?!? 90% of US Nintendo DS Users are Pirates ?!?

[Cross Posted from www.ishotthecyborg.com]

I'm not that big into the use of massive punctuation, but I really couldn't help myself in this case. Apparently, 90% of US Nintendo DS users are using devices like the R4 or the DSTT to pirate software for the Nintendo DS. That would mean that only one of my fellow friends with DSs should NOT have one of these. Except that as far as I know, I'm the ONLY person with one of these in the area, and I don't use mine for piracy.

PocketGamer.co.uk - 90 Percent of US Gamers are Playing Pirated Software

UK trade body ELSPA has claimed that an astonishing 90 per cent of of all DS users in North America are playing pirated games using devices such as the notorious R4 cartridge.

Not only does this reek of simply made up numbers, it should be noted that these devices have more than one use. You can use them to play video files, MP3s, or *gasp* develop your own DS games. And it seems that only the boys over at GayGamer.net have managed to hit the nail on the head.

GayGamer.net - You are All Pirates (According to the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association)

Kudos on that outlandish statistic, 90% of us use the R4 to pirate software. Working on a sample (IE: everyone I've ever met) the number of people I've seen with one of these is a big zero. The article reeks of fear mongering, essentially he's trying to get anti-piracy laws changed in Scotland by scaring the crap out of game retailers, which can in turn lobby the government to make third party bootable DS cartridges illegal. After all, if they outlaw these, it would increase their potential profits by 900%.

I guess this means that likely in the coming months Nintendo will continue to pursue legal action against these companies (you cannot find many R4s any more, though there are alternatives...). In the mean time I continue to import them one or two at a time in an effort to protect my right to speak on my DS (Yes, I'm stockpiling them out of principle). I wonder if they'll raid my apartment hoping to find gobs of pirated ROMs, and will rather find one highly peeved no-longer-Nintendo enthusiast.

C-out