PIRATED NINTENDO GAMES STILL BEING SOLD

[RCM]

While doing my christmas shopping in a few different malls I noticed that those Nintendo 64 controllers with NES ROMS loaded into em were still being sold! I hassled one of the merchants selling them. SHe told me that she was buying them direct from China. They even were selling them in sets. One set came with what looked like a yellow super famicom cartridge. I'm in Northern NJ. Has this been happening elsewhere in the country?

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[Half Cab Leroy]

There's still one up at a mall near me too.

[cowmando6]

They're still selling them here in CT.

[joshnickerson]

The kiosk here in the mall "disappeared" a month ago, right around the time of Nintendo's lawsuit. I guess that, combined with the fact I told everyone I saw that it was a pirate system. LOL

[Muscelli]

they have them all over...

they also have the nes ones with 3000 roms on them.

[Lord Contaminous]

They're still up and running in my area.

This time they have redesigned ones now where the "analog pad" is usable. Now there's been alot of Super C variations. On top of that, they now happen to come with one of these:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Youkai525/FC.jpg


The label on these newer ones are different though. One of the pictures has Squall (Final Fantasy 8) on it.

Lately every time I go to the mall, I've been trying to avoid the pushy bastards that are selling this stuff, just like the people at the Spa Kiosk. When you walk in a 100 yard radius of them, they pull you aside and have you try the game. And then they try to force you to buy it and bombard you with discounts when you say no.

[TRM]

I haven't been able to get any of the multicarts, though I am still trying. As for the units, yes I've seen them around.

[Cirrus]

I have seen these at a mall near my house in Ohio. I am stunned that no one is doing anything about this. These controllers are obviously very illegal, filled with ROMs.

Not to say that I have any problems with ROMs, but still... these people are making a ton of cash off of these junky things. I still think I might want one. (Not that I don't already have all of these games, but it's pretty cool.)

[dbiersdorf]

I got one of the ones in Minnesota shut down, I contacted Nintendo and everything.

[DogP]

Yup, they're in the mall here in VA... I played it for a few minutes, but the sound is TERRIBLE.

DogP

[Lemmy Kilmister]

Yup, they're in the mall here in VA... I played it for a few minutes, but the sound is TERRIBLE.

DogP

Sound? I was thinking more about the crappy buttons. You can just bairly jump in most games, making it basically impossible to get anywhere in games like Mario bros and Contra.

[NE146]

PIRATED NINTENDO GAMES STILL BEING SOLD

And what? :P

[DigitalSpace]

The last time I was at the one of the local malls (Clackamas Town Center), I didn't see a kiosk where it used to be. But I saw a new one at a store that sells new/used CDs, games and DVDs last night for $29.99.

[Garry Silljo]

Two malls in my area are still going strong. I get mad when I look at them. The wife begs me not to make a scene. I grudgingly respect that.

[Richter]

I got one of the ones in Minnesota shut down, I contacted Nintendo and everything.email, phone?

got one @ my mall

[racecar]

:hmm:

[Cmosfm]

Ours "mysteriously" dissappeared last month as well.

But that's ok, BILO is now stocking them for 19.99

:eek 2:

[kainemaxwell]

RCM, which mall you see them at? I'm in Northern NJ also. Anytime I walk past the kiosk Ms. Pac-Man's always being played...

[RCM]

RCM, which mall you see them at? I'm in Northern NJ also. Anytime I walk past the kiosk Ms. Pac-Man's always being played...

Willowbrook, Mill Creek, and Newport. I was tempted to try and get some controllers for free in exchange for my silence! I wonder if all the kiosks will be around after christmas is over.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I got one of the ones in Minnesota shut down, I contacted Nintendo and everything.
There is one at my local mall, I should go up to them and say that I'm going to call the number if they dont give one to me for cheap. And then still call them.
Hehehehe

[Zing]

There are probably 10 stores at my local mall selling these. I was just there tonight. I tried one out. It was a "12000 game" system. I played some hacked version of Mario Bros. It was the same game just with slightly different sprites. The title screen still had the Nintendo Copyright and it was still called "Mario Bros."
I reset it and switched to some game called "Hyperman", which ended up being a really lame hack of Dig Dug. I didn't really understand the point of the game. There was no background and I could move anywhere on the screen. Smiley faces and other blobby shapes were moving around and I could shoot at them. It had the Dig Dug sound effects and when I died, it was in the Dig Dug fashion.
I tried another one at a different store. It was running Super Mario Bros. The game was normal except the title screen had the game title deleted. On the screen where you select 1 or 2 players, there was a big blank space.

