You know it. I know. People pirate Nintendo DS games. It's so bad that Nintendo is spearheading a lawsuit to stop piracy. Yet piracy continues.
According to Japan's Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, the top title for illegal downloads is Pokémon Platinum with 2,071,006 transfers worth ¥9.5 billion (US$103 million). Following close behind is Pokémon Diamond with 1,862,899 downloads.
Other popular pirated games include Dragon Quest IX with 1,551,085 downloads worth ¥8.8 billion ($97 million), Mario Party DS with 1,470,231 downloads worth ¥6.7 billion ($74 million), New Super Mario Brothers with 1,455,577 downloads worth ¥6.6 billion ($73 million), Mario Kart with 1,447,781 downloads worth ¥6.6 billion ($72 million) and Pokémon SoulSilver worth 1,129,469 worth ¥5.2 billion ($56 million).
The CESA record 19,347,668 downloads for the top twenty DS games. What's the monetary effect? Damages totaling ¥86 billion ($941 million). No wonder Nintendo is so hot to stop piracy. It's bleeding money from the Kyoto-based game company.
For comparison's sake, PSP title Dissidia has been illegally downloaded over 5 million times, marking a loss of over $300 million. Time for Sony to crackdown harder on PSP piracy?
Pokemon: Platinum Tops Nintendo DS Piracy List [Siliconera]