Report: Most Pirated Japanese DS and PSP Games

By Brian Leahy, Jun 09, 2010 12:00pm PDT According to the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) of Japan, Pokemon Platinum is the most pirated Nintendo DS game in the country. CESA's numbers put the title at 2,071,006 illegal downloads. On the PSP, Dissidia: Final Fantasy holds the honor with a whopping 5,281,223 downloads.

It is unclear where this data comes from, but I am guessing it only includes publically accessible BitTorrent trackers and peer-to-peer networks. In reality, the numbers are likely higher.

Across both platforms, the titles most downloaded are "hardcore" games or games that appeal to everyone. Partial lists of the most downloaded games can be found at Siliconera for both the DS and PSP.

CESA does provide an estimate for lost revenue based on the illegal downloads, but converts 1:1, assuming that every download represents a lost sale.

Sony recently attempted to fight piracy with the PSPgo, which largely flopped. Nintendo has been vigilant in going after companies manufacturing or selling hardware needed to play illegal DS games. Expect Nintendo's 3DS and Sony's rumored PSP2 to ramp up the copy-protection.

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6 Threads | 16 Comments
  • hmm how was that market economy definition again ?
    or how about this one ?
    A market economy is economy based on the power of division of labor in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system set by supply and demand.

    Interesting, so that means that prices should be set according to supply and demand, that's strange I though prices for games where set unilaterally ?
    Oh now I get it, games (and other media) does not work according to market economy rules, but we live in a market economy don't we ? so maybe by not obeying the 'rules' they also invite the other party (i.e consumers) to also break the rules. Nah who am I kidding, of course not, it's only the consumers (or in this case 'pirates') that break the rules, the publishing companies are only the victims here. I cry for them or maybe not..]o


    Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) is a Japanese organization that was established in 1996 to "promote the computer entertainment industry [...] with the aim of contributing to the strengthening of Japanese industry as well as to the further enrichment of people's lifestyles." It sponsors the annual Tokyo Game Show and Japan Game Grand Prix.

    CESA is located in Tokyo, Japan. Its current (as of 2008) chairman of CESA is YÅichi Wada, the president of Square Enix. The vice chairman is Michihiro Ishizuka of Konami.

    Industry organization headed by industry bigwigs and most likely funded by industry money publishes a study skewed heavily in favor of the industry. Industry insiders decry anyone disputing their figures while failing to show substantiated proof of their claims, and only repeating the phrase "you have NO idea what this industry is like."

  • Maybe this didn't occur to Sony, but perhaps they should do two things to help the psp:
    1. Put the effort into it that they put into the security of the ps3. Some people might complain and argue that they spent so much money on the ps3 security; but if they want people to consider the psp seriously NOW, especially now after all of this pirating, then they have to work on it. They came up with an ingenious system on the ps3, I'm sure they can come up with something for the handheld.

    2. Create an actual, physical, PSPN or something (a PSN for the PSP). So, hacked/pirated games lose multiplayer access and all that, because like the ps3, all multiplayer should be run through the online network. Not as great of an option as #1, but a real PSN for the psp will give developers a chance to create better multiplayer games for the psp, and thereby giving pirates more of an incentive to buy the game.