so piracy is to blame for a 67% drop in sales? Nothing to do with tons of cheap games that are quick and easy to produce in order to make a quick buck. There seems to be loads of games out on DS now but there are so few that are any good. Maybe if companies put the time and effort into developing games people would buy them. I know I haven't bought many DS games recently because all these fluffy family girly games don't really appeal. Where are all the adventure games like Golden Sun the likes!

But why would pirates make a judgement on the "quality" of software?

Surely a crap game is crap game and the abundance of higher quality games isn't going to change the mindset of people who use these devices.

Methinks an Apple iphone style Digital Distro future beckons. We all know it's coming in the next-gen handhelds.

I notice how the writer of this article completely sidesteps the Homebrew/Media Player aspects of the devices, going straight after the piracy argument.

Typically short sighted of MCV. I download ROMs as demos. I have a good 20 DS games /because/ I demo games on the system. I also use my DS as a controller for some games on my PC via Win2DS, and I have a few films ripped from DVDs on the MicroSD card for long train rides.

Not everyone uses these devices for completely nefarious means.

There is a lack of understanding about downloading ROM's and the effect on the industry. It is not harmless and using them as demos is not acceptable. Spain is an extreme example but it is a major territory so worth mentioning. In Spain DS piracy is approximately 100%. Not a single unit of any DS game we have shipped has been stocked or sold in Spain. Piracy is so prevalent that shops don't stock DS games. Other countries run at different degrees of piracy but they all effect sales and that in turn puts publishers and developers in trouble. Something needs to be done and anything Nintendo or the legal system can do to stop this practice gets my total support.

I think you will find it is legal to use ROMs for 24 hours after downloading. And this would be deemed as a demo purpose.

And in that case, perhaps Nintendo should be more willing to play ball in terms of pricing. Why should I pay £30 for something that I could hate, but I'm 'not allowed' to download the ROM for and try? Give me a restricted demo, if you must.

Nintendo is giving pathetic excuses for their actions, and if they even bothered to try to use the DSi to it's full potential instead of an insta-money machine, they could be SUPPLEMENTING these cards.

"I think you will find it is legal to use ROMs for 24 hours after downloading."

Please cite.

"Why should I pay £30 for something that I could hate, but I'm 'not allowed' to download the ROM for and try?"

You aren't obliged to buy it or try it. If you don't like the price or terms and conditions, walk away. If enough people did this, perhaps there would be lower prices and more demos.

I must agree that most DS are average to rubbish. No DS game is worth more than £20. But if they was £1 each, people would still download them for free. And to be honest, I don't rate Ubisoft as a publisher anyway, even Creed was rubbish. There way too many DS games and not all of them can be a hit.

People go out and buy madden games for nearly 70 bucks, i bought madden 10 and i don't even play sports games. its a really good game that incorporates the features of my PS3, and and everybody i know likes it and we play online all the time. That being said, if there were more real games on the dsi, im pretty sure that people would buy them. nintendo is creating more family games and losing their hardcore fans. how about a game that uses your picture for more than just a picture on billboard that you cant even see! Not everyone uses the flash cards just for games. i got an acekard for 2 reasons, music and movies. i have a 32 gig that allows me to take my dsi to the next level, i have no need for my psp anymore until the psp go drops. i can enjoy full length movies on my dsi and the acekard turns your dsi into a ipod with increased sound so you can actually hear your music. and can we please get more apps that fills up the home screen?...

about 2 weeks it took Acekard to come out with a fix for this. And they were the last ones. The R4i guys released a fix within a few days. They can't really win Nintendo.

http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~buy-xanax-no-rx - xanax http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~buy-tramadol-no-rx - tramadol http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~buy-valium-online - valium http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=buy-ambien-online-without-prescription-buy-ambien-10mg-5mg - ambien http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=buy-xanax-online-buy-xanax-2mg-1mg - xanax http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=buy-fioricet-online-without-prescription-buy-fioricet-cod - fioricet http://connections.blackboard.com/people/50273d6fc2 - tamiflu http://tapestry.formos.com/wiki/display/~buy-tamiflu-winthout-prescription - tamiflu http://boinc.vanderbilt.edu/CSB/view_profile.php?userid=5324 - ambien http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~ativan4r5r - ativan http://confluence.public.thoughtworks.org/display/~buy-ambien-without-prescription - ambien
athttp header meditech href clustered sanobar seeks

this does not make sense.

sure, i download games off a flash cart. Sure, maybe 90% of the population does. But if the game is GOOD, then I go out and buy it.

Just look at the kingdom hearts sales out there, as well as the final fantasy ones. Mario and Luigi:bowsers inside story? Went ahead and bought it after playing the rom.

Seriously. a good game will get sales no matter what. a bad game won't.
it's that simple.