Not that Bowser, though. Some other Bowser. But what an awkward coincidence.
Nintendo of America has filed a lawsuit against Gary Bowser, a 51-year old Canadian and member of Team Xecuter, alleging that he’s been involved in the manufacture and distribution of multiple modchip devices and support software designed to bypass security on the company’s consoles since 2014. Claiming this constitutes “massive intellectual property theft and infringement”, the lawsuit’s solicited damages include $2,500 for each hacked device plus $150,000 for each copyright violation – that’s a lot of cash! – and the shutdown of Team Xecuter’s entire operation.
Modchips like these are a controversial subject. Although piracy is the most obvious (and inevitable) consequence, there’s a case to be made that modchips can “save” games that have since been discontinued or aren’t accessible for whatever reason. Sony announced recently, for example, that its PS3, PSP, and PS Vita shops would close this year, effectively deleting those games forever. And if a game isn’t actually available to purchase, does using a modchip to copy it count as piracy? I dunno, it’s complicated, but making a profit selling modchips, even in this context, feels kind of wrong to me.
It probably doesn’t help Team Xecuter’s “but we’re not the bad guys” position that loading its custom Switch SX OS firmware without a licence – so, pirating it – can brick your console. Except, as Team Xecuter explained to Ars Technica in 2018, that’s not an anti-piracy thing, that’s “inconveniences to safeguard anti-tampering of our SX OS boot file to remain at a competitive advantage”. Which is different because it’s, like, totally not the same? K.
Via Polygon.