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ELSPA: DS is least profitable console thanks to piracy
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The following comments relate to this news article:
article published on 31 January, 2008
The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) has made a new claim that 90 percent of all North American Nintendo DS users play pirated games via the now infamous R4/M3 cartridge.
John Hillier, manager of ELSPA's Intellectual Property Crime Unit, stated that the cartridge, which plays downloaded Roms via a microSD slot, harms sales for Nintendo and it has actually ... [ read the full article ]
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SProdigy
Senior Member
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31. January 2008 @ 16:41 |
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So if I were to ask 9 out of 10 DS owners if they have an "R4", how many will look at me in bewilderment? 90% is a bit drastic, and I'd even say that it's not 50/50 either.
It's true that piracy may threaten the gaming industry, but do we really need to pay $35 for a dog or pony game? Do not insult our intelligence with your greed for money. Make more quality games such as Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. or Zelda, and less EA Sports "micro-sized" ports and other kiddie crap.
The R4 only exists because 90% of DS are junk. It sucks that gamers need to be cautious with their hard earned money.
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Staff Member
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31. January 2008 @ 16:49 |
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Originally posted by SProdigy:
So if I were to ask 9 out of 10 DS owners if they have an "R4", how many will look at me in bewilderment? 90% is a bit drastic, and I'd even say that it's not 50/50 either.
It's true that piracy may threaten the gaming industry, but do we really need to pay $35 for a dog or pony game? Do not insult our intelligence with your greed for money. Make more quality games such as Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. or Zelda, and less EA Sports "micro-sized" ports and other kiddie crap.
The R4 only exists because 90% of DS are junk. It sucks that gamers need to be cautious with their hard earned money.
I also agree that 90 percent is a huge over exaggeration as I know 10 people that have DSs and not one of them has an R4/M3. 9/10 of them dont even know what it is.
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Senior Member
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31. January 2008 @ 17:01 |
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I know many people. I know many people with a ds. I know one person besides me who knows that you can actually pirate ANYTHING, let alone ds games. That percent is completely wrong.
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nobrainer
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31. January 2008 @ 17:05 |
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if this was the case there wouldn't be several ds games in the US charts ever week!
http://www.n4g.com/News-103265.aspx
Originally posted by linkage:
Famitsu reports via VGChartz, that the weekly sales between Jan 14th to Jan 20th in Japan were the following:
Console :
DSL : about 91k
Wii : about 76k
PSP : about 65k
PS3 : about 32k
PS2 : about 13k
360 : about 4.4k
Software:
1. Wii Fit (Wii) : about 108k (total about 1.11m)
2. Mario & Sonic at Beijing Olympics (DS): about 91k
3. Mario Party DS (DS): about 38k (total about 1.53m)
4. Wii Sports (Wii): about 31k (total about 2.65m)
5. Wii Play (Wii): about 19k (total about 2.14m)
6. Monster Hunter Portable 2 (PSP): about 18k (total about 1.57m)
7. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (DS): about 17k (total 714k)
8. Mario & Sonic at Beijing Olympics (Wii): about 17k (total 474k)
9. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii): about 17k (total about 844k)
10. Mario Party 8 (Wii): about 15k (total about 1.15m)
11. Mario Kart DS (DS): about 14k (total about 2.80m)
12. FF4 (DS): about 11k (toal about 559k)
13. School Days L x H (PS2): about 11k
14. DQ4 (DS): about 10k (total about 1.15m)
15. Prof. Layton and the Mysterious Village (DS): about 10k (total813k)
16. New Super Mario Bros. (DS): about 10k (total about 5.06m)
17. Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS): about 10k (total about 4.56m)
18. Winning Eleven 2008 (PS2): about 9.6k (total about 605k)
20. Rune Factory 2 (DS): about 8.8k (total about 83k)
21. Everybody's Golf Portable 2 (PSP): about 8k (total about 202k)
23. Call of Duty 4 (PS3) : about 7.8k (total about 58k)
24. Star Ocean 1 First Departure (PSP): about 7.7k (total about 183k)
25. Power Pro kun Pocket 10 (DS): about 7.7k (total about 215k)
i count ten there! oops i mean 11. omg that is the japan charts where the r4 is in wide use and is legally sold!
here is the US chart dated Week Ending 26th January 2008
http://www.vgchartz.com/aweekly.php
Quote:
No.7 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games week1 59,161
no.12 More Brain Training week23 42,171
no.14 Advance Wars: Days of Ruin week1 40,572
no.16 Mario Party DS week10 37,841
no.21 Nintendogs week127 29,802
i only count 5 in the top 20!
Software Totals:
Console Weekly
Wii 1,018,129
360 888,977
DS 721,387
PS2 559,885
PS3 385,656
PSP 226,002
Total 3,800,036
so even with 90% piracy the ds still managed to outsell ps2, ps3 and psp software sold!
