Pirates go retro
Noo Yoik Ciddy cops seize 60,000 bootleg NES consoles. Come on, crims, do catch up.
A huge haul of pirate games consoles has been seized during raids in New York and New Jersey, according to local prosecutors.
More than 60,000 bootleg Nintendo Entertainment Systems were seized, along with pirate games including Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers and Duck Hunt.
Four people were arrested after FBI agents posed as buyers, telling the defendants they planned to distribute the fake products throughout Manhattan and the Midwest.
A criminal complaint filed as part of the case claims that the defendants imported more than 280,000 illegal games consoles into the US between September and December 2004.
The complaint also says Nintendo told the FBI that piracy costs the company millions in lost revenue each year.
The original NES launched in the US back in 1985. Analysts say that if the trend continues we can expect to see pirate PSPs appearing around 2025, coinciding with the handheld's European release.