Tag: Legal
News The GameCube And Wii Emulator Dolphin Is No Longer Coming To Steam
"We are abandoning our efforts"
The team behind GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin has announced it is "abandoning" its efforts to release the product on Steam. Valve's requirement is for the Dolphin team "to get approval from Nintendo" for a Steam release, and this is believed to be "impossible". "Valve ultimately runs the store and can set any...
News After Heaps Of Legal Drama, Devil Engine Gets Its Own Physical Edition On Switch
Game's composer isn't happy
You might remember back in 2020 and 2021, there was a boatload of legal drama surrounding the rather brilliant shmup Devil Engine, whereby the game's artist and composer - siblings Thomas and Joseph Bailey - had claimed that developer Tristan Chapman (known on Twitter as 'Sinoc229') had been utilising their respective...
News Sonic Co-Creator Yuji Naka Found Guilty Of Insider Trading
Receives suspended sentence and huge fine
The former Square Enix and Sega developer Yuji Naka has now been sentenced to two years and six months in prison, with a probation period of four years. He's also received fines of two million and 171 million yen. Website and social media account 'SEGAbits' shared a bit more detail about this based on a...
News Activision CEO Made 'A Bad Judgement' In Not Supporting The Nintendo Switch More
Console has sold more than 125 million units
During day four of what is already proving to be a surprisingly gripping trial relating to Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick took to the stand and stated his deep regret in not supporting the Nintendo Switch more over the course of its lifespan so far. As...
News PlayStation Boss Doesn't Think Call Of Duty Appeals To Nintendo's Core Audience
You know, the fans who enjoy "Mario and Zelda"
As part of the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft's aim is to bring Call of Duty to as many platforms as possible. This includes Nintendo's devices, with a 10-year legal agreement already penned. The only thing Xbox has got to overcome first is the FTC and Sony's attempts to block the deal. The...
News The FTC Doesn't Seem To Think Switch Is A Serious PlayStation & Xbox Competitor
Microsoft's Phil Spencer says it's "incorrect"
Microsoft is currently locked in a courtroom battle with the Federal Trade Commission over its proposed $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and although the focus is mostly on Xbox, on day two of the proceedings, the Nintendo Switch has already been dragged into the fight. According to The...
News Valve Confirms It Contacted Nintendo About Dolphin Emulator Coming To Steam
"We brought this to their attention proactively"
Towards the end of May, the team behind Dolphin Emulator revealed its release on Steam had been "indefinitely postponed" after it was contacted by Valve. Valve spokesperson Kaci Aitchison Boyle has now issued a statement (via The Verge), confirming Valve originally reached out to Nintendo: Given...
News Sonic Co-Creator Yuji Naka Could Face Over Two Years In Prison
Veteran developer admitted to insider trading
Former Sega and Square Enix developer Yuji Naka could face a prison term of two years and six months in relation to the insider trading trial held in Tokyo, Japan, as reported by denfaminicogamer (thanks, Time Extension). In addition, Naka may be fined 2.5 million JPY along with a surcharge
News Dolphin Emulator Steam Release "Indefinitely Postponed"
Update: Nintendo responds with statement
Update #3 [Sat 3rd Jun, 2023 01:35 BST]: Valve spokesperson Kaci Aitchison Boyle has now issued a statement (via The Verge), noting how Valve was the one to inform Nintendo: Given Nintendo’s history of taking action against some emulators, we brought this to their attention proactively after the Dolphin...
News Mario Kart Tour Lawsuit Calls Out "Immoral" Lootbox Gacha System
The pipe has backfired
At the end of last year, Nintendo removed the gacha elements from its mobile racing game, Mario Kart Tour. It replaced this system where players would "fire" a pipe to receive a random item with a 'Spotlight Shop'. Although the item system has already been updated, Axios reports a young gamer (with approval from his father)...
News Switch Android Emulator Skyline Halts Development Due To "Potential Legal Risks"
Nintendo apparently issues DMCA takedown for Lockpick
The developers behind the popular Switch Android emulator Skyline have announced the open-source project is no longer in active development. According to a post shared on the Skyline Discord, the team apparently received a DMCA takedown notice from Nintendo. The catch here is the takedown is...
News Nintendo Hacker Gary Bowser Has Been Released From Prison
But he still has to pay $10 million in damages
Remember the Nintendo hacker Gary Bowser? In a development last February, it was revealed he had been jailed for over three years and fined close to $15 million for his involvement in Team Xecutor - a business that allowed Switch owners to hack their systems and play pirated games. In an update, the...
