Piracy in Korea: R4 Triumphant

Good article, it's always good to increase our culture with some knowledge and reports from other countries... About piracy, I should say that the reality here in Brazil is not very different, the taxes over imported and electronics is kinda ABSURD, to number it I should say that you will pay 60% more if you are importing anything over the $50 price.

So, mostly everyone here has piracy on their systems, it's tough to believe that I could buy(actually I buy for the root price in U.S since a big part of my family lives there) a game or a blu-ray movie for $39, $60, when you see them here to sell on the store for $130+.

Solution to pay less? Black-market. We buy from people who import stuff without paying the taxes... hard to say, but that's a world reality for those whom that are forgotten in their countries.

Good luck on EURO 08 Semi-Finals, if Germany wins I'll celebrate eating some Curry Würst!

 

In Korea, we'll do a lot of things to get things free. We have websites to download most of these stuff.

I used to pirate movies before it came out, pc games, music, emulators, 40 gigs of anime (My brother did this just last year), and so on.

Not saying everyone does it, but it's common.

 

That happens to a lot of third-world countries...doesn't it?

Offtopic: Didn't you used to have a different flag, ojsinnerz? Did you move here in Canada? >_

 

I've actually always lived in Canada before I was in GBAtemp. More of the line of since 5 years ago to be specific. I just changed it, because I felt like it, no more. no less.

 

Oh. That's cool.

 

Some countries aren't considered as "marketable" by international companies, so not much attention is payed to them. Like Russia. Only one DS game has been released in their language, that I know of.

 

Well...I think its crazy that a whole country is pirating...I mean, that could possibly rip a big whole in Nintendo's net profit and slow down good game production right?

 

lol, popdrama and clubbox anyone?
oh shit, is this advertisments?
Ah w/e, without a KSSN you guys won't get anywhere =P

 

It's pretty much like the Philippines.
Go to the mall, and you'll see 200 games in one packages.
EVERYWHERE.

 

Try Portugal.
There are 5 games max with portuguese language, and they're all children's games or shovelware.

We don't even have a Nintendo Portugal, our Nintendo products are distributed by a toy company.

 

You think that's bad?
Try Hong Kong. Everyone uses an R4. EVERYONE. EVERY retailer sells it. And think about how many people there are living there and how many can get their hands on a DS. Not a fan of DS? Everyone bootlegs PSP games too.

 

But Hong Kong is such a small place really. That and everyone who probably pirates saves their money to buy them limited edition game stuff that the Japanese dish out. Really.

Now China...

 

Hahaha, so true. When I traveled to China, no one had a DS, so. Yeah. They can't even get their hands on a computer, much less a DS. They may manufacture these things, but they most likely don't use them themselves. I mean, wtf do they have? An iQue?

 

Okay. What you were doing in the uncivilized parts of China, I dunno.
In China they even make "pirated versions" of R4s whereas some of the more decent shops in HK actually advise you on which flashcarts are better lol.
Also, last time I was in HK, I saw a couple of foreigners who were buying R4s heh.

 

Pirated piracy?
Wow.

 

Yep. In Hong Kong, I only saw ONE damn person who had an original DS cart. That was my friend. And he was only visiting Hong Kong. And I'm one of those foreigners buying an R4 (even though I'm actually Chinese and my parents are from Hong Kong...).

Speaking of China, many of my friends have bought pre-installed CFW PSPs in China, as well as DSs which come with DSTT's and 2GB of memory. Much cheaper than here. As well as buying PSPs, they usually come with a few DVD's of games. Even my DS rom site is Chinese

My Korean friend got his R4 from his aunt, who apparently bought it in the Duty Free store in Korea's airport... 0__o It even came preloaded with games!

 

Yes. In China and most Southeast Asian countries, they sell the DS with a flashcart bundled (with an SD card, etc) and would preload ROMs in it at your request. Same with PSPs already with CFW and a Memory Stick filled with games.

Speaking of Hong Kong, "once in sometimes" there's some guys who've just stolen stuff from the back of a truck and sell them by Apliu Street which is also in Sham Shui Po, just a short walk from the legendary Golden Computer Centres. You can get DSs, PSPs and other consoles for half the price if you're into buying stolen goods. LOL

 

Yup, same with Brazil, as we share the same language =p
You know, playing video-games was mostly how I (re-)learned English. Quite useful they are, I'd say. Haha.

 

currywurst is the real deal!