Mexican officials raid game counterfeiters

Nintendo touts authorities' efforts in confiscating goods from a dozen pirated game distributors at Guadalajaran market.

Nintendo is heralding the latest move in its ongoing efforts to stamp out gaming piracy. The company announced that Mexican authorities today raided a dozen sellers of counterfeit Nintendo goods in a Guadalajaran contraband market. Some 15,000 counterfeited Nintendo products were seized, 4,500 of them being ersatz Wii games.

The Wii maker has cooperated with Mexican authorities a number of times this year, which resulted in stopping a shipment of counterfeited goods from China last month, and the raiding of another market in Guadalajara before that. In that case, 23 stores were closed and more than 56,000 bogus Nintendo products were seized.

A Nintendo representative said the problem of game piracy is widespread in Latin America, and noted that the company has seized 100,000 fake Wii games since the start of the year.

Nintendo estimates that itself, its developers, and its third-party publishers lost $762 million to piracy last year.

333 Comments

  • nirvana_2

    Posted Aug 22, 2007 1:03 pm PT

    To whom it may concern. Maybe we have been brainwashed with american anticommunist propaganda. Communism was not a bad idea, it went against typical american capitalism so read a thing or two about it and you'll understand why it was so satanized. For short, communism was no good for USA because it meant less "business oportunities" (a.k.a. commercial imperialism).

    But communism got its revenge with the internet. Internet means the freedom to exchange everything with everyone. Napster, edonkey, bittorrent are prime examples of communism.

    However some country (not too difficult to guess which) tried to stop this by proposing a multi-leveled internet in which you had to pay for access.

    Back to the point, when someone says that piracy is not good, just ask to whom it is not good, to the consumer or the filthy-rich enterprise?

  • zelkien

    Posted Aug 22, 2007 9:32 am PT

    To whom it may concern. Piracy because you think soemthing is too expensive is sad. Communism is a great way to make sure everything is available to everyone. Go try it.

  • menciawatcher25

    Posted Aug 21, 2007 8:03 pm PT

    if you know anyone who has lived or lives in mexico and they will tell you about the piracy going on down there so its nothing new

  • Carbinesoldier5

    Posted Aug 21, 2007 5:54 pm PT

    Meh, here in Mexico, if you have the money you can easily bribe and move on. Console prices in Mexico are: -PS3: $1000 to $1200 US Dollars -Wii: $450 to $480 US Dollars
    -Xbox360: $400 to $800 US Dollars

    Where is your piracy now? China is the one they should investigate. I mean I'm sorry to hear that they lost a lot of money, but it's mostly the price what makes piracy a very viable option here... I bet they went to San Juan de Dios, a shopping center that was once a Mental Institute in the 20th century, but it was relocated. This Shopping Center is one of the biggest in Guadalajara, Jalisco. There's thousands and thousands of pirated merchandise here that it could take months to take out every single one. Just my comment. But Isn't piracy in USA less common? Prices are pretty good there, that's why I try to buy things from USA whenever I can.

  • PIKA740

    Posted Aug 21, 2007 3:57 pm PT

    Get those scandals!

  • Hojeda88

    Posted Aug 21, 2007 1:42 pm PT

    Zelkien:"Many of you are young punk idiots....." well zelkiens message was removed no need to keep my old post (wich was a reply) so i am editing it.

  • StarDust666

    Posted Aug 21, 2007 4:37 am PT

    Lets see; Windows Vista costs anywhere between $400-700au, a pirated copy costing anywhere between $10-40au max. now why is there piracy, one would asked? i don't blame if some one seeded on bit torrent for FREE! but vista is crap anyway, i haven't try it and never will cos i heard it was crap. how is it compare copying a game or buy a pirated copy to getting robbed??? getting robbed is i LOSE my belonging which i paid for. if i make a copy of an X game, how is Nintendo or any company would lose money? if it cost 10 bucks yes i would buy it, if it cost 60 bucks, no i would not buy it. Nintendo didnt lose any money cos im not interested into giving them 60 bucks. i think if there were no piracy in Mexico, i think many kids would not be interested in games and over time the market there would crashed. if drugs were legalised and costing 100 bucks per hit, i think most addict would give up... im still refusing to give sony $1000au for a ps3...

  • ConCy-DonK

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 10:32 pm PT

    It makes logical sense to me, smbius. If you didn't like God of War, and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCE WILL BUY IT, EVER, then what does it matter if you play a pirated copy? Wether you never play the game, or play a pirate copy, is there REALLY any difference? The company isn't going to get money either way.