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 31. January 2008 @ 17:19
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rosedog
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31. January 2008 @ 17:40 |
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Well count me in the 10% I had no idea what those were until now... Now off to do some research.
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Junior Member
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31. January 2008 @ 18:18 |
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The wife and i each have a ds, no hacking going on here.. And yeah $35. for some of those titles out there!! Thats mighty high! We get the 3 or 4 in one games like sorry, battleship, trouble, connect4, all on one chip for $20. Wife has a Harry Potter game and i have a Starfox wifi game. Theirs cool looking titles that i might try like Transformers but it's hard to part with the green without knowing if it's going to be money well spent on a good game...
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Shegax
Junior Member
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31. January 2008 @ 18:29 |
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90 percent is a big exaggeration! Common who is going to believe that? If it was the case, nintendo DS as a system would be over by now. I do have an R4 and yes I download games, but I'll tell you what, more than most of the games I've downloaded I've deleted because it was crap. And I'm left little more with about 5 games I'm really happy with. Cna you imagine how much money I would have wasted trying to find a game that I would like. Sheesh!
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hankchill
Newbie
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31. January 2008 @ 18:44 |
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90% is not correct at all.
I just bought 30 R4's and sold them all to people who didn't even know you could 'backup' DS games ;)
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Senior Member
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31. January 2008 @ 19:01 |
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I've never heard of ELSPA. They must have done their research on a website that talks about the R4/M3, which explains why 90% of the people said that they use them.
I made the following post on a different thread, but I think it applies to this as well.
I'm sure that devices such as the R4 and M3 have a negative impact on the number of games being sold. However, I also think that these same devices will lead people to buy a DS that normally wouldn't. In the end, what may result in lower game sales may lead to higher hardware sales. I guess someone will have to do an official study. Just remember that those that only buy a DS because of the R4, M3, etc... wouldn't have bought games anyway.
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Member
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31. January 2008 @ 19:21 |
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90% Is A Little Crazy I Would Say more like 10-15% of People playwith R4S I Know Like 30 people who never even Heard of the R4/M3
Shummyr
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qpakdh367
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31. January 2008 @ 21:16 |
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One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
[url=http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/683/683738p1.html ][/url]
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Senior Member
2 product reviews
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1. February 2008 @ 01:23 |
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This guy is even more ridiculous than the MPAA/RIAA. At least there out of proportion numbers are not this exsadurated.
First point, I know about two dozen people with DS's. I am the only one in the group that has a device, I own a DS-X, at the moment.
My other friends either don't want to spend the money on it or just don't see the purpose of getting one.
Second, my buying of DS games has actually increased at least doubled since I bought my DS-X. Before buying it I had maybe 5-10 games in my DS collection.
After getting the DS-X I have tried out a few games that I thought looked good and have ended up buying another 10 games as a result of trying them out first.
Sure, there are those that simply buy such a device and never buy a game again but those are the people that make laws get passed that make such devices illegal for anyone to use, legitimate (aka Backups) or not.
Peace
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AfterDawn Addict
4 product reviews
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1. February 2008 @ 02:08 |
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Yaaaa......... maybe if it was the PSP I would believe it..... but the DS is the top selling portable world wide....
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Jalathole
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1. February 2008 @ 04:54 |
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i know about 10 people who have DS and about 5 of them have R4. i think it is quite a cool thing to have besides the obvious bad side of ruining the games industry. i reckon nintendo should start selling an official version of R4 and sell the roms online for half the price of a real game. that would stop some of the piracy.
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SProdigy
Senior Member
5 product reviews
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1. February 2008 @ 08:48 |
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Originally posted by Jalathole:
i reckon nintendo should start selling an official version of R4 and sell the roms online for half the price of a real game. that would stop some of the piracy.
What you're suggesting makes too much sense. Why would they want to reduce production costs and increase profits? Besides, we all know those "ROMS" would need DRM...
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smoobies
Account closed as per user's own request
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1. February 2008 @ 11:03 |
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Originally posted by SProdigy:
So if I were to ask 9 out of 10 DS owners if they have an "R4", how many will look at me in bewilderment? 90% is a bit drastic, and I'd even say that it's not 50/50 either.
It's true that piracy may threaten the gaming industry, but do we really need to pay $35 for a dog or pony game? Do not insult our intelligence with your greed for money. Make more quality games such as Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. or Zelda, and less EA Sports "micro-sized" ports and other kiddie crap.
The R4 only exists because 90% of DS are junk. It sucks that gamers need to be cautious with their hard earned money.
If it's 90% I wonder what % it is on th PSP.
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smoobies
Account closed as per user's own request
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1. February 2008 @ 11:04 |
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Originally posted by SProdigy:
So if I were to ask 9 out of 10 DS owners if they have an "R4", how many will look at me in bewilderment? 90% is a bit drastic, and I'd even say that it's not 50/50 either.
