ELSPA Forensics Reveals Massive DS Pirating

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ELSPA Forensics Reveals Massive DS Pirating
Certain discs recovered had over 200 Nintendo DS titles on it, worth approximately $11,800. The raid also uncovered illegally copied games along with pirated music and clothing.
Posted by David Radd on Thursday, April 10, 2008


The U.K.'s ELSPA today announced that illegal copies of DS games were found on discs marked 'Volume 9 DS Games' as part of an East Yorkshire Sunday market raid. This disc is the first of its kind discovered in the U.K. and contains 200 current DS games worth roughly £6,000 ($11,800). There were 85,000 total discs recovered during the raid, along with numerous items of counterfeit clothing and footwear.

"Piracy costs the games industry dear – just like that of any other entertainment industry. Making good and inventive games is an expensive and creative process, with some titles today costing £20m or more to develop," said John Hillier, head of the ELSPA's crime unit. "To make a quality title involves teams of highly skilled professionals, from programmers and graphic artists to voice actors and musicians. When a pirate sells illegally copied games they undermine the viability of our industry. The worst-case scenario is that pirate activity could cost the jobs of some of the creative talent and that would be a catastrophe."

"There are other things which the public should be made aware of about counterfeit games," he continued. "Some of them will damage hardware, such as PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii consoles. Others will not play in PCs and consoles at all or, if they do, the quality of the graphics or gameplay mechanics may be impaired. Finally, pirated software comes with no quality assurance – so if the games do not play properly then retailers and publishers will not replace them."

"Walton Street has recently been plagued by criminals selling illegally copied games, music and clothing," said Michael Rawlinson, managing director of ELSPA. "ELSPA would like to thank local Trading Standards and all other attending authorities for their efforts in stamping out illegal products from the marketplace and helping protect legitimate traders."