Flash Kits Illegal in France

[Another World]

Nintendo has won another battle against Flash Kits. The Court of Appeals in France is now "recognizing that these accessories infringe the intellectual property of Nintendo, infringe the trademark, bypass DRM and facilitate the counterfeiting of games." Once again the R4 has been mentioned by name.

Something which seems to be ignored during these lawsuits is the legitimacy of Flash Kits and similar devices in regards to Homebrew. Nintendo would have the public believe that Flash Kit users are only out to pirate Nintendo games and hurt their company.

The R4 was arguably one of the better generation-1 Slot-1 Flash Kits, and is still a great option thanks to the Wood Firmware. These lawsuits have publicized the “R4” name across the Internet bringing an influx of new consumers who want the ease-of-piracy that NDS Flash Kits have made famous. Sadly these consumers are buying anything with the R4 name, which has made this problem a double edged sword. The more Nintendo goes after resellers the more popular poorly supported R4 clones have become. As we all know, the more popular clones become the more Chinese based companies will manufacture them.

This recent ruling has some of us, once again, asking for the Homebrew only Flash Kit which was once planned by HB Menu developer Wintermute.

Please chime in and let us know how you feel about legitimate uses of Flash Kits and Nintendo's never-ending attack on the R4 brand.

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[Zerosuit connor]

Why the r4?
They were not the first Ds Flash kit.
They aren't used for piracey by most people.
And the Ds is dead anyway.

 

[TheDarkSeed]

I hope this doesn't draw any raging hacker attacks towards Nintendo. That is the last thing they need.

 

[Another World]

Why the r4?

because the r4 was one of the most popular flash kits when nintendo started their lawsuits. the first lawsuit they won had something like 200 companies involved, including some of the major software companies (capcom, etc). that lawsuit was the one that killed the r4, the team disbanded because of it.

-another world

 

[Zerosuit connor]

Why the r4?

because the r4 was one of the most popular flash kits when nintendo started their lawsuits. the first lawsuit they won had something like 200 companies involved, including some of the major software companies (capcom, etc).

-another world

Okay... If they sue the r4 manufacturers and sales points. They'd have to sue they M3 adaptor team, and the supercard team etc. As sueing one is unjust.

 

[Another World]

they are no longer going after the manufactures, they are going after the resellers.

you can not import, sell, or distribute flash kits in france any longer. this is similar to what happened in the UK and japan.
the grey area is now black and white. its illegal and there won't be a legal loop hole to get around it.

-another world

 

[Schizoanalysis]

This only really effects French resellers.

Anyone in France can still buy one from a Chinese seller like PA or LT. Sure, it is illegal to bring it into the country, but all packages are marked "card adapter", and I doubt customs really cares anyway. Or, if they do happen to open your package by chance, the worst they will do is confiscate your card.

 

[Another World]

And the Ds is dead anyway.

the last gba rom dump was 2009? the gba has been dead for a long time but there are still flash kits being manufactured for it. there are still kits for the gameboy color, nintendo, snes, n64, etc. it doesn't really matter of the system is dead, people will continue to make flash kits for it if there is a market for them. the longer flash kits are easily available the more it will hurt nintendo. well, if you buy into that half of the argument. personally, i have always felt that flash kits have helped hardware sales.

these lawsuits appear to be nintendo doing the "right thing". perhaps this is a way to strengthen their relationships with software developers who have been making games on systems which have almost been hacked since day one.

-another world

 

[Rydian]

I agree that flash kits help hardware sales. If it weren't for DS flash kits I'd have just used a DS emulator to play a game or two, but since I got a DSi with a flash cart it's preferable for me to get actual games since I can play them portably (and despite what some people say, not all DSiware is shit). The issue with varying game companies is that not all of them make a killing on their hardware... see: Sony selling the PS3 at a loss for a long time.

 

[TomF1]

Old news : http://gbatemp.net/topic/310378-new-flash-card-ruling-in-france/

 

[Bonny]

Oh No!

We are all accustomed to our All-For-Free-Game-Socialism with the cheap excuse - "I'am only using it for Homebrew!". How dare you, Nintendo! I will never again... ahh.... well... buy?... No... download?... steal... anything from you... yeah, right!

 

[rasputin]

Oh No!

We are all accustomed to our All-For-Free-Game-Socialism with the cheap excuse - "I'am only using it for Homebrew!". How dare you, Nintendo! I will never again... ahh.... well... buy?... No... download?... steal... anything from you... yeah, right!

Haven't you got a war somewhere to support ? zeig heil

 

[Bonny]

Of course i have! Against all these mean Industry, who dares to defend them self! They must be smashed!

 

[wasim]

this will never happen here in India !

 

[trigao]

this will never happen here in India !

even here in brazil

 

[andre0407]

Nintendo, and other console makers on their part have to 'actively participate' in anti- piracy moves such as these to appear like they are protecting the game makers. The console sales in the NDS family isn't likely to be hit as hard, though Nintendo participates in some of the games' production.

I don't suppose they have much of a choice; flash kits, though opening the door to homebrew, indeed holds the potential for abuse. This is a long drawn battle, and isn't going to conclude any time soon.

 

[bowser]

this will never happen here in India !

Yeah because they don't even retail over here :biggrin:

 

[Clydefrosch]

I agree that flash kits help hardware sales. If it weren't for DS flash kits I'd have just used a DS emulator to play a game or two, but since I got a DSi with a flash cart it's preferable for me to get actual games since I can play them portably (and despite what some people say, not all DSiware is shit). The issue with varying game companies is that not all of them make a killing on their hardware... see: Sony selling the PS3 at a loss for a long time.

they dont give a damn about hardware sales. even though nintendo made slight profits from hardware, the money is in software sales.

so by buying a ds, they make a profit of like 10$ but loose hundreds in software sales.

and as legit it is to say, there is homebrew, get real, people that ONLY use this stuff for legal homebrew (meaning no emulation which isnt legal) just dont make up a high percentage.
im pretty sure, appart from infringing the ds card design, if there were homebrew only flashcards, nintendo wouldnt care.
but there is no homebrew only flash card, is there? wonder why

 

[jalaneme]

this will never happen here in India !

even here in brazil

Stranger things have happened, never say never....

 

[Creqaw]

I agree that flash kits help hardware sales. If it weren't for DS flash kits I'd have just used a DS emulator to play a game or two, but since I got a DSi with a flash cart it's preferable for me to get actual games since I can play them portably (and despite what some people say, not all DSiware is shit). The issue with varying game companies is that not all of them make a killing on their hardware... see: Sony selling the PS3 at a loss for a long time.

they dont give a damn about hardware sales. even though nintendo made slight profits from hardware, the money is in software sales.

so by buying a ds, they make a profit of like 10$ but loose hundreds in software sales.

and as legit it is to say, there is homebrew, get real, people that ONLY use this stuff for legal homebrew (meaning no emulation which isnt legal) just dont make up a high percentage.
im pretty sure, appart from infringing the ds card design, if there were homebrew only flashcards, nintendo wouldnt care.
but there is no homebrew only flash card, is there? wonder why

Well the iPlayer comes pretty close.