annoying unkippable anti-piracy messages and ads which would be on DVDs a lot.

a more modern example would be things like intrusive DRM and mandatory online checks or other such BS

Nintendo Life is summarising the case above but it's a poor summary if they're omitting the key fact that Modded Hardware is alleged to have preinstalled portfolios of ready-to-play pirated games on modded systems.

This is inarguably piracy for profit and they deserve to suffer the full legal ramifications for their brazen idiocy

All I can say is good riddance to these thieves.

(pulls up seat, waits for the fireworks...)

You mess with Nintendo, you get what you deserve. Even better when a Reddit sub gets involved because I loathe of very existence of that hateful hivemind of a site & it doesn't help when those phrases bleed into normal sites, like YouTube.

You steal from anyone be it a multi billion dollar company or an indie dev who needs the money, you're a dirty thief anyway.

I'm with Nintendo when it comes to piracy. Stealing is stealing. It doesn't matter how much money they make. Any person or organization (big or small), that engages in theft should be punished.

@WaffleRaptor01 I never said it was okay in any capacity, just that I can understand why people would pirate games. I literally said that it's scummy. It's obviously a morally questionable practice that is something I have never and likely will never do myself, but it's not something that I necessarily disagree with when megabillions companies are involved.

It's objectively worse for an indie dev when their game is pirated in comparison, since last I checked they don't have infinite wealth lying around at their disposal.

@Matl That is a very twisted way of thinking you’ve got your self there.

@Mgalens One thing that I have gathered from the Internet gaming community is people don’t see DRM as stopping piracy, which is what it very much is for for, They see it as just wanting to make you be online all the time so they can micro transaction. Or some ridiculous nonsense.

@WaffleRaptor01 Power dynamics exist. By your metric Robinhood was the villain.

And the Sheriff was morally correct because he was upholding the law.

Those with more wealth - and power are not somehow beholden to the same rights when they themselves often get to dictate the rights of those below them. Capitalism is broken, and the creators of these big publisher based videogames do not even recieve residuals.

Speaking of which, publishing is an evil business model - disguised as a service for creative people in most cases.

People who can't create - publish.

No. Stealing from the rich is always correct.

Oh, and in this scenario - I think Nintendo is in the right because the people doing it are exploiting piracy for profit. Something I don't condone. There is nuance to everything. The world is not bound to a black and white moral binary. There is a difference between downloading a game for yourself, and turning around and trying to sell that stolen content.

I wish our own governments cared half as much about 'theft' (that's up in the air since it's a virtual copy of something and nobody loses anything as pirates wouldn't have bought the games anyway)as the billion dollar corporations do. Slaps on the wrist for mass REAL THEFT in the actual world where people DO lose the item stolen, but hey let's all ignore that because people are playing silly games for free.

We live in a society (but not for much longer at this rate).

These people are stupid and Nintendo is in the right.

Modded hardware already got in trouble before, but went “we will never do it again” then proceeds to do it again while acting shocked Nintendo pounced on them.

The subreddit mod was also an idiot based on his postings he fully admitted he was pirating and encouraged more pirating. That has legal repercussions this isn’t the usual grey area of “he was just emulating.” that is often used as a shield.

@Kimyonaakuma Right because their legal department and their RnD department uses the same personal. Let me guess you also think their custodian should have also contributed in hurrying up with the new system lol.

@Matl You basically went “it’s ok to steal if it’s on someone with money” like a romanticized Robin Hood which is not even the equivalent case since these people just use the money on themselves.They are literally “for profit” business that leeches off the success of others.

End day everybody that buys a game honestly has to pay extra for all the stolen copies I worked in food retail 11 years all the stolen stuff was added to the stuff that was put thought the tills basically honest customer had pay for it. Funny thing most nicked stuff was meat and cheese.one day 16 bottle of champagne were swipped. I don't believe in entertaining pirate games movies etc. as why things so expensive

@WaffleRaptor01 Do you know what false equivelence is? Because that's what you're doing. You're comparing the copying of intangible data to literal, physical theft. Data piracy is not theft in this sense because the only loss is theoretical. Piracy also helps drive sales. This crap has been studied to death already, but there's always someone like you who tries to shoehorn their skewed perception of morality into the subject.