  • lamprey263

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 9:46 pm PT

    Wii's in Mexico cost $450 USD, so I guess the stealing goes both ways?

  • starfoxmcleoud

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 4:54 pm PT

    Well, it's a start. Now how about doing something about the piracy here in the states?!

  • willripyouanew1

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 4:07 pm PT

    corruption is were it all begins, do the math.. MEXICO - CHINA, in these places piracy is only illegal if you aint bribing the right people.
    The so called Officials get money from the counterfeiters and from Nintendo at the same time.., you can see who the winner is and why this crap will never stop.

  • smbius

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 1:24 pm PT

    ConCy-DonK I am a programmer whos worked at several software companies. While I agree that you can't compare piracy to robbing a house, there is no excuse to piracy. Not even a distant game rental store is an excuse. There are many ways to try games and Gamefly.com is one of them. ConCy-DonK says "Some people have this perception that every pirated game is a potential lost sale to the company. The trouble with this is that it assumes these people would have definitely bought the game - had no pirate copy been available. "

    This doesn't make any sense at all. You're assuming that people don't read game reviews, do their research, play at their friend's house, or *gasp* checkout gamespot? Will I go out there and buy a copy of Deer Hunter or Dragon Ball Z simply because I haven't pirated it yet? I do not understand your logic at all. Does this mean that God of War (an incredible game that took tremendous effort) is ok to copy and is not worth the purchase simply because I'm one of the few that didn't enjoy it? Developers shouldn't be at a loss simply because the gamer FEELS that a game they copied is not worth the purchase. ConCy-Donk then says "I feel this simply wouldn't be true, as the people who get a pirate copy of a game in the first place would most likely have never had any intention of buying the game, regardless of if they get the pirate copy or not. "

    Wow. I guess you don't get it. Bottom line, we don't care whether you intended to buy it or not. You copied it and that is a loss either way you look at it.

  • MichaelMorbid

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 1:09 pm PT

    it is weird because the idea of a fixed price product is relatively new in the history of civilization.

    it costs next to nothing to stamp out the game cds, the publishers could market at a lower price in certain countries, but they don't because they are marketing their games to the rich, not the poor. as for all the sympathy we're suppose to give the gaming industry over this, bull. developers get their cut before, it's the publishers that rake in the cash. as concerned as they all are about piracy, believe us, no publisher is going to sleep hungry. you want to argue principle, argue with those that can afford principles. “property is theft” - Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

  • Silver_Crow

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 12:24 pm PT

    hojeda88, estoy totalmente de acuerdo contigo, the prices of the videogames here in latinoamerica are very much higer, we have to pay even +2 more times for a game. dislike me piracy too, but i'm very dissapointed with the $$$'s games. u.u

  • Hojeda88

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 11:44 am PT

    First i have to say i am not condoning piracy or excusing any person who commits piracy... But things in south america are a little different than in U.S or europe. here in my country i have to pay 1162$ for a ps3 150$ for a game.... so what about that ? if sony and nintendo and mycrosoft want to lower piracy why they dont do something about this ?? allright its true that doesnt gives anybody right to steal from them, but why would someone let himself be robbed ??? so this is not a black and white issue. i have a unmodded xbox 360, i have bought all my games originals. and my console just gave me the ring of death and of course i cant send it to mycrosoft because they dont do that here... so what am i supposed to do ? spend anoter 800$ on a new console that might fail again ?? why dont you guys come here take a long and hard look around and then post all your opinions ? some of us pay 2, 3 and even 4 times more for a game, console or pc component than you, so stop whining and calling us thiefs will ya ? my point is, if companies wont give us proper treatment and FAIR prices, why the hell they come and claim they are losing millions in here ??? as far as i know neither sony, mycrosoft nor nintendo distribute ANY game or console in most these countries ? so what are we supposed to do ? not play a thing ?
    So again i am not saying that it is ok to do piracy i am just saying this issue is not a black and white one.

  • mhder

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 11:22 am PT

    Anyone who advocates piracy - how would you feel when your goods or ideas or that of someone in your family/friends are stolen or pirated and you lose money? It's too bad that counterfeit games etc don't cause poisoning like fake toothpaste or something.

  • ganon92

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 9:51 am PT

    Ninty crackin down on crime.

  • emerald101

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 9:35 am PT

    omd that is so tight.

  • komet999

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 9:25 am PT

    wow lots of comments for this news segment. Glad to see some peeps get into it. Go Yaldabaoth, kick Adrik's @$$!

