Video game giant Nintendo today revealed the Australian Customs Service had seized a number of the R4 cartridges which allow piracy on its handheld DS and DSi consoles, as well as other game products claimed to be counterfeit.

“This is the first Australian customs seizure of game copiers of this kind,” Nintendo said in a statement this morning, which contained scant details on the raid. The company has not yet responded to an emailed enquiry for further details — including whether any charges have been filed as a result of the action or who was importing the devices.

The R4 cartridge — which is popular internationally — runs its own operating system for Nintendo’s DS and DSi handheld devices. Individual games and other applications, some of them purporting to be legal, can be downloaded from the internet as small files and simply added to the chip’s storage.

The cartridge is then slotted into the top of a Nintendo DS or DSi as any other cartridge would be. It does not permanently modify the handheld console. It is sold by a number of Australian and international distributors.

However, the legality of selling the device in Australia is currently up in the air, due to the fact that Nintendo recently took legal action against RSJ IT Solutions, a retailer which operates the GadgetGear.com.au website and had been selling the R4 cartridges.

Nintendo came to a settlement with the company several weeks ago which involved damages being paid to the video game manufacturer of $620,000 and the retailer’s stock of R4 cartridges being destroyed. At the time Nintendo said it was considering pursuing similar action against other sellers of devices that allow games to be illegally copied for use on its consoles.

But in a statement subsequently issued, law firm Berrigan Doube, which represented RSJ, said the legal issues were not decided in the case because it was settled out of court.

Today NIntendo claimed the case established that selling the R4 cartridges was “illegal” and that “the consequences are real”. It said it was also taking action against manufacturers, distributors and sellers of game copiers and other infringing devices in many other countries around the world — and in some countries successful criminal proceedings had been brought.

Nintendo said video game piracy continued to be “a serious problem” in Australia and attributed the claimed problem to the availability of devices like the R4 cartridge, which it describes as “game copiers” that circumvent technical protection measures in its handheld console. “Game copiers infringe Nintendo’s trademarks and copyright and breach the “circumvention” device provisions of the Copyright Act,” said Nintendo.

Image credit: Matt Coleman, royalty free

Nintendo Australia today said it could take similar action against other sellers of devices that allow games to be illegally copied for use on its consoles, after it won a $620,000 victory against one such firm this week.

In a statement today the company confirmed news broken yesterday that it had successfully taken action against local group RSJ IT Solutions, which trades as GadgetGear and the individual directors of the company, Patrick Li and James Li. The company had been selling the R4 cartridge locally. Yesterday, RSJ declined to comment on the case.

The device — which is popular internationally — runs its own operating system for Nintendo’s DS handheld device. Individual games and other applications, some of them purporting to be legal, can be downloaded from the internet as small files and simply added to the chip’s storage.

The cartridge is then slotted into the top of a Nintendo DS as any other cartridge would be. It does not permanently modify the handheld console and is sold by a number of Australian and international distributors.

“Nintendo will pursue those who attempt to jeopardise the gaming industry by using all means available to it under the law. In particular, Nintendo is currently contemplating bringing further actions against other sellers of game copying devices in Australia,” the manufacturer of popular game series like Mario and Zelda said in its statement.

The result of the court action was understood to be a settlement that came in the form of Federal Court orders.

According to Nintendo’s statement, GadgetGear had acknowledged that the devices it was selling infringed Nintendo’s copyright and trademarks and were “illegal circumvention devices” that the company will now refrain from importing or selling.

“GadgetGear and the directors will also pay Nintendo a total of A$620,000 by way of damages. GadgetGear will also be delivering to Nintendo all its stock of game copiers for destruction,” Nintendo said.

The game company said since 2008, it had pursued over 800 actions in 16 countries to stop game piracy, confiscating “well over” half a million game copiers for the Nintendo DS. The company said piracy affected sales, the price of video games, and employment in the video game industry.

“The existence of piracy jeopardises the strength of the video game industry overall,” Nintendo said.

The news comes as Nintendo Australia has taken other recent actions to ramp up its fight against game piracy. Last week it was revealed that it had successfully sued a Queensland resident for uploading to the internet a copy of its Wii game New Super Mario Bros a week before its Australian release in November last year. The Queenslander — named by multiple media outlets as James Burt — will pay Nintendo $1.5 million.

Image credit: Nintendo

On the heels of its $1.5 million victory against a Queenslander for uploading a copy of New Super Mario Bros to the internet, Nintendo Australia has reportedly won a landmark lawsuit against a local distributor of the R4 cartridge which allows users to pirate Nintendo DS games.

Nintendo has not yet responded to a request for comment, and the other party, RSJ IT Solutions, who operates the gadgetgear.com.au website declined to comment on the matter. The reported judgement has not yet been made available online.

But iTnews.com.au today reported that the Federal Court of Australia had today ordered that RSJ cease to sell the chip and pay Nintendo $520,000 in damages. Two affiliated respondents, Patrick Li and James Li, were also named in the case, and ordered to pay Nintendo a further $100,000.

The R4 cartridge — which is popular internationally — runs its own operating system for Nintendo’s DS handheld device. Individual games and other applications, some of them purporting to be legal, can be downloaded from the internet as small files and simply added to the chip’s storage.

The cartridge is then slotted into the top of a Nintendo DS as any other cartridge would be. It does not permanently modify the handheld console. It is sold by a number of Australian and international distributors

The news comes as Nintendo Australia appears to be ramping up its fight against game piracy. Last week it was revealed that it had successfully sued a Queensland resident for uploading to the internet a copy of its Wii game New Super Mario Bros a week before its Australian release in November last year.

The Queenslander — named by multiple media outlets as James Burt — has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay Nintendo $1.5 million. At the time, Nintendo said it would pursue anyone who breached its intellectual property rights “using all means available to it under the law”.

Image credit: R4