@Bluesaxo They don't have to pay. They're made to pay. You don't balance the books for a huge business and talk with their legals teams, tax experts etc etc.

You are sold a lie.

Dumb criminals being dumb. Charging people for mods on a current console has to be the dumbest idea. Might as well just break into the plant and start stealing games off the line and act shocked when you're caught. Almost as stupid as bragging and acting untouchable in the face of the gaming world's most litigious bottomless coffer company.

@WaffleRaptor01 Exactly my thoughts. Well said.

@Joom are you basing your theory on theoretical harm that cannot be quantified because it is only theoretical? So if I patent an idea and it stays as an idea and someone uses that idea, I can't sue them because I can only theoretically quantify the harm? I don't get it???

Piracy, be it physical or data in my opinion is theft and even moreso when monetised and most with a moral compass recognise this.

@Matl that’s what is happening in most cases for Nintendo to step in. Smaller developers don’t have the means to pay for this kind of representation, so Nintendo brings partners into their lawsuit along with themselves. When it comes to the Switch, I will side with Nintendo, they might be rich but they’re not as huge as Sony and Microsoft. Plus, the smaller studios do get the payouts from these suits too.

Now, where I won’t support a Nintendo lawsuit is suing for out of print content they are not actively selling.

I thought I'd read that they also sued the MIG Switch cartridge maker? I recently ordered the MIG Switch dumper so I'm just hoping I get it. Maybe Nintendo will send it to me after stealing all their stock? I wish I'd never given a dime to Nintendo.

@Joom I generally agree with you, but in my case I will never give money to Nintendo again. So I guess anti-piracy breeds piracy?! I can look back on my life and see how strongly I've supported stuff I've liked, which includes buying things (CDs, DVDs, concert tickets, games, etc) as well as copying things like MP3s, TV and movie files, and games. But no other company or band has attacked my interests and my enjoyment like Nintendo has. They've got to be the worst corporation I've ever heard of. Like most corporations want to "capture consumers", but Nintendo attacks the crap out of gamers, Youtubers, jailbreakers, romhackers, and any Nintendo fan who doesn't play their games exactly the way they tell you to. Just a total crap corporation.

@120frames-please If you feel so hard done by, the best thing to do would be to turn your back on them completely. You don't need Nintendo games. You won't die if you can't play a Nintendo game. It's like if someone stops buying cigarettes but carries on bumming them off everyone else. Or comes to a pub, never buys anyone a drink but happily accepts drinks all night. Or dumps a girl but calls her every day. Clean break. Move on.

@120frames-please There is a lot of entitlement out there. Nintendo owes you nothing. They make products, they sell products. They survive and thrive on their reputation and brand image in this industry and have a right to protect it. If they don't want a modded dildo added on Mario's head, I get it. Douche bags spoil things for the majority and Nintendo draws the line under all of it as a result.
Your choice to buy or not buy.

Any time a giant, evil corporation (and they're all evil, make no mistake) says something caused them "substantial and irreparable harm," it means something threatened to cut into their already ridiculous profits.

The irony is that these corporations have caused far more substantial harm than what they claim of pirates, though the harm is not irreparable. Repairing it, though, is something they will fight against tooth and nail.

@WaffleRaptor01 "Stealing is wrong, unless it's rich corporations that I like doing it, then stealing is okay!"

@axelhander Prove it, and attack them.
Stealing somebody is not fair, no matter if it's rich or poor.

@Matl I'm very confused by your big evil corporation stance when the lawsuit is clearly about modded hardware that enabled pirated Switch games. Did you think the piracy was only for Nintendo's games? This affects indie developers too.

@WiltonRoots I really like gaming, and especially Nintendo games. I'll keep playing them, just without supporting their immorality and lack of ethics.

@Duncanballs I love nothing more than modded dildos on Mario's head. I'll take my stand on that hill! Lol

@Robotoboy fair enough. What iam I to know nothing really perhaps I shouldn't of commented in the first place.

@Matl Piracy has completely killed systems before like the Dreamcast and PSP having terrible software sales because of the ease of piracy. And even the Nintendo DS before Nintendo stopped the sales of R4 card had a case of software sales going down as much as 50% in Europe while the DS was still selling 10million+ a year.

