Topic: Nintendo Can Remotely Delete Illicitly Gained eShop Content

[oksoda]

Violating Nintendo's terms and conditions can result in the deletion of games.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/35830

Nintendo has the ability to remotely access hardware and remove content that is in violation of its terms and conditions, a Nintendo gamer found out the hard way.

Earlier this year, a Club Nintendo promotion offered $30 in eShop credit if you purchased both Fire Emblem: Awakening and Shin Megami Tensei IV. After registering the games, users were provided with a code that could be entered in either the Wii U or 3DS eShop for the credit. The promotion ended August 31.

User “Honey,” who owns two separate 3DS systems, as well as two Club Nintendo accounts, had purchased two copies of Fire Emblem as well as one copy of Shin Megami Tensei IV. After securing another Club Nintendo code for Shin Megami Tensei from a friend, she registered the pair of games to each of her Club Nintendo accounts and received two $30 credit codes.

Instead of using one code on each of her 3DSes, Honey redeemed both codes on a single 3DS. She downloaded SteamWorld Dig and left the rest of the credit alone.

A few weeks later, Honey attempted to log into one of her Club Nintendo accounts and was greeted with a message that it had been deactivated. Her other account was deactivated as well. Honey checked the eShop on her 3DS and discovered that the remaining balance from the Fire Emblem promotion had been removed. Honey then went to check on her games.

“I left the eShop, started skimming through my games, and just as I highlighted SteamWorld Dig, it disappeared, right in front of my eyes,” she said.

The game, which had been downloaded to her SD card, was completely removed by Nintendo.

Honey called Nintendo of America and was told that she had violated the terms and conditions for the promotion, specifically stating that only one code could be used per account. Moreover, Honey had actually violated other Club Nintendo terms and conditions, including maintaining two separate accounts and registering a code for a game that the user didn’t purchase.

Honey was able to convince Nintendo of America to reactive her Club Nintendo accounts, but the eShop credit and SteamWorld Dig were forfeited.

“They didn't give me the [credit] back but I don't care, I was happy to get my accounts back. Also, I figured that if I push, I may not get anything at all.”

We reached out to Nintendo of America but received no comment.

[Leo13]

Thanks for the post. I didn't know we weren't supposed to do 2 different Club Nintendo Accounts and I was considering opening a second one (because I've already hit platinum so I figured if I can hit platinum again it would be cool to get 2 different prizes). Now that I know I won't start up a second one.

[jumpwhip]

Sounds to me like Honey was robbed.  Certainly some measure of disciplinary action was appropriate due to the t&c violation but Nintendo went too far.  Everything else aside, according to the description given here, Honey properly fulfilled the t&c for a single redemption of the promotional credit, so for Nintendo to take that from her in addition to the ill-gotten promotional credit under the guise of a punitive measure is thievery.

[KITT 10K]

Glad the idea of opening a second account never accrued to me. Last thing I need is for that to happen to me.

[BlackNMild2k1]

Thanks for the post. I didn't know we weren't supposed to do 2 different Club Nintendo Accounts and I was considering opening a second one (because I've already hit platinum so I figured if I can hit platinum again it would be cool to get 2 different prizes). Now that I know I won't start up a second one.

You can send me your codes, and assuming that next years Platinum prize is as underwhelming as this years Platinum prize, I will send it over to you

[Leo13]

Ha Ha you're funny. No I'll just continue to redeem my coins for games. Legend of Zelda this month (I never played that one)

[Pixelated Pixies]

I have taken and used codes for several games which I never actually owned. I have been given quite a few by family who didn't care to use them, and even on the NWR forums I've engaging in swapping codes for games from other regions. I really don't see any harm in it. It's not as if people who engage in this are producing counterfeit codes, they're simply using legitimate codes from legally purchased games which have presumably been given to them by a family member or friend.
 

[Ceric]

For Nintendo just in general they don't care but this time they were out approximately $15 (Lets say they get a 50% cut of any sale)

[Leo13]

That and the fact that it's hard for you to give legitimate survey answers to questions about games you haven't played.

[EvilMario]

Thanks for the post. I didn't know we weren't supposed to do 2 different Club Nintendo Accounts and I was considering opening a second one (because I've already hit platinum so I figured if I can hit platinum again it would be cool to get 2 different prizes). Now that I know I won't start up a second one.

You can link two accounts by making them 'family accounts', as we have. For the rare occasion we buy two copies of the same game (Monster Hunter, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart), we're able to register all the codes that way.

[Pixelated Pixies]

That and the fact that it's hard for you to give legitimate survey answers to questions about games you haven't played.

Well, in my case the answers I give for those games which I haven't played are as legitimate as for those that I have.
 
How satisfied am I with...? (1 - 10, with 1 being not very satisfied and 10 being very satisfied)
 
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
5
 
 

[broodwars]

Hmm...this doesn't sit right with me. Yeah, the user in question shouldn't have activated the credits on a single eShop account, but I don't like the idea of Nintendo reaching into SD with their DRM B.S. and stealing legitimately purchased titles.  I think a more fair response in this case would have been if they just removed the $30 extra eShop credit and called it a day.  As for the whole "dual Club Nintendo account" thing, I don't see why Nintendo should care. It's netting them more money if people are buying titles twice, so why penalize people for giving you moneY?

[Enner]

Is "illegal" the right word? Hmm, I never heard of companies involving the courts for breaches of the terms of use. Copyright infringement, for sure.


