R4 and other similar cards declared illegal in the UK
The R4 is a blank game card that can be loaded up with pirated software but can also be used to get hold of new releases or re-live old school Gameboy titles, but also play games created by bedroom developers, which was the defence of manufacturers Playables and Wai Dat Chan.
The case also considered other cards with similar functionality in the same way.
The judge pointed out that was a poor defence because whilst ‘homebrew’ development and games may be a legitimate use for the cards, it was hardly the most obvious use – that and the fact the cards had to bypass security measures to work.
Commenting on the case, Nintendo said:
“In the UK alone, there have been over 100,000 game copying devices seized since 2009. Nintendo initiates these actions not only on its own behalf, but also on behalf of over 1,400 video game development companies that depend on legitimate sales of games for their survival.”
We have never sold cards ourselves, but instead offered information on where you can buy them.
Nor did we ever promote illegal acquisition of software. We always believed that you should buy your new games legally, but we did promote the alternative free software and applications available.
We remain of the belief that once you buy a product, it becomes yours and you should be able to modify and use it in any way you see fit. As the courts have outlawed all use of these cards … even use that did not impact upon Nintendo, we are therefore withdrawing all adverts from this site at the earliest opportunity as many vendors will have already withdrawn stock from sale as a result of the judgement. Those who have not are now acting illegally.
You may wish to use our sister site to see who has stock … that site carries in excess of 4m products from all sorts of categories and merchants.