These have to be the worst presents to give, ever.

[Neil Koch]

I got one of the ones in Minnesota shut down, I contacted Nintendo and everything.

There are a tons of these in Minnesota... just about every mall seems to have a kiosk selling them. I was at one and a group of INS (?) guys came down and busted it. Seems a lot of them are coming in through Duluth's ports and are being sold by illegal aliens from Russia/Eastern Europe.

Bottom line on it is if that you buy one of these, you're supporting Russian/Chinese (since they're coming from Hong Kong) orgainized crime. Not really worth it for overpriced and shoddily made crap.

[ghostangelofcky]

They stil sell those N64 controllers here in Denver at one mall that I've seen. I'll be honest, I've yet to be interested in picking one up. Oh well

[ianoid]

YEah, they still sell these at malls and flea markets in California.

I just don't get why you guys shut them down? Are you the Nintendo police? Thats weird.

Really, Nintendo should be the ones selling these. If there's a market, they should be right on top of it. It's silly for them not to be capitalizing on it. Yeah, some retro releases are neat, but they are so possessive of their IP that they are missing out on opportunities like the Jax Pacific folks do with Atari and arcade stuff that they could be doing with NES. They could rerelease the top loader with success, I'm certain. I know many parents would be relieved by the limitations of old school systems with respect to violence.

[sirgeoph]

i got the ones in the malls around here shut down because they set up shop right outside our stores... it seriously hurt our NES sales..

I'm not the Nintendo police, but I don't want our sales being hurt by illegal products... EB's and Babbages are in our malls with our stores and I'm fine with them there, they're legal, friendly competition, plus, we're in good with their employees and we send customers to each other's stores. these guys will sell their stuff for $3 if it means they took a sale away from you.

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I just don't get why you guys shut them down? Are you the Nintendo police? Thats weird.

Why is that weird? You want, as someone stated before, Russian and Chinese crime to benefit? They are illegally selling a product, and there are litterally thousands of these 'booths' or whatever you want to call them selling them. That might be ok for the backallys of Hong Kong, but definatly not next to the Cinnabon and JC Penny. It hurts the sale of the actual product (the carts from original NES) and while Nintendo dosn't benefit from the sale of them on eBay, its still better than getting a crapily made product. I think it would be cool if Nintendo released these proporly liscenced and all that good stuff, but this rip-off alternative is not a good thing.

[Famidrive-16]

Really, Nintendo should be the ones selling these. If there's a market, they should be right on top of it. It's silly for them not to be capitalizing on it. Yeah, some retro releases are neat, but they are so possessive of their IP that they are missing out on opportunities like the Jax Pacific folks do with Atari and arcade stuff that they could be doing with NES. They could rerelease the top loader with success, I'm certain. I know many parents would be relieved by the limitations of old school systems with respect to violence.

I read in an article they released an official controller in Asia that plays several NES games, I believe, so they could put a halt to piracy.

I've got a couple 10-in-1 Game Boy games, just for the sure novelty of it all, but I wouldn't buy a huge controller or system with 87656467890 games that all play the same three games.

I also remember, a year or so ago, they had a commercial on over here ON TV selling a controller that played a bunch of NES games (and not just same-games, either.) It was hilarious, a kid walks into a game store and it goes 'ARE VIDEO AGMES TOO EXPENSIVE FOR YOU???' and it shows this evil devil guy selling this kid a PS2 game for a million dollars LOL LOL LOL I honestly should've recorded it, because I only saw it once, but that scene was worth the laugh alone.

