While it's common to hear about the police or Nintendo itself going after hackers selling modified consoles, it's a bit more out of the ordinary for them to target someone hacking game files. In Japan, and as of a fairly recent law passing in 2019, editing video game save files is an illegal act, which is why a 23-year-old was arrested for doing so. The man had been "illegally" modifying his save data in order to obtain rare Shiny Pokemon, and then selling them. He managed to make over 1.15 million yen, or around $10,000 dollars by selling shinies to customers, being finally caught after he sold a Shiny Sobble to someone for $41 dollars. Arrested in Nagoya City, Japan, the suspect admitted his guilt, claiming he had been editing save files and profiting from it since November 2020.

Source: Asahi News - Translation Courtesy of Serebii

 

[DJPlace]

i got a hacked pokemon thruogh GTS with a website has it's nickname... i would just hack to battle and that is it. i don't have time to ev train and shit. but still selling hacking stuff is bad.

 

[Goku1992A]

Unpopular Opinion selling pokemon is pretty lame but many people sell them on ebay with no problems. I'm no angel I did put hacked pokemon from my 3DS into pokemon sword but then I asked myself what is the point. I rather catch them and traiin them normally versus using beefed up moved and stated from pokehex...

This is why some pokemon online battles are too broken. Too much cheating and not enough training

 

[HarveyHouston]

Is anyone getting a Team Xecuters vibe upon reading this article? While I don't approve of the law, what this guy did was illegal, anyway. Seems to me that he was just asking for it, anyway.

 

[Kanakops]

Bruh, laws exist but that doesn't mean that they are applied, in this case the police went to arrest ONE person who is making money on the back of a company with unconventional means but everyone is getting crazy.

We don't see news every day about people being arrested because they play a game on an emulator or because they have a romhack or because they modify their consoles. They arrest people who are making money from other people's games and guess what, it's the same in Canada or the United States.

Do you honestly think that Japanese people don't use their hacked consoles or play romhacks? Take a tour on youtube, you will be surprised

 

[gamer765]

also found a list of things illegal under that specific law fyi:

Rom Hacks are Illegal
Translation patches are Illegal
Emulators are Illegal
Third-party repair is Illegal
All Hardware Modifications which includes Installing a Capture Card is Illegal
all forms of Data Manipulation which includes Jail Breaking, Cyber Security Breaching. Save editing in Phones Online Games Consoles etc is Illegal
Japan really crossed the line (for me) with third party repair being illegal
I am not going there now

You're coming across as an uneducated bigot with your last claim. I've been to Japan a few times and can for a fact tell you that third party repair is not illegal there. There's plenty of repair shops there, even in their chain big box stores like bic camera, tsukumo. Heck if you go to Akihabara, there's tons of tech shops there. You can even buy parts and tools and DIY. What you won't find is cheating devices. No shop will help you install cheating devices either, but if you're just trying to get something fixed, it's available. Also you have to understand that Japan loves their games especially pokemon and gachapon, it is addicting. It's understandable for them to have an unfair advantage law, that's kind of what keeps games fun there. If you want to cheat in games in Japan, you can do it in the comfort of your home, as long as you're not bringing it online or commercializing it. Honestly the only time you're gonna bring heat onto yourself for something like this, is if you sell these mods or use it online to grief and ruin the game for everyone. And yeah don't need with pokemon there. I'm pretty sure Japan wouldn't want to welcome people like you there anyways. You seem more like a North korea type of guy to me.

 

[E1ite007]

lol
They should come to Mexico. Here in Mercadolibre (our mishmash between eBay and Amazon) people sell hacked and shiny Pokémon for 3DS and Switch games.
Is stupid to be honest.

 

[Cdiddy1122]

Are we just gonna ignore the fact that hardmodding is illegal as well? So if I accidentally drew on my switch with a sharpie in japan I could be arrested?

 

[Deleted User]

I mean, there is no left-wing party in Japan, so of course the mega-corps like Nintendo want everything that involves "personal freedom" banned. That can also explain most of the "Japanese Tradition" (read: Politically Correctness) bullshit, like overworking.

 

[Subtle Demise]

I didn't see Nintendo mentioned in this, he broke Japanese law and Nintendo didn't arrest him.

You know they lobbied and bribed this law into effect. And I thought US laws were bad lol

Capitalism baybee

How is this capitalism?

I see a lot of people bashing the law that got that person arrested. But in all honesty, his behavior is one of the reasons games like Pokémon are so broken and unfun to play online. Completely ruins the experience for other players and it's pretty much cheating the flow of how things work in the game. While I definitely think that arresting people for this is a bit of much of a punishment, it's good to have people respect the small things if they want them to respect the bigger things.

So people should be put in prison with violent offenders because of your personal feelings?

 

[Bladexdsl]

serves him right these people are leeches. and the people buying them are just as fucking stupid just to get a fucking rare pokemon ZOMG they ALL need locking up!

 

[MochaMilk]

You know they lobbied and bribed this law into effect. And I thought US laws were bad lol



How is this capitalism?


So people should be put in prison with violent offenders because of your personal feelings?

Buddy, I'll tell you now. Don't. lol

 

[FAST6191]

Bruh, laws exist but that doesn't mean that they are applied, in this case the police went to arrest ONE person who is making money on the back of a company with unconventional means but everyone is getting crazy.