  • yaldabaoth

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 9:19 am PT

    Adrik...

    You're totally right. Let the "poor" pay more.

    I assume you mean the poor of intellect and/or options, don't you?.

    I'm also Mexican, Wii owner from day one and gamer for 20+ years. Never got into piracy and NEVER will. If you are that poor the don't play. I do agree that prices over here aren't friendly at all, but guess what? You can buy the games almost at the same price, like $5 more than the US. $80 per game? Do your research before buying.

    Also, you should know that Nintendo isn't responsible for the prices over here so they are not to blame! What about Sony? Their prices aren't any lower! $1,300 for a PS3?

    Again, if you're that poor, don't play.

    You've enlighten us by showing us what the Third World is... Thank you very much...

  • TheVoice421

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 8:51 am PT

    Concy donk, i'll be honest... i was just skimming through it... touché

  • ConCy-DonK

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 8:23 am PT

    TheVoice421, I'll just copy and paste part of my previous comment that you missed: "nor did I have access to anywhere that would "rent" copies of games". The closest place I can do that at is a few hours drive away from my house so its not really an option.

  • ssj4_2004

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 7:17 am PT

    KingKoop

    Darth_Kane - So your telling me because your too lazy to go out and buy a console and instead hack the internet to download emulators your for piracy? That's really poor on your part.
    --------------------------------------------
    OMFG He hacked the internet?! Run to the hills Jim-bo!

  • TheVoice421

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 7:09 am PT

    Concy Donk... it's called game rentals. you should try it

  • ConCy-DonK

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 5:42 am PT

    I find it amusing how pedantic some of the replies are - even going so far as to try and compare obtaining a pirate copy of a game to going out and robbing a house. While I respect that these people have taken the moral high road on the matter, I can't help but feel the issue has been taken far out of proportion. How these companies even come up with their statistics about losses due to piracy is beyond me, since the pirate market is naturally a black market and thus has no regulations. Developers are always quick to kick and scream about how their losses must be due to piracy, but the reality could be that the consumers simply aren't as impressed with the quality of their products, and thus chose not to buy them. For many years I was a gamer that bought every game I was interested in. But over time I began to notice that, of the large collection of games I had, there were very few that I found myself coming back to. Many games got played through once (or not even) and then never played again. I started to realize that these games weren't worth spending $70-90 AUD on. This was on the SNES, so there was no chance of getting a demo of the game, nor did I have access to anywhere that would "rent" copies of games. The next console I bought, a PS1, I decided that I wouldn't buy any game unless I knew I would play it often. And, despite playing numerous demo's for games, I never ended up buying a single game for the console.

    Despite not buying any games for the PS1, I still bought a PS2 the day it was released. And despite playing numerous good demos, I was still never convinced enough to buy any titles, so for 4 years it was basically just a DVD player to me. Then I got a mod-chip installed. I downloaded all the PS2 games that I thought seemed reasonable, but had never thought were worth buying without really knowing what the full product was like. There were alot of games that I downloaded, played for about half an hour, and hated them and threw out the disc. There were however some games that I really enjoyed, and as a result, I went out and bought them. All up I ended up purchasing 10 games for the system, and I'm quite certain I wouldn't have bought any had I not been able to play the pirate copies before hand. Some people have this perception that every pirated game is a potential lost sale to the company. The trouble with this is that it assumes these people would have definitely bought the game - had no pirate copy been available. I feel this simply wouldn't be true, as the people who get a pirate copy of a game in the first place would most likely have never had any intention of buying the game, regardless of if they get the pirate copy or not. I'm sorry but I just can't stretch my imagination enough to associate a pirate copy of a game with being robbed at gunpoint in your own home. That's like comparing someone who records a show off the TV (or a song off the radio) to a crack-addicted child rapist.

  • lew_0911

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 5:41 am PT

    I wonder what they meant when they said "bogus Nintendo products" - you mean like, Wii Nunchucks that are real nunchucks with buttons glued on them?

  • Adrik

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 5:28 am PT

    Yeah, nintendo is fighting piracy here in Mexico... US$450 for a Wii and US$80 for every game!!! Keep it up Nintendo! Let the poor pay more, Raid the markets, Never lower the price and you are SURE ending piracy!!!

