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The Nintendo DSi added many features over the original DS, but one of the more controversial feature was the firmware update ability which is being used to crackdown on DS piracy, specifically using flashcarts and the like.
The latest firmware, 1.4, released a week ago banned all known existing flash carts from working. Now this may sound like a huge victory for Nintendo, but those clever flashcart manufacturers were prepared and their flashcarts also now have firmware update capabilities, and it only took them a week this time to defeat the 1.4 firmware safeguards.
While DS piracy is a serious issue, and one that Nintendo needs to address, firmware updates are never going to solve the problem. My philosophy is that if something is playable, and it can be copied. Because if the copy can imitate the behaviour of the original exactly, and the DS won't know and can't know the difference.
Price reductions, more digital downloadable games, downloadable trial versions, can all make the DS more piracy proof. But while it is true that Nintendo may be potentially losing a lot of money through piracy, they aren't exactly on the verge of bankruptcy, are they? Nintendo DS piracy has helped the DS (and DSi) to become the best selling portable gaming device on the market today. It's a similar situation with the PSP, and even Sony, of all companies, has come out and acknowledged that piracy does help sales.
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The latest firmware, 1.4, released a week ago banned all known existing flash carts from working. Now this may sound like a huge victory for Nintendo, but those clever flashcart manufacturers were prepared and their flashcarts also now have firmware update capabilities, and it only took them a week this time to defeat the 1.4 firmware safeguards.
While DS piracy is a serious issue, and one that Nintendo needs to address, firmware updates are never going to solve the problem. My philosophy is that if something is playable, and it can be copied. Because if the copy can imitate the behaviour of the original exactly, and the DS won't know and can't know the difference.
Price reductions, more digital downloadable games, downloadable trial versions, can all make the DS more piracy proof. But while it is true that Nintendo may be potentially losing a lot of money through piracy, they aren't exactly on the verge of bankruptcy, are they? Nintendo DS piracy has helped the DS (and DSi) to become the best selling portable gaming device on the market today. It's a similar situation with the PSP, and even Sony, of all companies, has come out and acknowledged that piracy does help sales.
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