[retroman]

same here in baltimore md

[Cmosfm]

I also remember, a year or so ago, they had a commercial on over here ON TV selling a controller that played a bunch of NES games (and not just same-games, either.) It was hilarious, a kid walks into a game store and it goes 'ARE VIDEO AGMES TOO EXPENSIVE FOR YOU???' and it shows this evil devil guy selling this kid a PS2 game for a million dollars LOL LOL LOL I honestly should've recorded it, because I only saw it once, but that scene was worth the laugh alone.

I'd have LOVED to see that, mainly just to see them pronounce the word "AGMES".

[kainemaxwell]

RCM, which mall you see them at? I'm in Northern NJ also. Anytime I walk past the kiosk Ms. Pac-Man's always being played...

Willowbrook, Mill Creek, and Newport. I was tempted to try and get some controllers for free in exchange for my silence! I wonder if all the kiosks will be around after christmas is over.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM
Rockaway for me actually.

[Darth Sensei]

Both of our premier malls in West Michigan have them. Not only that but they go for $50-75.

[Famidrive-16]

I also remember, a year or so ago, they had a commercial on over here ON TV selling a controller that played a bunch of NES games (and not just same-games, either.) It was hilarious, a kid walks into a game store and it goes 'ARE VIDEO AGMES TOO EXPENSIVE FOR YOU???' and it shows this evil devil guy selling this kid a PS2 game for a million dollars LOL LOL LOL I honestly should've recorded it, because I only saw it once, but that scene was worth the laugh alone.

I'd have LOVED to see that, mainly just to see them pronounce the word "AGMES".

No matter how well I think I type things up I always make some kind of typo these days...

[cracked8ball]

The malls here in the Dallas, TX area still sell these pieces of junk. However theyve been marked down to $9.99 - $15.99. The flea market and even some dollar stores still carry them as well.

[allsport11]

RCM, which mall you see them at? I'm in Northern NJ also. Anytime I walk past the kiosk Ms. Pac-Man's always being played...

Willowbrook, Mill Creek, and Newport. I was tempted to try and get some controllers for free in exchange for my silence! I wonder if all the kiosks will be around after christmas is over.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

Wow, Millcreek is right down the block from my house and Newport is only a few minutes. Might have to check them out and see what they got.

[Cleatis]

I just don't get why you guys shut them down? Are you the Nintendo police? Thats weird.

Here’s an example. I would like to have my own retro gaming shop. Where I pay my bills by doing something I enjoy most, collecting, trading and selling retro games. I can’t do that though because I cant compete with those thieving f***s who have ruined the market. Try getting a teenager pay you $10 for a copy of Metroid when it comes free off the net or in an 3000 game controller. I'll turn those people in because I hold a grudge against them.

[mezrabad]

In Austin, TX Lakeline Mall and Barton Creek Mall have booths with aggressive sales people selling these things and they seem to be doing a good job. I was really hoping that the lawsuit in the Seatlle area would have a ripple effect but it seems that nothing would be scary enough to get them to shut down before the Xmas rush was over. On Dec 24th I also saw a kiosk in a mall near Cocoa Beach, Fl (not sure of Mall name) they had marked them down and were selling them for $40.

Same crappy stuff they were selling in Austin, too. To be honest, though the picture on the demo models didn't look half bad (Pac-man on one TV and Super Mario Bros on the other.) I don't think I'd purchase one without testing it out first. From what I've read on these boards, the electronics inside are a great big glue gun mess, right?

Anyway, in regard to being the "Nintendo Police": I expect these things to be sold in flea markets for $20, I do not expect them to be sold in malls for $50. I find it disturbing for reasons I can't quite articulate, probably having something to do with my local mall (the one my kids and I go to) traffiking in black market goods. It bothers me that ether through ignorance or bribery the local mall is renting space to criminals. Who else will buy their way in? This is pretty harmless on the "dangerous to local kids" scale but as a precedent it's a little annoying.

[ianoid]

I just don't get why you guys shut them down? Are you the Nintendo police? Thats weird.

Here’s an example. I would like to have my own retro gaming shop.

Ah, self interest. Rather than law abiding or Nintendo protecting.