It's true that piracy may threaten the gaming industry, but do we really need to pay $35 for a dog or pony game? Do not insult our intelligence with your greed for money. Make more quality games such as Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. or Zelda, and less EA Sports "micro-sized" ports and other kiddie crap.
The R4 only exists because 90% of DS are junk. It sucks that gamers need to be cautious with their hard earned money.
If it's 90% I wonder what % it is on th PSP.
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weedude99
Member
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1. February 2008 @ 11:47 |
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way over exaggerated. only about 5 people in my school have heard of them and thats only because one person told them about his.
Saying that its threatning the whole gaming industry is a bit far aswell
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Senior Member
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1. February 2008 @ 14:58 |
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Originally posted by weedude99:
way over exaggerated. only about 5 people in my school have heard of them and thats only because one person told them about his.
Saying that its threatning the whole gaming industry is a bit far aswell
Speaking about hearing about this, referring to the R4, the first time I heard about it was by reading a news article similar to this one. Of course, I had to go out and buy one after I read about it. I'm just curious if articles like this are more prone to cause more people to buy them as opposed to stopping it.
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nobrainer
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1. February 2008 @ 16:00 |
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Originally posted by silk42:
Originally posted by weedude99:
way over exaggerated. only about 5 people in my school have heard of them and thats only because one person told them about his.
Saying that its threatning the whole gaming industry is a bit far aswell
Speaking about hearing about this, referring to the R4, the first time I heard about it was by reading a news article similar to this one. Of course, I had to go out and buy one after I read about it. I'm just curious if articles like this are more prone to cause more people to buy them as opposed to stopping it.
if you can create a citation by highlighting it, then the DRM makers and pro clampdown lobbies (sony being party to both) have a job to do, and make mega bucks!
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Gnawnivek
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1. February 2008 @ 16:13 |
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Originally posted by Jalathole:
i know about 10 people who have DS and about 5 of them have R4. i think it is quite a cool thing to have besides the obvious bad side of ruining the games industry. i reckon nintendo should start selling an official version of R4 and sell the roms online for half the price of a real game. that would stop some of the piracy.
you know, that's so true... the R4 or whatever is good for trying out games, most of the DS games are so pointless that i gave up in less than five minutes. However, when i see a worthy game, i actually buy it from the store. Now, if the games are offered on ROM format and cost like a third of the actual game, hell, i even buy the games i gave up in 10 minutes...
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duke8888
Junior Member
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2. February 2008 @ 03:41 |
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I agree game makers are getting greedy and they rush a product out that is nothing but crap. In these days of hard finances consumers will not shell hard earn money out for a bad product. Wa wa wa big game makers cry on somebodys shoulder who gives a s_ht!
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Xian
Senior Member
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2. February 2008 @ 11:37 |
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I think the ELSPA was misquoted about the actual percentages, but even if the figures were true, it still would not be the least profitable console. Most consoles are loss leaders, they are sold below cost and hope to make it up on game sales, the old give away the razor but charge for the razor blades strategy. Both the PS3 and 360 cost more to manufacture than their actual selling price, so it would seem to me that they would be the least profitable console. Nintendo makes a profit on every DS sold even if they don't sell a single game.
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varnull
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2. February 2008 @ 15:34 |
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It's all the whining again because unlike sony and M$ ol' tendo have got themselves another winner.
How they can make these things at a profit I can't explain.. you can't replace both screens for the price of a new one.
I think the least profitable console of all time was the saturn.
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Thhin
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3. February 2008 @ 03:44 |
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http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=32676
GamesIndustry.biz that a recent story about DS piracy in North America contains false quotes attributed to a company spokesperson.
The Sunday Post quoted John Hillier, manager of ELSPA's Intellectual Property Crime Unit as saying "In America, it's thought 90 per cent of Nintendo DS users are playing pirated games because of R4s," while discussing the notorious chip that allows easy piracy on Nintendo's handheld.
However, a spokesperson for ELSPA told GamesIndustry.biz that, "[John] didn't quote The Sunday Post on any figures whatsoever."
"ELSPA would certainly never presume to comment about America or anywhere else outside of the UK," added the spokesperson.
The report, said ELSPA, is a hatchet job consisting of facts from an article from Singapore, false quotes and a genuine conversation with Hillier on the availability of the R4 cartridge in the UK.
"The quotes from The Sunday Post were ascribed to his name from another article which originates from a website in Singapore. This, it appears, is where The Sunday Post first found out about the supposed R4 situation and for some reason unknown to John have quoted him on what this article said."
The spokesperson also stated that Nintendo views the reported facts in The Sunday Post article as completely false.
"As far as Nintendo are concerned, the facts are completely spurious."
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