News Nintendo Of Europe "Has Decided To Wind Down Operations" In Russia
Update: Will "maintain a minimal presence" in the country
Update [Fri 14th Apr, 2023 11:45 BST]: Nintendo of Europe has provided a statement to Eurogamer saying that following its suspension of the eShop and officially shipping products to Russia in 2022, it "has decided to wind down operations of its Russian subsidiary". Noting the current...
News Yuji Naka Appears To Admit Guilt Over Insider Trading Case
Trial now in session at Tokyo District Court
Yuki Naka, the former head of Sonic Team, is now standing trial at the Tokyo District Court over charges of insider trading after an investigation at Square Enix. The creator had allegedly invested in development companies based on information gained prior to it being made publically available, thus...
News Arrest Made In Japan After Nintendo Executive Receives Death Threats
"Die Nintendo!"
Video game companies have to deal with a lot of things behind the scenes, and one story that's recently come to light isn't pleasant at all. According to a translation by Nintendo Everything, Japanese media outlet Kyoto Shimbun reports the arrest of a "36-year-old female permatemp on suspicion of intimidation" on 9th February 2023...
News Nintendo Wins "Switch Joy-Con Drift" Class Action Lawsuit
Drift? What drift?
Remember a story we ran about some parents in the US who were trying to get their kids to sue Nintendo over "Joy-Con drift" in a class action lawsuit? Well, it seems the video game giant has come out on top. In November last year, a federal judge ruled in favour of Nintendo in the 'Sanchez et. al. v. Nintendo of America' case...
News Yuji Naka Has Now Been Formally Indicted Over Insider Trading Offenses
Developer was previously arrested twice
Update [Wed 28th Dec, 2022 12:15 GMT]: Following on from the arrests of Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka and former Square Enix employee Taisuke Sazaki, the two have now been formally indicted over alleged insider trading offenses. As reported by NHK (thanks, VGC), the two were charged for conducting insider...
News Cooking Mama IP Holder Sues Planet Entertainment For Sale Of Cooking Mama: Cookstar
Mama is not happy!
Remember the ongoing dispute between Cooking Mama: Cookstar publisher Planet Entertainment and the series' rights holder Office Create dating back to 2020? Well, in an update, Planet has now been sued by Office Create. There was actually a fallout between the two parties before the game's release in 2020, but Planet Entertainment...
News UK Government Warns It "Will Not Hesitate To Consider Legislation" Against Loot Boxes
"Video games companies and platforms must do more"
Loot boxes have long been a contentious topic of conversation in the gaming industry, and the UK government has warned companies that restrictive legislation may be enforced in the future if the culture surrounding these purchases doesn't change. The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport...
News Nintendo Is Suing The Fashion Retailer That Used To Run Its Russian Store
"World of Nintendo" turned from prime e-store to landing page
Nintendo’s Russian branch has filed a claim to the Moscow Court of Arbitration against KupiVip, a retailer which operated Nintendo’s now-defunct flagship online store in the country. The company submitted claims totalling around 963,500 rubles (approx. $16,800), according to the...
News "What Do I Care?" - Nintendo Hacking Mastermind Defiant As Colleague Bowser Is Jailed
Max Louarn remains unapologetic
In the wake of Nintendo hacker Gary Bowser being sentenced to three years in jail for his contribution to Team Xecuter's hacking efforts, the mastermind behind the whole operation remains seemingly defiant and unapologetic. Max Louarn, alleged leader of Team Xecuter, has a long history with hacking and apparently...
News Nintendo Admits It Released A New Model Of The Switch To Fight Piracy
A "direct result" of hackers "attacking... technological protection measures"
Last year, Nintendo was successful in securing a jail term for Team Xecutor member Gary Bowser, who was accused of causing the Japanese company to lose millions of dollars via the piracy-enabling devices and software he sold. Court documents are now available which fill...
News Gary Bowser Jail Term Intended To "Send A Message" To Other Switch Hackers
"This is a very significant moment for us"
Team Xecutor member Gary Bowser was recently jailed for three years and fined almost $15 million for his part in a business which enabled Switch owners to hack their systems and play pirated games, and recently-unearthed court documents – dug up by Axios (thanks,
News Now Parents Are Getting Their Kids To Sue Nintendo Over Joy-Con Drift
Lawyer, leave those kids alone?
Another class-action lawsuit against Nintendo over Joy-Con drift is being proposed in North America, but this case hinges on the question of whether or not two kids can sue the Japanese giant. Lawyers for families suing Nintendo in the case 'Sanchez et. al. v. Nintendo of America' claim that an arbitrator has ruled...
News Activision Blizzard Hit With New Harassment And Discrimination Lawsuit
"700 reported incidents occurring under CEO Robert Kotick’s watch"
Activision Blizzard has been hit with a fresh lawsuit that claims the company's "frat boy" environment has allowed 700 reported incidents of sexual harassment and discrimination. The suit has been filed in by Attorney Lisa Bloom in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on behalf...
