Microsoft loses $690M in anti-trust fine

[ChichiriMuyo]

Legend11 said:

ChichiriMuyo said:
I think Nintendo stopping Freeloader isn't such an issue because it was an unlicensed product. Everyone else needs a license from Nintendo to put software on their machine, why would they be any different? And besides that, even if this doesn't apply to every game, there are a number of games that can only be sold in a given reason for leagal purposes. Stopping the people who made Freeloader would have been in both Nintendo's interests and the interests of their 3rd party developers. Not that it's a big issue...

What does licensed or unlicensed product have to do with anything?  What if Sony during the Playstation 1 or 2 days did an update to their firmware that rendered all unlicensed memory cards useless, would you be supporting Sony in that case?  What Freeloader did wasn't illegal.  What Nintendo did was in it's own best interest and very anti-consumer and isn't that a part of what this is all about, a company that controls a platform using it to their advantage to force people developing products for their platform out of business and removing choice from consumers?

Nintendo's platform are their product, and they have right to decide how that product will be handled.  And given copyright laws and other issues, it's often in their best interest to maintain those rights when it comes to a product such as Freeloader.  That product, and any other that permits the playing of games from another region, did allow individuals to break the law, and very few companies like to be known for allowing that.

As for blocking out existing memory cards with a firmware update, well, that's an entire different matter, now isn't it?  Notice me commenting on it before?  No?  Why?  Because Sony doesn't have the legal responsibility to do that.  Whether or not they have the legal right is something I cannot speak for, but I can say the situation is entirely different from what Nintendo did because Sony didn't try to get rid of a product (assuming the Magic Gate situation is what you are implying here) that was infringing upon IP rights and international copyright laws.