In the past we have seen how different developers have reacted to gamers who pirate their games. Some have chosen to be humorous about it, while some have decided to act on it legally. Nintendo seems to be toeing the legal line because according to reports, the company has been banning players who were found pirating Pokemon Sun/Moon.
Basically Pokemon Sun/Moon somehow got leaked onto the internet ahead of its release, and many gamers used that opportunity to download and play the game illegally. Nintendo found out and issued swift bans on their 3DS consoles, meaning that they have been banned from all of Nintendo’s online services. This essentially transforms their 3DS into an offline-only console.
It also means that any games that were bought online but not yet downloaded will no longer be accessible, and it seems the only way around this is to buy a new 3DS, unless Nintendo decides to reverse course. Of course not all of the pirates were caught as there are some gamers out there who have yet to be banned, although we’re guessing that it probably shouldn’t be long until they do.
In a statement issued by Nintendo, “As a result of a number of Nintendo 3DS users using unauthorized versions of several games, and connecting to the official game servers in violation of our terms of service, these users’ Nintendo 3DS systems that stored the unauthorized game code have been banned from Nintendo’s online network effective immediately.” That being said what do you guys think? Too far? Or is the punishment justifiable?
Filed in . Read more about Legal, Nintendo, Nintendo 3ds, Piracy and Pokemon.