Nintendo Is Dead Serious About Taking Legal Action Against Modders

Apparently, Nintendo wasn't lying when they said they'd be taking severe legal action against those who mod their Nintendo consoles, distribute mod chips or run any sort of counterfeit software on their respective systems. But you know how it goes: who ever learns that modding their gaming system might just get them into some serious trouble?

It's almost like the machine begs you to mod it when you hear of all the great titles you could run on it. But hey, while everyone wants a million bucks in their account right now, not everyone robs banks (well…I could't think of a better comparison...). The original story says that Today U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents executed 32 federal search warrants in 16 states as part of an investigation into the alleged sale and distribution of illegal modification chips for various video game consoles, including Nintendo's Wii home video game system. The mod chips designed for the Wii console circumvent the security embedded in the hardware and allow users to play counterfeit Wii software.

"Nintendo and its developers and publishers lost an estimated $762 million in sales in 2006 due to piracy of its products," said Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America's senior director of anti-piracy. "Nintendo's anti-piracy team works closely with law enforcement officials worldwide to seize mod chips and counterfeit software. Since April, Nintendo has seized more than 91,000 counterfeit Wii discs globally."

What this Immigrations and Customs Enforcement investigation represents is actually the largest national enforcement action of its kind, targeting video game piracy. Nintendo is well known for supporting this kind of activities, thus has worked closely with this branch of the Department of Homeland Security. The company fully supports its actions and other investigations currently underway.

So beware, modders! Either you go and play your modded machines in the woods, or do the right thing and buy the original stuff. After all, nothing beats the original product and I'm sure we don't have to remind you of the damage you can do to your own system, in the process of modding it.