News Report Claims Russia Has "Effectively Legalised Piracy" To Overcome Western Sanctions
A blind eye could be turned to video game piracy in the country
A new report is claiming that Russia is seeking to change its laws on piracy in an attempt to overcome the growing problem of foreign companies boycotting the nation in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine. Nintendo, Sony and
"I will stop him breathing"
A senior developer at Microsoft has been sentenced to a one-year community corrections order with a requirement that he perform 100 hours of unpaid work after he was found guilty of unlawfully assaulting his son after the 7-year-old refused to stop playing on his Nintendo Switch. 41-year-old Nicholas Lester, the court...
News Take A Look Inside The Tiny Apartment Of The Man Who Owes Nintendo $14 Million
"Mr. Bowser lived a modest life in a modest apartment"
Last week, former Team Xecutor member Gary Bowser was sentenced to more than three years in prison in addition to paying Nintendo a combined total of $14,500,000 for damages related to piracy. However, images taken at his home in the Dominican Republic (thanks, Vice) show he was leading an...
News Nintendo Hacker Gary Bowser Sentenced To Three Years In Jail
On top of $15m in fines
Gary Bowser, the leader of Switch hacking group Team Xecuter, has been sentenced to 40 months in jail for piracy. The official charges are "Conspiracy to Circumvent Technological Measures and to Traffic in Circumvention Devices" and "Trafficking in Circumvention Devices", both of which are federal felonies in the United...
News US Government Wants Nintendo Hacker Gary Bowser Locked Up For Five Years
"To provide just punishment"
Nintendo hacker Gary Bowser – who, as part of the infamous Team Xecuter, distributed hardware and software that allowed people to run pirated games on their Switch consoles – should serve five years in jail, the US government is arguing. The proposed sentence is found in court documents relating to Bower's ongoing...
BT, Virgin, Sky, TalkTalk and others must now block ROM-sharing sites
Nintendo has obtained a UK High Court injunction against six internet service providers in an effort to stop Switch games from being downloaded illegally. The injunction means that six UK-based ISPs – BT, EE, Plusnet, Sky, TalkTalk and Virgin Media – must now block access to...
News Ouch! Nintendo Hacker Gary Bowser Hit With Additional $10 Million Fine
He's already $4.5 million down and facing possible jail time
Remember Gary Bowser? He shares his name with Mario's greatest foe (and Nintendo of America's current president), but he's been something of an enemy of Nintendo in general over the past few years. Bowser is a member of Team Xecutor, one of the world's most "notorious videogame piracy...
News Switch Hacking Group Leader Gary Bowser Agrees To Pay Nintendo $4.5 Million
Bowser pleads guilty on two charges
No, thankfully this Bowser wasn't to blame... A member of Team Xecuter, a piracy group known for exploiting vulnerabilities in video game consoles as well as marketing and selling Nintendo hacks, has agreed to waive his right to be tried before a jury and has pleaded guilty to two charges. Gary Bowser, who was...
News Nintendo's Lawyers Strike Again, This Time Against A Mario NFT Gambling Game
Project rep fights back against "Nintendo simps"
Here we see a visual representation of Nintendo fighting off copyright infringement cases on a daily basis. An unofficial game project which used Super Mario assets to promote an NFT-based gambling platform has attracted the attention of Nintendo, so we all know what happens next. As reported by...
News Hand-Drawn Game Guide Kickstarter Taken Down Following "Legal Trouble"
Update #2: "We did not receive a cease and desist"
Cor, look at 'em Update #2: Phillip Summers has taken to Twitter to clarify some reporting around the cancellation of the Hand-Drawn Game Guide Kickstarter campaign. He states that "the party involved has been polite and I'm hopeful something can get worked out. They have every right to act as they...
News Take-Two Files Lawsuit Against Creators Of The GTA Reverse Engineering Project
Allows Grand Theft Auto 3 to be played on Switch
There have rumours recently about a Grand Theft Auto Trilogy remaster coming to the Nintendo Switch either later this year or at some point in 2022. Today's GTA news is a tad different. Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive is now taking legal action against the 14 programmers behind...
News Castlevania Netflix Producer Files Lawsuit After Being Excluded From Spin-Off Series
Trouble is brewing...
There appears to be some drama surrounding Netflix's successful animated series Castlevania (again). Following on from the controversy tied to the show's creator Warren Ellis - who was removed from the project last year due to various allegations, the producer Adi Shankar is now making headlines. Shankar seemingly won't be...
News Court Orders Popular ROM Website To "Destroy" All Of Its Unauthorised Nintendo Games
Don't mess with Mario!