If they were legit and by Nintendo, would you sell them? Why not sell the pirates? Cant be too hard to get ahold of. Oh, wait, they are illicit. Hate to pass on bad product. Hmm.

I find it hard to believe that these consoles alone would put a reasonably priced shop out of business. How many customers would you actually loose to these pieces of crap? I doubt that many if you can keep useful stuff in stock and your prices wouldn't suck. Perhaps you could learn from these guys- have a kiosk in the mall and sell NESes and other stuff at Christmastime.

[JJNova]

PIRATED NINTENDO GAMES STILL BEING SOLD

And what? :P

My opinion exactly. Just to quote the Bible (Because it makes sense here) "Let him without sin cast the first stone".

Maybe if they were cutting into Nintendo's profits I would care, but Nintendo doesn't see a dime from the NES games you get from Ebay/Salvation Army/Goodwill/PawnShop/garage sale.....so....yeah......

I meant to make sense somewhere in this post, but forgot.

[Cleatis]

I just don't get why you guys shut them down? Are you the Nintendo police? Thats weird.

Here’s an example. I would like to have my own retro gaming shop.

Ah, self interest. Rather than law abiding or Nintendo protecting.

Thats a fine observation. Did you notice I made the same observation when I said "I'll turn those people in because I hold a grudge against them."
You can attempt to justify it all you want but nothing makes it right. Im sure this ONE product alone wont wipe every retro game off the planet. It does, however, take business away from honest men and women who are making a living selling legal goods. I may have used myself as an EXAMPLE but Im also working in the interest of honest men and women elsewhere. I hold a lot of respect for people who chose an honest living. Like I told ManciGames, "I admire the effort. The world would be a lot more fun if more people put their time into something like you guys did. That was something we ALL could have enjoyed." I have no respect for thieves and I have no respect for people who see a thief and they dont do anything about it. If you arent a part of the solution, then youre a part of the problem.

[Cleatis]

PIRATED NINTENDO GAMES STILL BEING SOLD

And what? :P

My opinion exactly. Just to quote the Bible (Because it makes sense here) "Let him without sin cast the first stone".

Maybe if they were cutting into Nintendo's profits I would care, but Nintendo doesn't see a dime from the NES games you get from Ebay/Salvation Army/Goodwill/PawnShop/garage sale.....so....yeah......

I meant to make sense somewhere in this post, but forgot.

Did you just quote the bible to justify stealing? Have you read the bible? "Thou shalt not steal". Here is another quote that I think "makes sense" here..."The Ten Commandments will not budge And stealing will continue stealing."
So if they were cutting into Nintendos profits, you would care. What about Freddy Retrogamer? Dont you care about the little guy who is losing legit business to those thieves? There are thieves right in the middle of the mall and how many people care? VERY few. The next time someone steals something from YOU, dont even complain about it. If you dont care about people stealing from Freddy Retrogamer then dont expect Freddy to care about you. And keep in mind that if there were more people like you out there, there would only be more people trying to steal your things..so thank yourself.

[Avenger]

theres one in the mall here in Victoria BC (Canada)

i would really like to know how to contact Nintendo about this, anyone got any info on how to go about it?

[Cleatis]

theres one in the mall here in Victoria BC (Canada)

i would really like to know how to contact Nintendo about this, anyone got any info on how to go about it?

Good for you!
Here is a little something I got off the Nintendo website.

How Do I Report Potential Infringements to Nintendo Products?

To report infringing items on internet auction sites, please call us at 1-800-255-3700 or e-mail us at auctionpiracy@noa.nintendo.com

To report ROM sites, emulators, Game Copiers, Counterfeit manufacturing, or other illegal activities, please call us at 1-800-255-3700 or e-mail us at piracyscene@noa.nintendo.com

For any other legal inquiry or concern, please call us at 1-800-255-3700 or e-mail us at noalegal@noa.nintendo.com

For more information on piracy issues regarding the videogame industry, please visit the Entertainment Software Association's website at www.theESA.com.

Im not saying Im perfect. I use MAME and I just took copyrighted text from the Nintendo website and there isnt any legit excuse for doing so. Stealing is stealing. The difference is that I dont make my living by stealing from others and I attempt to deter others that do.

