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You may have come across the R4 cart - or the "R4 Revolution for DS" to give it its full name - especially if you're the sort to wear a parrot on your shoulder and say "Arrr" a lot. It's a little device that enables all sorts of flash-memory-based multimedia storage but, more importantly, allows rampant DS game piracy, and it's been declared illegal in Japan.
Last July, Nintendo announced they were taking the R4's Chinese manufacturers to court, using the Unfair Competition Prevention Law (no, we don't know either) in an attempt to halt widespread DS piracy. They backed themselves up with the weight of some 53 other game-makers, including Capcom, Sega, Square Enix and Hudson.
Today, the Tokyo District Court has found in Nintendo's favour and granted an injunction against sales of the R4. Most outlets had already stopped selling it due to the lawsuit's pressure, but it's now officially against the law to sell it in Japan.
Nintendo, Square Enix and Capcom have released a statement crowing about the victory, highlighting that the R4 is a "violation under Japan's laws" and declaring that the 54-strong company coalition will continue to bring the fight to any manufacturers of similar devices.
What repercussions this will have for the R4 in the wider world is unknown as yet, but we wouldn't be surprised if the battle went global.
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