Cardboard bricks against 3DS TOS...

http://www.gamepolitics.com/2011/05/27/nintendo-thick-brick-3ds-tos

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110444-Anti-DRM-Group-Sends-Nintendo-200-Bricks

Key quote:

So...what do you guys think?

edited 30th May '11 4:30:47 AM by onyhow

I think that this license agreement is awful. Basically, it means that if you buy a 3DS, what you have in your hands doesn't really belong to you.

edited 30th May '11 5:11:08 AM by Medinoc

It never did. The same applies to essentially all the software and hardware you "own", for that matter.

That said, this is going a bit further than most companies tend to go...

Wrong: It's legal to do what you want with hardware, including completely replacing the software.

Also, I doubt the "Nintendo owning rights to video or pictures captured with the device" part is legal.

edited 30th May '11 8:41:37 AM by Medinoc

^ This. You own the hardware. Software you typically license, which is an agreement to not break into it and screw around with the code to make your own thing and sell it back. Hardware, the most they can do is refuse warranty or service if you mess with it.

Mind you, this means that they can make the OS not work if you mod the console, which means that while you could mod it and turn it into whatever you wanted, it wouldn't function as originally intended ever again.

I worry about the pictures thing. There's been a lot of that going on; some of it has to do with license agreements that merely say "If you post things online on our service you give us the right to show them to people," others get... ridiculous. Twitpic's new owner has apparently been screwing people on this, claiming that pictures they posted on the service can't be used for commercial purposes, or some such. Since copyright doesn't work that way, I'm fairly sure it's not enforceable except by financial pressure (wasting time and money in stupid court bullshit). Still, I'd check before using it.

edited 30th May '11 8:50:10 AM by GoggleFox

This is kind of asinine, but the only part that will have any effect on me personally is the bit about them owning your pictures, though it's not like I intended to use them for commercial purposes anyway.

So... don't install illegal software?

Even if you don't intend to use them as such it's still ridiculous for Nintendo to think they can claim ownership of you own images regardless.

I thought this was for hacked games and flash carts that let you get games for free and such. That isn't illegal? I guess I have a lot to learn.

And please elaborate on #3. I'm intrigued.

Considering that the system is also region locked this means it's effectively impossible to play games never released in your region.

That. That shit is my Berserk Button. Suddenly, you're not only dependent on the asshole translators (half of which do not know what they're doing) to convey the meaning of the original text, because there is no original text available legally, you're also dependent on the bigwig publishers to bother releasing the game for your region. When the bigwigs will finally realize that this hurts the industry far more than it heals by (reportedly) limiting piracy and import cheating (which also hurts the industry when you buy a game from Region 1 because it wasn't released in Region 3, and then obviously DON'T buy it when released in Region 3, which leads to skewed statistics on R3 sales).

Same goes for similar restrictions on Blu-Rays and DV Ds (thankfully, circumventable, if you know what you're doing).

The regionlock was indeed a terrible dickmove.

The rest, not so much, really. It's mostly been used for piracy anyway.

I don't see how Nintendo attempting to claim ownership of images taken with the 3DS would ever pass in court.

"Nintendo owning rights to video or pictures captured with the device"

No, that's just a "you can't sue us because your Mii appears in gameplay" clause. The bricking is wrong though.

Simply by virtue of the fact that, as mentioned, they can afford to waste time and money in litigation but John Q. Enduser can't and therefore has to settle, I would assume.

edited 30th May '11 12:42:00 PM by Reflextion

Thank goodness! Now, all these horrible pirates, hackers, and homebrewers will finally get what's coming to them! After all, what better way to ensure that my enjoyment is protected than to completely ruin someone else's?

Serves them right for trying to modify a system. Don't they know it's illegal?

It's like saying that it's legal to modify your own COMPUTER! The bastards!

But in all seriousness.

Why can't Nintendo learn from Sony? It's like trying to quell a rebellion by oppressing the peasants more.

Wait, almost every country did that...

And look how they turned out.

@Enlong: Hacking =/= Pirates rippin' off the system and ruining everything for everybody.

edited 30th May '11 12:45:13 PM by RenaTheArchmage

Region Lock again?

sheesh

...they own my pictures?

THOSE ARE MY PICTURES. AND THAT IS MY PIECE OF HARDWARE. I WILL VOID MY WARRANTY IF I WANT AND OWN MY NUDE PICS OF MYSELF DAMN YOU.

Perhaps I am being sorta naïve. I honestly didn't think that the whole bricking thing would trigger on stuff other than hacks or stolen games and such. As such, I didn't think that legitimate consumers would be inconvenienced by it. Honest truth.

It's not illegal, but it is against the terms of service. By buying a 3DS, you're signing a legal contract that says you won't try to modify the system, and in return, Nintendo won't brick it.

So, from a certain point of view, it is illegal to modify the system.