[thegreatescape]

Maybe there wouldnt be as much of a famiclone market if nintendo werent so content to screw us all over with $30 GBA re-releases. Ianoid knows the score- A licenced TV games joystick with nes games would surely be successful given the popularity of the Namco ones, and theyd also be putting out a legitimate, superior build alternative to the "oh noes russian mafia famiclones".

Heck, maybe if nintendo put out a legit alternative theyd had a reason to sue the famiclone sellers..

[Cleatis]

Maybe there wouldnt be as much of a famiclone market if nintendo werent so content to screw us all over with $30 GBA re-releases. Ianoid knows the score- A licenced TV games joystick with nes games would surely be successful given the popularity of the Namco ones, and theyd also be putting out a legitimate, superior build alternative to the "oh noes russian mafia famiclones".

Heck, maybe if nintendo put out a legit alternative theyd had a reason to sue the famiclone sellers..

Yeah, I guess youre right. Gosh, I wish Nintendo made a better alternative to collecting retro games. I guess it is okay for people to steal the games and make a living selling those stolen games. Man, what gives Nintendo the right to sue people for stealing their property?! You make a strong, well thought out point. :hmm:

[thegreatescape]

Yeah, I guess youre right. Gosh, I wish Nintendo made a better alternative to collecting retro games.
Why not? Namco did, Atari ("Atari") did. Not everybody wants to collect, some people just want to play classics and not have to worry about trying to fix the blinking nes they just bought.


I guess it is okay for people to steal the games and make a living selling those stolen games. Man, what gives Nintendo the right to sue people for stealing their property?! You make a strong, well thought out point. :hmm:

I thought you had it right after the first sentance about an alternative, but alas. Do you honestly think ninendo can stop the flow simply by suing people? Even if they had an army of nintendo fanboys working for them they still couldnt by lawsuits alone. Lawsuit + competition might work, but you seem to have already dismissed that idea so i'll let you get back to reporting people.

[Cleatis]

Yeah, I guess youre right. Gosh, I wish Nintendo made a better alternative to collecting retro games.
Why not? Namco did, Atari ("Atari") did. Not everybody wants to collect, some people just want to play classics and not have to worry about trying to fix the blinking nes they just bought.


I guess it is okay for people to steal the games and make a living selling those stolen games. Man, what gives Nintendo the right to sue people for stealing their property?! You make a strong, well thought out point. :hmm:

I thought you had it right after the first sentance about an alternative, but alas. Do you honestly think ninendo can stop the flow simply by suing people? Even if they had an army of nintendo fanboys working for them they still couldnt by lawsuits alone. Lawsuit + competition might work, but you seem to have already dismissed that idea so i'll let you get back to reporting people.

Nintendo fanboy? I hate Nintendo...Ive said it before, I hope they drop off the planet for stunting the growth of the handheld industry for 15 years. Do I "honestly think ninendo can stop the flow simply by suing people"? No...when did I say that?? I have said that if it wasnt for people like you, pirates would have no customers. No customers = no product. "If you arent a part of the solution, youre a part of the problem."

"Why not? Namco did, Atari ("Atari") did." I dont know. Im not Nintendo so why are you asking me? Did I say Nintendo shouldnt? Are you reading the words Im typing or are you just arguing to argue?

[Griking]

I thought you had it right after the first sentance about an alternative, but alas. Do you honestly think ninendo can stop the flow simply by suing people? Even if they had an army of nintendo fanboys working for them they still couldnt by lawsuits alone. Lawsuit + competition might work, but you seem to have already dismissed that idea so i'll let you get back to reporting people.

After all, Nintendo did a great job of shutting down all of the NES roms sites haven't they? LOL

And speaking of roms, I wonder how many of the people who reported the sellers of these games have some sort of rom collection of their own. I've already heard one admit that he has Mame on his computer which is just as illegal in the eyes of the law.