Is this not a case of a law being applied?

Equally better a guilty man go free than an innocent one be punished unjustly, and I am not seeing a guilty man in this one. This is also before contemplating notions like jury nullification (short version there it is supposed to be for when stupid laws get put in place and the jury basically says they might have done the deed in question but in no way should that attract a legal penalty).

Much as I hate to do a slippery slope but if today it is someone doing the heinous act of charging for something (which again I don't see as an aggravating factor of any note in this) then tomorrow what is to stop some forum where people do this for free? 10000 USD and a price of 41 dollars is 243 pokemon or thereabouts. Double that and it is still a quiet day in threads doing such things around here for free.

 

[banjo2]

So people should be put in prison with violent offenders because of your personal feelings?

While I definitely think that arresting people for this is a bit of much of a punishment

Uh?
I mean, it's kinda the narrative I get, but the words say otherwise

 

[MochaMilk]

Uh?
I mean, it's kinda the narrative I get, but the words say otherwise

By selling hacked shiny Pokémon, these people are not only screwing with the game files, but also screwing up the entire online trading community, risking innocent owners who don't know any better to receive a ban on the game they paid for- mostly kids, and it probably gives the company a lot of trouble having to clean up those messes. It's simple, if you know that selling hacked Pokémon is illegal, then don't do it. You shouldn't do it in the first place, just play the game right. Yeah, the law on this is stupid and I don't think tampering with a children's video game should warrant an arrest, but that's the law and you have to abide by it.
Like, why sell hacked shinies anyway? Why but them? Why am I explaining this? lol

 

[chrisrlink]

idk if this applys but Japans Morals arre fucked up what about Shota/Loli doujin is that illegal there -checks- nope my point is they need their heads on straight before they go making modding illegal maake CP anime/manga illegal first it's called morals Japan learn them

 

[Seliph]

How is this capitalism?

The guy was arrested for profiting off of a corporation's intellectual property because (presumably) said corporation disliked that they were unable to make any money off the scheme. That's peak Capitalism.

It's in a similar vein with Nintendo shutting down fan games, sure the fangame devs (usually) aren't making the fan games for profit, but Nintendo will shut them down simply because Nintendo can't monetize the project for themselves and because they see it as a threat to their profits even if it's an incredibly petty threat.

 

[Pipistrele]

Are we just gonna ignore the fact that hardmodding is illegal as well? So if I accidentally drew on my switch with a sharpie in japan I could be arrested?

To be precise, in most places it's only illegal to circumvent copyright protection software (which often happens with hardmodding) - as long as you're not "jailbreaking" the hardware to achieve the results, you're legally fine. So, doodle on your Switch to your heart's content

 

[FAST6191]

It's in a similar vein with Nintendo shutting down fan games, sure the fangame devs (usually) aren't making the fan games for profit, but Nintendo will shut them down simply because Nintendo can't monetize the project for themselves and because they see it as a threat to their profits even if it's an incredibly petty threat.

It is usually less a threat to their profits (though having to deal with support calls might count) and more a threat to trademarks. If you don't defend them then you risk losing them, or having to explain in court when it actually gets real.

By selling hacked shiny Pokémon, these people are not only screwing with the game files, but also screwing up the entire online trading community, risking innocent owners who don't know any better to receive a ban on the game they paid for- mostly kids, and it probably gives the company a lot of trouble having to clean up those messes. It's simple, if you know that selling hacked Pokémon is illegal, then don't do it. You shouldn't do it in the first place, just play the game right. Yeah, the law on this is stupid and I don't think tampering with a children's video game should warrant an arrest, but that's the law and you have to abide by it.

Ah the "I was just following orders" approach to the world.

There are those that would say you have a civil duty to oppose unjust laws. Indeed the legal system recognises a concept called jury nullification that is supposed to be for that sort of purpose



Equally if Nintendo can't detect the real villains as it were and get ban happy that is their problem.

 

[Seliph]

It is usually less a threat to their profits (though having to deal with support calls might count) and more a threat to trademarks. If you don't defend them then you risk losing them, or having to explain in court when it actually gets real.

Which in turn would definitely hurt profits, but yeah I think what you said is a more nuanced assessment than mine was

 

[MochaMilk]

It is usually less a threat to their profits (though having to deal with support calls might count) and more a threat to trademarks. If you don't defend them then you risk losing them, or having to explain in court when it actually gets real.


Ah the "I was just following orders" approach to the world.

There are those that would say you have a civil duty to oppose unjust laws. Indeed the legal system recognises a concept called jury nullification that is supposed to be for that sort of purpose



Equally if Nintendo can't detect the real villains as it were and get ban happy that is their problem.

I hate Nintendo with a burning passion, but even I know that they aren't in the wrong for taking legal actions against someone who profited from their property that they have a right to protect. This isn't like fan games where they stomp on them out of hate. This is a very reasonable situation to take legal action against and if people can't see it, then I question their morality. You don't steal and profit off of someone else's work. You don't advertise hacked material that others can mistakenly obtain and endanger themselves with. You can deflect it on Nintendo all you want, but at the end of the day, the person shouldn't be doing shady things like that to begin with.