Anyway, this is an unfortunate situation for all involved. While Nintendo is exercising the terms it has laid out, it does seem harsh.

Hmm...this doesn't sit right with me. Yeah, the user in question shouldn't have activated the credits on a single eShop account, but I don't like the idea of Nintendo reaching into SD with their DRM B.S. and stealing legitimately purchased titles.  I think a more fair response in this case would have been if they just removed the $30 extra eShop credit and called it a day.  As for the whole "dual Club Nintendo account" thing, I don't see why Nintendo should care. It's netting them more money if people are buying titles twice, so why penalize people for giving you moneY?

It's for the purity of the games! Maybe in Nintendo's view, the details of the punished actions are a serious fraud?

[Adrock]

So Nintendo can remotely delete content saved on SD Cards, but they still can't be bothered with unified accounts and wallets. Priorities.

Ultimately, this is pretty shitty of Nintendo. I understand this is in their terms and conditions, but what people do with the Club Nintendo codes is up to them. If this girl scored a code from a friend, so be it. The friend didn't want the code and willingly gave it to someone who did. Nintendo got those sales; let the girl keep the game and the credits, all of them. She even has two 3DSesses for whatever reason. At the very least, as broodwars said, she should have been allowed to keep the one $30 credit. I hope this story gains traction. I don't really like how Nintendo handled this at all.

[Miyamoto]

I've done something slightly similar to the person in the article. If Nintendo try any of this nonsense with me, they'll never receive another penny from me for digital content and I'd make damn sure I told everyone I know steer well clearly of buying digitally from Nintendo. Seriously, Nintendo are on their knees right now. Why are they wasting time with negative BS like this instead of trying to fix real problems?

[ejamer]

There was a YouTube video of some guy complaining about this a month or two ago... but in his case it appeared to be a much more deliberate attempt to take advantage of the deal, not a fairly innocent mistake. He did the deal multiple times, bought several games with the credit, then had both software and extra credit removed from his 3DS. The video he posted was a discussion with Nintendo support trying to get an answer for why it happened - and it was quite funny.


Break the terms of service, lose your stuff. While it might not always seem fair, it's hard to argue against and ignorance isn't a reasonable excuse. [size=78%]I do sympathize with cases (like the one described here) where it is an honest mistake, but the reason those terms of service exist is because some people aggressively take advantage of the system in ways that it's clearly not intended to support.[/size]
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[UncleBob]

Hmm...this doesn't sit right with me. Yeah, the user in question shouldn't have activated the credits on a single eShop account, but I don't like the idea of Nintendo reaching into SD with their DRM B.S. and stealing legitimately purchased titles.  I think a more fair response in this case would have been if they just removed the $30 extra eShop credit and called it a day.  As for the whole "dual Club Nintendo account" thing, I don't see why Nintendo should care. It's netting them more money if people are buying titles twice, so why penalize people for giving you moneY?

This doesn't seem like a good plan either.

Try to rip someone off and the worst punishment you get is losing what you "stole" to begin with?

Best plan would have been for Nintendo to have some kind of built-in prevention against using multiple codes like this to begin with...

[Shaymin]

Thanks for the post. I didn't know we weren't supposed to do 2 different Club Nintendo Accounts and I was considering opening a second one (because I've already hit platinum so I figured if I can hit platinum again it would be cool to get 2 different prizes). Now that I know I won't start up a second one.

Pretty sure a family account would allow you to do that legitimately.

[the asylum]

I'm impressed.

Nintendo actually able to do something modern for a change!

Now maybe if we're lucky, they'll re-join the rest of the industry with such crazy things like unified accounts!

[UncleBob]

Thanks for the post. I didn't know we weren't supposed to do 2 different Club Nintendo Accounts and I was considering opening a second one (because I've already hit platinum so I figured if I can hit platinum again it would be cool to get 2 different prizes). Now that I know I won't start up a second one.

Pretty sure a family account would allow you to do that legitimately.

Nada.  One platinum prize to a family account.

[NeoThunder]

Just follow the dam rules. How hard is that?

[Adrock]

This doesn't seem like a good plan either.

Try to rip someone off and the worst punishment you get is losing what you "stole" to begin with?

Best plan would have been for Nintendo to have some kind of built-in prevention against using multiple codes like this to begin with...

Sure, that's what Nintendo should have done to begin with. Unfortunately, they didn't and I don't think the girl should be "punished" for it. Since Nintendo didn't have some kind of built-in prevention, they should have let the girl keep the credits (chalk it up as a loss this time) then make sure this isn't possible in the future. When the girl tried to enter the second set of credit codes, a screen should have popped up stating that the promotion was already fulfilled and to knock it the **** off. (When Nintendo finally brings back gifting, should could have just gifted herself $30 worth of games with the second set of credits)

It'd be nice (and easier for everyone) if the eshop and Club Nintendo "talked" to each other and did the registering and credit thing automatically. Don't linked eshop and Club Nintendo accounts already do something close to that? Of course, that prevents people from giving Club Nintendo codes away and saving the codes for the next year to reach Platinum status, but that's what they want anyway.

In short, something something unified accounts (including Club Nintendo), something something get your act together, Nintendo.

[BlackNMild2k1]

In short, something something unified accounts (including Club Nintendo), something something get your act together, Nintendo.

since you already said it, I'll just quote it instead.

[Etopen]

Hmm...

I already redeemed the ''3 free games per account'' with the current campaign in the Japanese Club Nintendo.
A friend gave me a fourth code for Starfox 64, but now I'm afraid to use it...