Nintendo Snatches up Pirate Devices

Apparently this news is a couple weeks old, but this is the first I’ve seen of it. With the aid of the High Court in Hong Kong, Nintendo was able to seize 10,000 devices used to pirate games. Leigh Alexander at Gamasutra writes:

On Oct. 8th, the court ordered the raid of Supreme Factory Limited facilities, through which Nintendo representatives seized more than 10,000 game copying devices and mod chips over the course of three days. The devices seized are used to copy and play Nintendo DS games offered unlawfully over the Internet, and the mod chips allow the play of pirated Wii discs or illegal copies of downloaded Nintendo games.

Documents recovered during the search also shed light on the scope of the operation, revealing that Supreme Factory Limited has ties to a French company, Divineo SARL, and its principal, Max Louarn, who are also named in the legal action initiated by Nintendo. The Hong Kong High Court prohibited the companies from further distribution of the devices and from disposing a portion of their assets worldwide, and ordered those assets frozen pending outcome of the legal proceedings.

I have to wonder if Nintendo has any intentions of going after the makers of the Chintendo Vii.