New Super Mario Bros Wii for the Wii console was made available for illegal download worldwide on 6 November 2009—a week before the game's Australian release.
The Federal Court ordered the person responsible to pay
Nintendo a settlement of $1.5 million in damages as compensation for
Nintendo's loss of sales revenue.
When the game was uploaded to the Internet,
Nintendo used sophisticated technological forensics to identify the person responsible. On 23 November, 2009,
Nintendo obtained a Federal Court search order for the person's home. This led to the discovery and seizure of further evidence.
Nintendo has been working to combat piracy for approximately 20 years. "Piracy is a significant threat to
Nintendo's business, as well as over 1400 game development companies working to create games for the
Nintendo platforms,"
Nintendo says.
"Fewer sales of
Nintendo's hardware and software systems means fewer resources that
Nintendo, its licensees, developers and publishers have to create and market new video game products which is ultimately to the detriment of video game enthusiasts. When there is a decrease in game development, there is also a decrease in the number of jobs in the industry. The existence of piracy jeopardises the strength of the video game industry overall."
