Nintendo sues over DS piracy

Main target is R4 Revolution for DC/Lite

By MARK SCHILLING

Nintendo has joined with 54 other software makers to sue five companies that import and sell devices allowing pirated games to be played on the Nintendo DS handheld. The suit was filed in Tokyo District Court on Tuesday.

The main target of the plaintiffs’ ire is R4 Revolution for DC/Lite, a blank cartridge for either the Nintendo DS or Nintendo DS Lite that overrides Nintendo’s installed firmware. Users upload games to a microSD flash memory card and insert the card into the R4 Revolution, then play the games on their Nintendo DS. They can use the R4 Revolution for music, videos and other software as well.

Nintendo is being joined in its suit by such leading Japanese software makers as SNK, Capcom, Square Enix, Tecmo and the Pokemon Co.