Piracy likely cost them to the tune of billions over the years not millions. The Switch which is harder to pirate and Nintendo has beem clamping down on is making Nintendo more than the Wii and DS combined.

The idea they should just let some guy on r/SwitchPirates sell modded hardware with ROMs loaded so publicly is silly. The fact he agreed to stop and just continued showcases how lax people online have gotten over piracy.

Its no more right to pirate a billion dollar company's games than it is from an indie developer. The laws should protect both of them.

@axelhander Are you serious ? The only thing I read in your words is a frustrated man showing egoist immaturity. "Rich companies are evil"
My God, what a caricature.
Earn money, don't think you owe it all, and respect the intellectual properties and laws. That's what and adult do.
If you want something, pay for it.
Or if you're such a good man, open your home to all people that don't have one, and feed them too.
The only thing stealers do is complaining about the right they don't have to steal, looking for pathetic excuses...
Even in this case, Nintendo adverted them before...

@Matl So do you think shoplifting is okay? Or how about burglary?

As usual the article and some commentors make for fun read.

Oppss... just re-read them and it's seems they were being serious about what they were saying lol!

Hey, at least Nintendo actually gave them a warning first. The fact they didn’t stop, well, it’s a bit harder to sympathise

If you’re going to do morally dubious stuff, Don’t do it on something that’s still on the market!

I’ve noticed that the Robin Hood comparison has been used… one slight difference, robin hoods whole deal was giving the money back to the poor that it was taken from.

Say what you want about Nintendo’s pricing strategy, but I don’t think selling pirated software is in the same category.

And if you say “well robin obviously must have kept some for himself” then that kinda defeats the point of him being a hero. He did what he did to help the suffering population.

I really don’t think pirated copies of software can really count as helping those in need

@axelhander your argument about ridiculous profits completely falls flat against the fact that Nintendo's games (and those by big developers) wouldn't be the only ones pirated. The highly rated games from small indie studios would undoubtedly get pirated too. They suffer more. I'm struggling to comprehend how you, like Matl, believe it only affected Nintendo.

@jsty3105 Nintendo is very obviously going after these pirating things to defend themselves first and foremost. Sure, indie games ARE inherently affected by pirating - I never claimed otherwise - but in the cases the article sets out, its Nintendo protecting themselves above anything else. That's their aim here, since its their games mainly being affected and them losing money as a result.

I invite people to think a bit more critically about what comments are saying, since there have been numerous people responding to me with the mindset of "uh, piracy is stealing, and all stealing is bad, would you steal from a store, Matl?" - completely ignoring that these are things I never claimed to have done nor encouraged outright. I merely understand why people would pirate software, and I am going to root against corporations in most scenarios. They are not the little guy at play more often than not.

I flat out agree that piracy is illegal and immoral, but as with almost everything in life these things exist on a gradient. It IS more of a problem for an indie game to be pirated since the makers of the game are losing out on a lot more proportionally in comparison to Nintendo, who as I have said, have such a ludicrous amount of money to their names that a few missing sales is not going to affect their bottom line all too much. If Nintendo were absolutely at their worst as a company, then sure, I can see how it would be a problem then! But right now? When they are the most well off they have ever been with no signs of slowing down? Completely different ballpark.

There is nuance to everything. I invite people to not take opinions at face value and encourage them to actually read into them before claiming things that were never outright stated in said opinion. But hey ho, internet is gonna internet, the art of nuance and critical thinking is lost to most people. Enjoy your day, whoever ends up reading through all this.

@120frames-please so basically a freeloader. The person that comes round your house for dinner so they don't have to buy food, who you can't get rid of because they don't want to use their own electricity. The person when you split the bill at a restaurant says the tip covers his meal. Obviously you feel the devs don't deserve getting paid for the entertainment they provide you with as other people have already paid for it. And all over pixels and framerates. I get it.

@Matl appreciate the thoughts however, if Nintendo didn't take action - do you think those indies would be happy to accept that piracy? Who else would reasonably take up the mantle (so to speak) of challenging the piracy-enabling (and championing) hardware modder? Or is the alternative just to do nothing?

@Bluesaxo

Here past few years stores have put up these self checkouts in grocery stores and now those are getting removed in some places because of constant stealing.