[PackratVG]

I was looking for a part-time job last summer and applied to work at one of these mall kiosks. During the interview I asked the owner several in-depth questions about the legalities of the controllers. He stumbled on his words for about five minutes trying to tell me that it was all legit. I called him on his lie and of course wasn't hired. LOL

Best,
Jarett

[rbudrick]

A buddy of mine (on my advice) went up to one of these and told them he'd call the cops if they didn't give him one for free. IT WORKED.

In a related story I saw one of these kiosks in the mall recently. Thought it woulda been shut down by now, but no. Just for shits and giggles, I stated to the saleman what he had to have already known:

"You know those are illegal man."

He went on to a canned speech about how they aren't. Totally stupid too.

I told him to be careful because the cops have been shutting these down all over. He said he didn't care, cuz his boss would get arrested, not him...that he'd rat him out. So organized crime? Maybe....but I wouldn't fuck over no mafia dude....I definitely wouldn't publiclly express to a stranger that I'd fuck over my boss if I was working for the mob.

-Rob

[allsport11]

It's the gamers hypocritical oath. It's ok for thousands of people to download the games for themselves as long as they don't sell them, but if a few people are selling them then they should be reported.

[Promophile]

PIRATED NINTENDO GAMES STILL BEING SOLD

And what? :P

My opinion exactly. Just to quote the Bible (Because it makes sense here) "Let him without sin cast the first stone".

Maybe if they were cutting into Nintendo's profits I would care, but Nintendo doesn't see a dime from the NES games...


Ever hear of the GBA Classic Series :roll: .


It's the gamers hypocritical oath. It's ok for thousands of people to download the games for themselves as long as they don't sell them, but if a few people are selling them then they should be reported.

If you were an artist would you rather have people copy your artwork for their own enjoyment or would you rather have people sell copies of your paintings while not giving you a dime? I know which I would choose.


Maybe there wouldnt be as much of a famiclone market if nintendo werent so content to screw us all over with $30 GBA re-releases. Ianoid knows the score- A licenced TV games joystick with nes games would surely be successful given the popularity of the Namco ones, and theyd also be putting out a legitimate, superior build alternative to the "oh noes russian mafia famiclones".

Heck, maybe if nintendo put out a legit alternative theyd had a reason to sue the famiclone sellers..

Yes, you make such a good argument. "There is a market for it and Atari is doing it so it's nintendo's fault that the pirates are selling these controllers". So i guess it's the anime companies fault that bootleg anime DVDs sell so well, they should lower prices, right? Nevermind having to cover the costs of production, they're "ripping you off" so you deserve the ability to buy bootlegs, right? Keep telling yourself that.



If they were legit and by Nintendo, would you sell them? Why not sell the pirates? Cant be too hard to get ahold of. Oh, wait, they are illicit. Hate to pass on bad product. Hmm.


Ever hear of something called morality? honesty? integrity? Nope, guess not.



I find it hard to believe that these consoles alone would put a reasonably priced shop out of business. How many customers would you actually loose to these pieces of crap? I doubt that many if you can keep useful stuff in stock and your prices wouldn't suck. Perhaps you could learn from these guys- have a kiosk in the mall and sell NESes and other stuff at Christmastime.

We aren't the average game buyers. The people buying these controllers don't know a thing about Nintendo or bootlegs, all they know is that their kids won't shut up unless they buy them this controller, which seems like a good deal. Which are they going to buy, a controller with 500 games for 50 dollars, or a single NES game for 12?

[sirgeoph]

I thought you had it right after the first sentance about an alternative, but alas. Do you honestly think ninendo can stop the flow simply by suing people? Even if they had an army of nintendo fanboys working for them they still couldnt by lawsuits alone. Lawsuit + competition might work, but you seem to have already dismissed that idea so i'll let you get back to reporting people.

After all, Nintendo did a great job of shutting down all of the NES roms sites haven't they? LOL

And speaking of roms, I wonder how many of the people who reported the sellers of these games have some sort of rom collection of their own. I've already heard one admit that he has Mame on his computer which is just as illegal in the eyes of the law.

Actually, if I remember correctly, MAME for obsolete games (i.e. games that aren't making the company any money) are fine for emulation. I'm pretty sure a judge made that ruling a year or so ago.

