Nintendo DS Flash Cards are Legal Says Judge
Nintendo lost its case against flash card manufacturer Divineo, accused of locking out developers.
Max Console reports that Nintendo lost its case against the Divineo group in Paris, France. Nintendo originally filed suit against the company over flash cards it manufactures for the Nintendo DS, wanting the court to force Divineo to halt production. However the French judge wasn't convinced by Nintendo's plea, and ruled that developers should be allowed to develop applications for the platform "at their own free will."
Although the court documents have not been provided, Max Console reports that the Judge accused Nintendo of illegally locking out developers from its consoles. In fact, the platforms should follow Microsoft's Windows operating system, allowing developers to create applications for anyone to use.
Thus, the ruling indirectly makes flash cards perfectly legal for the Nintendo DS, offering developers a place to store the applications they can now create. This also may indicate that DS developers are no longer required to purchase development kits. Additionally, the ruling may allow developers to "hack" into a system that shouldn't be locked in the first place.
We look forward to seeing how this ruling effects the industry worldwide, as this could change console development in a big way.
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hope the same happens to microsoft for the xbox
This just in, a second after the ruling Psystar has filed a lawsuit against Apple in France.
Microsoft already offers a develop
... Random. Cut off my message. Anyway, Microsoft already offers a development package for the Xbox, for very cheap, and easy to get. This is different seeing as there is no easy or cheap way (that I know of) to develop for the DS.
interesting, somehow though i find myself asking "why do i care".
Microsoft already offers a development package for the Xbox, for very cheap, and easy to get. This is different seeing as there is no easy or cheap way (that I know of) to develop for the DS.
Well if you develop for the flash carts the tools are free Arm tool chain and all that. I think this judge believes things should be like they are on Windows where if you want too bad enough you can program and release something with out Microsoft's permission.
The problem is Nintendo does not like flash carts for obvious reasons lol There really is a lot of cool programs for the DS that just are not possible with out a flash cart.
Law suite flying everywhere. Someone gonna get hit in the head.
Even a French judge won't side with a major producer of technological goods. I hope this signals to developers and other large companies that the "legal system" is going to read things like EULA to the letter and enforce it as such. Amen.
Now only if a judge made the Sony PSP an open platform (the dev kit is getting a lot cheaper though, $1,000 as compared to $1,500) for programs, not just games.
Seriously, how hard is it for Sony to give the PSP a damned alarm clock app already? Hell, just let us use the one the hackers already made on a PSPgo...
Kudos to this judge.
Long live open development.
hmmm.....who really cares whether its legal or not?
Everyone knows that we have Wii and DS software comming out the Wazoo. Nintendo has made a killing by making developers pay a liscencing fee. That is the reason they excersize zero control over the shovel-ware that constantly appears on their platforms.
This lawsuit may take us to the plaace where developers don't have to pay that fee, like on Windows.
That's a win for cheaper games and developers, but a loss for cheaper consoles and Nintendo and Sony.
If licensing fees go away, console hardware must be sold at a profit. This means a certain price increase, since only the Wii makes money today. Maybe portables are different.
something just doesn't seem right with the ruling. windows is a general os that any developer can create apps for because microsoft wanted it to be that way. Apple chose to have more control of their os. Sony and Nintendo also chose to have some control over their IP. And probably MS too on Xbox. Can they be forced to relinquish control over their Intellectual Property? If yes, then does this apply to all the movies, songs, books?
Don't you just hate control freaks?
I'm going to have to somewhat side with Nintendo on this, as console makers usually sell consoles at a loss then recoup on the games. Besides that, I'd have to say that 99% of the flash cards sold are used for piracy and not homebrew development. If Nintendo came out with their own consumer level development kit similar to XNA, then the flash cart manufacturers wouldn't have ground to stand on.
lol
Well, as long as the said developpers don't give users a mean to play illegal games, I don't see what's the wrong in all this.
I wish they sue apple into submission.
Why are they control freaks? Just don't buy their stuff if you don't like it! I am no fan of Apple for that reason and others, so I don't buy their stuff. If we start to go down this route, then console prices will go up & maybe will have to compete with PCs...and then they'll fail & only MS will win as Apple will be forced to do same thing as consoles.
Lol maybe this will teach Nintendo to quit pushing out shovelware somehow? Or on the downside, a lot of homebrew can be classified as shovelware unfortunately. Serious developers purchase the dev kits, as they have money to spend on that and also professionally trained personnel to create video games. This judge's ruling makes very slight sense. Legal or not, people will still manufacture and sell flash carts anyway so yeah why would anyone really care about this.
I love that picture you put up. Sooooooooooooo appropriate.