  • StarDust666

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 4:37 am PT

    smbius: if your game/program was good and the shop sell it for a fair price, i'd buy it, why not? like Paintshop pro. im using version 8 right now, its alomost the same as XI but a quater of the price! i didnt bought version 11, i DOWNLOADED it but it was the same except taking up more memory so i deleted it within 24 hours.... i worked as a stock controller, wholesalers buy stuffs from us then sell it again for x amount. most of the wholesellers are millionairs and i'm not. does it matter? i got paid at the end of everyweek like everyone else. i know the work that i does and what i'm being paid isnt justified but tough luck. as long as i got paid reasonablely. i also make music using Fruity Loops. once i have made an album, i sold it next to nothing for each cd. i don't really care whats the next guy does with it as long as everyone heard my music and like it. it meant that i should work hard harder next time...cos if some one has heard it and like it then i know its good. see... im not getting fat like others

  • The_Weekend

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 4:35 am PT

    Priacy rules ... you keep catching ... we keep buying, yeah!

  • StarDust666

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 3:56 am PT

    its still BS; publishers DIDN'T lost $762 mil... they just didn't make a $762 mil more. the only company that loses money are those whom make crap games that no one buys even pirates stay away. every year you see Nin's profit jumped ten folds, EA's getting bigger, MS gobbles more developers... where's the dent of piracy? Atari is going down cos they release crap games, not becos of piracy. If it wasn't for piracy, not many people would know who Mario is. In country like Mexico, legit games are for the wealthy. Piracy is helping to spread the words to all those poor kids. if a kid bought a pirated copy of Mario Bros. maybe one day he'll grow up and buys the next Mario cos its a great game. Nintendo is making enough money else where as it is, its in Mexico that they needs to spread the games instead of having raids.... Do you see Nintendo put the price down on games this year even though their profits are soaring? If legit games were even costing $10 in Mexico becos of the needs, i think piracy is not ideally. Its just Nintendo is not getting FATTER in that part of the world...

    How many of you guys have a multi-region DVD player at home? How many of you guys bought blank DVD-r's for recording of 'home' movies?! how many of you guys rip a song from your CD into your ipod? 1; you shouldn't owned a multi-region DVD player cos it's illeagal to watch, buy a movie from overseas. thats why region lock was intended.
    2; there are far less camcorder being sold compares to blank DVD-r's. everyone whom owns a computer must have had copyrighted materials 'back-up' onto one of these. if blank dvd-r's are being used for recording of a family pinic, i think each family must have had at least a few hundred pinics = as say each disc is a pinic session.... hmmmm. 3; you know its wrong to to rip song off you old CD's?! cos the artist wouldn't have received jacks from you instead of buying it again on itunes... Its only piracy when companies said so...
    by the way, i tried to live my life ligit as i could but its impossible... try it!

  • lee_asid

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 3:05 am PT

    hir a single game will cost you around $80 dollars while a pirated one just cost around $3. if only they will begin to lower down their prices then everyone will be happy

  • KingKoop

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 2:40 am PT

    Darth_Kane - So your telling me because your too lazy to go out and buy a console and instead hack the internet to download emulators your for piracy? That's really poor on your part.

  • Darth_Kane

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 12:52 am PT

    saturndust, I don't own any consoles, I only own a 6 years old PC and use emulators to play old consoles ( like PS1, N64, GBA etc. ). I don't care that because of pirates like me, those rich developers will buy 1 plane instead of 2.

  • omarguy01

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 12:47 am PT

    i'm from Mex. don't live there but i visit sometimes. consoles ARE expensive there. around 400 USD. not saying that's an excuse to pirate games but... just wondering why prices there are so high...
    not an econ major sorry :/

  • konel01

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 11:42 pm PT

    hey i did say it was stealing.... now why dont these many people get worked up when a drug bust goes down?!. . . . .

  • adventureseeker

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 11:41 pm PT

    Mexicans have are now smuggling games...lmao!

  • kazuyasongoku

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 11:36 pm PT

    Piracy is stealing. If you download for free or buy illegal games it's the same. You mite as well have stolen it from a store.

  • Poshkidney

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 11:34 pm PT

    pirates damage the industry and ruin the economy

  • konel01

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 11:09 pm PT

    im not making money from it. i don't buy or sell bootlegs. i download games, music, movies and even books. what really turned me on to it was when i realized how much money importing games costed me. For the same price of importing one game i could have a rewriteable cart for my ds. now with that cart im getting import games before they even hit shelves. on that single cart I have over a hundred games. DS, GBA and even Nes games. Plus I also have music, vidoes and movies and my favorite novels as ebooks. It's so convenient. Nothing you can buy legit can offer that. you can do similar things with your home systems. I'm not paying for this stuff and the sites i'm getting it from don't ask for anything. now if you're buying games off the street, chances are they got the games for free and are selling them to you. In a way they’re ripping you off. downloadable content is the way of the future. when game companies get with it and offer it at reasonable prices then they curb piracy.