Also, there's a difference between downloading a rom and selling a rom. not only are you just stealing copyrighted material, you're profiting from it. that's where it becomes a big problem. those are two different laws, mind you. possession of stolen property and selling of stolen property are two serperate things that can land your ass in jail, one moreso than the other.

I got serveral of these kiosks shut down recently in my area and yes, I do have a rom collection. but guess what, I still buy NES carts from my store. what games do i emulate? anything above an r8. if i can't buy it, i'll emulate it. if i can afford it, i buy it.

[GamblinMonkey]

Well, thanks for the info on how to contact Nintendo about these things. I'm not sure if those kiosks are still set up in the mall back home (Nebraska) since I'm at my parent's house for Christmas at the moment, but I think I might check it out when I get back. You can bet that I'll call it in if they're still there.

I don't have any self-interest in the matter, I don't want to sell old video games for a living or anything. I just think that it's wrong to make money off of someone else's copyrighted material, and so I intend to put a stop to it.

You can say that Nintendo should sell their old games for cheap, then people wouldn't want to buy these knock-offs all that you want, but when you come down to it, they're THEIR games. They can sell them for whatever price they want. They own them.

[drummy]

They still sell them at the malls I live close to. Maybe I should check it out next time.

[thegreatescape]

Maybe there wouldnt be as much of a famiclone market if nintendo werent so content to screw us all over with $30 GBA re-releases. Ianoid knows the score- A licenced TV games joystick with nes games would surely be successful given the popularity of the Namco ones, and theyd also be putting out a legitimate, superior build alternative to the "oh noes russian mafia famiclones".

Heck, maybe if nintendo put out a legit alternative theyd had a reason to sue the famiclone sellers..

Yes, you make such a good argument. "There is a market for it and Atari is doing it so it's nintendo's fault that the pirates are selling these controllers".
So i guess it's the anime companies fault that bootleg anime DVDs sell so well, they should lower prices, right? Nevermind having to cover the costs of production, they're "ripping you off" so you deserve the ability to buy bootlegs, right? Keep telling yourself that.


Just so you know, i work both the Chinese and Russian mafia and my only purpose on this board is to defend famiclone sellers and bootleg anime. Jesus christ, dont take it so personally (ditto cleatus), all im saying is at the moment Nintendo have nothing to gain by suing famiclones and if they really want to put a stop to it they should try competing with them. The bootleg dvd thing is totally different because as you know, NINTENDO DONT MAKE A PLUG AND PLAY JOYSTICK, and thus the famiclones are a lower cost bootleg of NOTHING. And before you say it, the GBA classics are a different market.

[chaoticjelly]

I've seen these devices being sold in a mall (St Johns Shopping Centre, Liverpool)

and High Street market stalls (Liverpool)

They have them blasting away playing Mario, Contra etc.. theyre pretty damn expensive, and of course its total cheap plastic fantastic

Me and my friend always laugh as its totally illegal but nobody cares in the UK or nobody knows.

We watched police walk past the stall before LOL

Nintendo really dont give a damn in Europe....

And look at the "Stars Catalogue" for proof..

[Mr.FoodMonster]

I simply CANNOT believe that many of you are basically saying that there is no problem with selling these. It makes no sence at all. I reported my local mall Kiosk.

[NE146]

Hey I just saw some today at Valley Fair mall here in Santa Clara LOL

I'm heading back up North to Washington to my home near Nintendo tonight :P

[Cleatis]

Hey I just saw some today at Valley Fair mall here in Santa Clara LOL

I'm heading back up North to Washington to my home near Nintendo tonight :P

Ive seen them at the Alderwood mall.

[rbudrick]

Just so you know, i work both the Chinese and Russian mafia and my only purpose on this board is to defend famiclone sellers and bootleg anime. Jesus christ, dont take it so personally (ditto cleatus), all im saying is at the moment Nintendo have nothing to gain by suing famiclones and if they really want to put a stop to it they should try competing with them. The bootleg dvd thing is totally different because as you know, NINTENDO DONT MAKE A PLUG AND PLAY JOYSTICK, and thus the famiclones are a lower cost bootleg of NOTHING. And before you say it, the GBA classics are a different market.

