In the biggest offensive ever mounted against the piracy-enabling R4 Flash card device, Nintendo and Capcom have joined forces with 53 other unspecified games publishers to file a lawsuit against four retailers who currently sell the device.

Gamasutra reports that the joint action follows moves earlier this year under the 2009 Japanese Unfair Competition Prevention Act, which issued an injunction against sales of the device.

However, Capcom claims that new laws to date have been ineffective, stating that the four vendors in questions have “ignored warnings and not shown sincerity” in their responses.

The publisher adds that “our company and other software manufactures have sustained extreme damages from proliferation of illegal instruments”.

We’re yet to see the mounting of any legal challenge to the R4 in the UK, though some retailers have voluntarily removed the device from their stores.