  • saturndust

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 10:45 pm PT

    look Konel you're loosing something important there, piracy is not the same as making a copy or even sharing to others, when you make copies of a game just to make money not caring about the game that's piracy. Why do you think games like Starcraft let you install in up to 3 computers thegame using the same CDkey? that's no piracy right? just as a backup is no piracy. See my point? tell me, you really can buy a console but can't handle to buy a game? Im from Mexico, i see piracy all over the city, you can even be at the subway and some guy is trying to sell copies from Music cds or dvds there's even book piracy AND BELIEVE ME IM NO RICH GUY AND HAVE TO BUY MY GAMES BY MYSELF

  • SuperbGamer

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 10:05 pm PT

    Well, I do feel sorry for those who can't afford video games . All of our problems would be solved if the prices were lower. People who think the prices are too high could just at least wait until it does lower.

  • smbius

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 9:59 pm PT

    MAIHEM

    You're missing the point completely. I'm not talking about volume. Copying is piracy but sales of used software is NOT screwing anyone over. This is part of the business of doing software. The consumer understands the risk and ASSUMES the risk of buying (and selling back) used software. The way stores like GameStop and EB makes its money is by simply tricking the consumer to "TRADE IN" or "SELL" their games to the store for A FRACTION OF THE VALUE OF THE GAME. They then, in turn, sell it to people like you....WHO THINK THEY ARE SCREWING DEVELOPERS OVER. But, in reality, the store is SCREWING YOU (the consumer) because the store makes it easy to just flash the cash in front of the ignorant customer saying "here's your shiny new 5 dollar bill for that...*ahem*...USED GAME". Sadly, the customer then sells the game back to the store for a few bucks or trades in 5 games (about $250) to get that shiny new game. The next day, they see their game tagged at 5 dollars less than the price of a brand new game of the same title. Try selling your game back and ask what it's worth. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

    If you want to apply your "absurd" rule of giving developer royalties for every sale of used ANYTHING, you better also tell that to those who make cars, planes, houses, computers, consoles, books, Music CDs, DVD Movies, etc.

    So, the next time I buy a used Toyota, used PS3, a used Beatles CD, or used novel. I better tell those manufacturers, designers, and writers they're getting screwed over too. Thanks

  • konel01

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 9:55 pm PT

    saturndust - hey soldier1993 the problem there is ... that money isn't going to developers or game companies. besides when buying piracy you usually buy many games (some of those arent whort the money) I THINK IS BETTER TO BUY A GOOD GAME AT 60 BUCKS THAN 7 CRAPPY GAMES with the same money, learn to buy

    is piracy wrong? yes, it's stealing. but so was downloading music from napster back in the day. no one can stop piracy. you don't need to even buy bootlegs anylonger. piracy doesnt mean paying less most of the time! it means not paying anything at all. how many people on these boards download roms of any sort? even for current systems. in the end napster help the consumer. the music industry had to try and combat it. how? by offering similar downloads at very low prices. now we can buy songs for a few cents. cds are getting cheaper and cheaper. oh saturndust..... that $60 game. . . i got it for free as well as the other 7 cheap ones. i played 8 games for free while you're down 60 bucks. oh well.

  • saturndust

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 9:00 pm PT

    so... you're saying you're poor? then how is it that you own a PS3 and 360? you can buy several consoles but cant afford a game? (btw tell me when piracy really gets to be almost the same as original games please)

  • DAmore_117

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 8:06 pm PT

    People need to realize that if you buy pirated games, not only are you not supporting the developers you are not supporting the games themselves. Why should companies like EPIC, EA, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony support their games with updates or expansions or even sequels when people copy games and sell them for next to nothing to make a quick buck. I say that the prices are fine the way they are. The price should the equivalent to the sticker price of the unit itself to the manufacter, thusly Nintendo does not need to do a thing. And to all those that disagree with me, wake up because thats reality.

    F@#$ Piracy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Love DAmore

  • Darth_Kane

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 7:52 pm PT

    So, technically what you’re saying is: Because we are rich and have money, we can afford, play and enjoy games, while you poor people can rot and die of boredom . HAHAHAHA!!

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