The notorious R4 chip, a little piece of plastic, not bigger than the back of your palm, and easy to use, is basically the modern pirate's tool since it allows Nintendo DS owners to play pirated games. Even though this is made in China, it is not an "Asian exclusive", since basically anybody can buy it from the Internet. And it seems that people really buy it since it is believed that up to 90 percent of the American DS owners are using the chip to play pirated games, according to the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA).

In an interview with The Sunday Post, John Hillier, manager of ELSPA's Intellectual Property Crime Unit, said that this little device that allows user to directly download Nintendo DS pirated software from the Internet in hampering Nintendo's sales and is risking the future of the gaming industry as a whole.

"The implications are massive. In America it's thought 90 per cent of Nintendo DS users are playing pirated games because of R4s," Hillier said. "Crucially, the R4 has shifted the balance of power in the piracy industry to the consumer - and that is hugely worrying. Takings from Nintendo DS games in the US are lower than any other console and no doubt it will have a similar impact [in the UK]. That's why we intend to stop trade in these chips wherever we can."

Although the chip itself is not illegal, but what the customers will probably do with it is. For example, according to The Sunday Post, an unnamed gamer has declared that he downloaded for free, using the R4 chip, about 50 Nintendo DS games which would have cost him �15-�30 each. Still, Nintendo sort of has its hands tied, even though they are reporting that they are closely monitoring the situation.