You might recall an ongoing legal battle between Nintendo and the website RomUniverse. Although the Japanese video game giant won, it more recently voiced concerns about its possible return after the founder, Matthew Storman, refused to rule out a comeback. While California's federal court previously decided against giving...
News Five Years Later, Nintendo's Lawsuit Against 'White Cat Project' Has Finally Been Settled
Nintendo initially asked for $40m in damages
Colopl's White Cat Project In a new statement (Japanese), Nintendo has confirmed that its patent infringement lawsuit filed against Colopl and its 'White Cat Project' mobile game has now been settled, with Colopl agreeing to pay an undisclosed figure. If you need a quick catch up, the case can be traced...
News Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Hacker Arrested For Selling Modified Save Data
Was sold online as the "ultimate save data"
We've heard in the past about crackdowns on street sales of modded Nintendo hardware and games, but this story is slightly different. Back in April, Tokyo-based Chinese national Ichimin Sho posted an advertisement on a Japanese e-commerce site selling "ultimate save data" for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of...
News Nintendo Fears A Popular ROM Website Could Make A Comeback
Asks court to reconsider decision
Nintendo has voiced concerns over the website RomUniverse making a possible return in the future. The company's legal representation recently spoke to the founder of the website, Matthew Storman, who apparently hasn't ruled out a comeback - even after being ordered to pay Nintendo $2.1 million in damages earlier...
News Sword And Shield Leakers Required To Pay The Pokémon Company $150K Each
A lawsuit dating back to 2019 has been settled
In 2019, The Pokémon Company International filed a lawsuit against two individuals who leaked images of Pokémon Sword and Shield from an unreleased strategy guide prior to the new games' official release. It seems justice has finally been served - with both defendants ordered to pay The Pokémon...
News Capcom Facing $12 Million Lawsuit For Allegedly Using Artist's Photos Without Permission
Evidence supposedly uncovered in recent data leak
If Capcom hadn't already suffered enough from last November's data leak, it's now facing a $12 million lawsuit. Designer Judy A. Juracek took action on Friday in a Connecticut court within the United States, alleging Capcom used copyrighted photos from her 1996 book Surfaces without her permission...
News Nintendo Wins $2.1 Million In Lawsuit Against ROM Website
Another one bites the dust
Back in September 2019, Nintendo filed a lawsuit against the game download portal website, RomUniverse. The site reportedly facilitated massive online copyright infringement of many popular Nintendo titles. It also profited by selling paid premium accounts - lifting the cap on the number of games users could download. The...
News "As You Can See, I'm Not A Switch Player" Admits Epic Games' Tim Sweeney
"Now the world knows"
Epic Games and Apple are currently exchanging blows in court, as you'll no doubt be aware. Fortnite maker Epic is asserting that Apple's App Store is essentially a money-grabbing monopoly and is harming the games industry, and to prove the point, Epic founder Tim Sweeney produced a Switch console during the trial. Why would...
Random Want To Develop For Nintendo Switch? Better Make Sure You're Not A Yakuza, Then
We hope you don't plan to use "threat or violence in connection with transactions"
Remember all that fuss between Epic Games and Apple regarding Fortnite on the App Store? Well, the court trial involving these two giants is currently underway, and as part of the legal proceedings, Nintendo has kindly provided its own publisher contract. While much...
News Nintendo Scores Another Victory In Its War Against Switch Piracy
So long, Winmart
Back in 2020, Nintendo took legal action against Le Hoang Minh – a Vietnamese citizen trading on Amazon under the name Winmart – to prevent the sale of RCM Loaders, which use special software to hack the console and permit the running of unlicensed code, as well as pirated games. It has now been confirmed that Nintendo has...
News Nintendo Is Suing A Reported "Leader" Of The Notorious Piracy Group Team Xecuter
So long, Gary Bowser
Nintendo appears to be fed up with Bowser and has decided to take some action. No, this isn't about Mario's archenemy or the current Nintendo of America president, Doug - we're talking about Gary Bowser, one of the supposed leaders of the "notorious" piracy group, Team Xecuter. As you might recall, Bowser - a 51-year-old...
News Nintendo May Have Issued A Copyright Claim To Take Down Some Raunchy Bowser Art
NSFW DMCA
It's safe to say that this news piece is really going to stretch the boundaries of what is possible to talk about on a family-friendly website, but before we begin: this article will not actually feature the image in question, but it's probably not safe to read at work, either. Then again, why are you reading about video games at work? Get...
News Germany Is Considering An 18+ Rating On Video Games With Loot Boxes
Pending approval from the Bundesrat
There's a good chance you've seen the controversies surrounding Loot Boxes. We've discussed them on numerous occasions, and there's been a longstanding debate over whether they're seen as gambling. Shockingly, publishers tend to