OMG!!11! 73h M0B!!11
< Rob freaks out cuz there's no emoticon to denote thegreatescape's sarcasm ( X_x :eek 2: ) while making subtle sarcasm himself.

-ROb

[rpepper9]

Oh my! What an invigorating discussion this has turned into.

I have a question what does this: OMG!!11! 73h M0B!!11 mean? I know a bit of the "leet speak", so I know OMG!!11! is Oh My God with ! points but what does 73h and M0B!!11 mean? :D

[rbudrick]

Oh my! What an invigorating discussion this has turned into.

I have a question what does this: OMG!!11! 73h M0B!!11 mean? I know a bit of the "leet speak", so I know OMG!!11! is Oh My God with ! points but what does 73h and M0B!!11 mean?


The Mob....just being a dink, sorry. :) If I amuse myself and no one else, I am happy. That's all that matters. Carry on! :D

-Rob

[madgamer]

i went to west virginia they had this hooked to the tv you can just play all hotel rooms have double ttree

[sirgeoph]

i went to west virginia they had this hooked to the tv you can just play all hotel rooms have double ttree

actually, a lot of hotels have those, though those are usually licensed products. a lot of times they're third-party games, r games made specifically for the device

[Great Hierophant]

These kiosks pop up everywhere. In every state you can find them, except in Washington, perhaps. When have you previously seen such blatant and rampant piracy? Napster had the benefit of convenience and anonymity. This is the mall, arguably the center of modern social life for the nearby communities. These people ply their wares under the eye of police officers working details.

Nintendo has pussyfooted with their old library like everything else since god-knows-when. Their pricing on the GBA NES Classics series is ridiculously high and their release schedules are snail-like. Used cartridges cost less. Third-party games are few and far between.

But the thing I find most objectionable about these set ups is the quality of the product they sell. The N64 controller models are notorious for going south. I wonder how successful people are with getting replacements. On the most recent models I tried the system had visual and audio interference because the A/V cables had frayed down to their bare wires. A D-pad had difficulty registering right. At least the "analog" stick actually worked this time, as in earlier models it was merely an immovable piece of plastic. The raster was not always stable, strangly warping the picture at some times. Also, while the "top-loader" image quality issue was not present, in some games the brightness of the screen noticeably decreased after a certain scanline.

These things do not really invoke the NES all that much. These things tend to look like anything but a toaster. If the device has a cartridge port, it is a 60 pin Famicom connector. While the only true difference between that connector and the 72 pin NES connector is the pin traces, the device is essentially useless without cartridges. Cartridges that are impossible to find unless you know what you are doing. Have some old NES games you want to play? Good luck to the average gamer. Additionally, the games on these X-in-1 cartridges are Famicom versions. Super Mario Bros 3, Double Dragon II and Super C seem to be the most common advanced games. All those Japanese characters. Memories are violated when Mario is reduced from Racoon to small Mario with one hit. You never find Zelda or Metroid on these things.

There is an unpleasant advertisement of false advertising at these kiosks. These cartridges frequently state "72,000-in-1". The salesperson quotes a figure around 100. The ture number of games is somewhere usually about 40, not counting the variations. The variations cut down the true number of games tremendously. Then the salespeople go on to say that there are Atari games in these things as well. The Flashback console, dissappointing as it is, is closer to the truth even though the same hardware is being used. They seem to imply this is official Nintendo product or that these games are perfectly legal. I wonder what Nintendo says when customers call for service on thjese "official" products?

I'm not too crazy about the prices ($50 after Christmas) they charge for this garbage. Mall management gets rent, so they profit too from this illicit trade.

[Promophile]

I think nintendo Suing the malls would cure their indifference to these kiosks.

[pineapplehead2]

I'm seeing these things in Australia too where i live at the 2nd store also i think they were selling them on one of the Australian Shopping networks.

[Lord Contaminous]

Just came back from the mall. They got terminated there now.

[Cryomancer]

Just reported mine, let's see how long before they're shut down.