Some "smart" lady made HUGE post how she supports stealing BECAUSE PEOPLE STEAL BECAUSE HUNGRY
..guess what are two most stolen items from store? Beer, soda and candy.

(another popular articles are expensive meat parts and parmesan, i highly doubt hungry ppl would snag those as first choice but to sell)

Another phrase is "insurance will cover" No it won't.

And speaking of insuraces, that is another where people justify frauds and get angry at insurance investigators for being unfair and DOES IT REALLY HURT IF SOME POOR SOUL IS PAID... yes it does. BEcause those who do not try to scam will pay higher rates.

I guess lawsuits like here now by Nintendo kinda proves to current trend of people thinking they have only rights but no responsibilities and they NEED to have everything and on someone else's dime.

Go Nintendo!

@WaffleRaptor01 it's a bit like Robbin Hood, steal from the rich, hang with the poor.

@Finntendo nice somebody thinks like me. I know what it like money tight for me. I wouldn't say I eat hundred percent how I would like but I get what I can for my food budget. Makeing sure my kids fed properly more important to me. When I buy games now. I rely on sales or used games or trading it. I wouldn't never cross my mind of buy a pirate copy. I'll never have a ps5 so any game I would of like I just was play thought on YouTube. Find in UK junk food half the price of healthy food. Think alot the booze stolen to be sold on . Use find empty wine bottles in the public loos in the supermarket I worked in. Don't work in retail now had enough of abusive customers

@jsty3105 I never said it only affected Nintendo, nor do I need to cover every edge case for what I said to stand.

Though since you're wanting me to address that:

Indies would thrive in a world where big corporations didn't have a stranglehold on our cultural identity, including their ability to have government enact laws in their favor. Piracy is nowhere near as big a threat to indies as that.

All I learned in this comment section is a LOT of people here have no idea about Robin Hood with their blatant false equivalences and at best their knowledge caps at faulty second hand knowledge from online or they watched crappy adaptions like the Disney animated movie.

@WiltonRoots You like to attack people, which is truly sad. I'll pray for you and send you loving energy so you can hopefully heal up. And please keep your metaphors and negative creativity to yourself from now on. Thank you.

@120frames-please Ahhh I see what you did there. No worries!

@WiltonRoots No problem, take care. And enjoy the fireworks!

Good stuff Nintendo, keep on protecting your IP against the Pc Pirate Race.

@WaffleRaptor01

Except, you are arguably wrong if we go by the word ''steal'' from Oxford or Cambridge dictionaries.

Steal means to remove an object from someone. Here, you are not removing the object, merely making a copy of said thing, but the products integrity stays intact. You can steal a car, not a digital IP. Now, you migth see me as a technical bish but hey, just want you to get the idea.

@Denoloco Interesting. How would you describe it when someone steals your idea

@120frames-please Pretty hilarious for a pirate to whine about anyone else's lack of ethics.

@FirstEmperor I'm pretty funny, for sure. I like the profile pic, by the way. I'll never forget how humorous that guy is asking so many questions on the train ride to my first village experience/animal forest/crossing experience.

@jsty3105 I like your comment because it highlights how much our thoughts, opinions, and beliefs are things. If someone makes a point that seems to undercut our opinion, we can react badly. I mean, there's like thousands of years of wars and slaughters based on that kind of fear/reaction. Good stuff to look at/consider with care.
Edit: I meant to also mention how it really can feel like someone stole something from you if your opinion or belief is challenged by something they said. I've seen that over and over in myself. Very important to observe that kind of thing (at least I find that to be so for me).

@jsty3105 @jsty3105

genuinely wouldn't give a single feces, as long as the pirate isn't profiting from that idea.

@Denoloco the whole point of stealing your idea is to profit from it. If your idea has 0 value then it's not worth stealing it in the first place.

@120frames-please nicely put

@Finntendo worked in food retail 11 years in UK same here cheese meat spirits went missing use use the trick of hiding it under shelf and getting another person to pinch it. One Xmas came in found 15 empty champagne boxes in freezers I worked nights. Don't work in retail no more to stressful. Why things so expensive stuff that get stolen honest people to do buy pays for it movies music games etc