Survey: Over 10% of Japanese DS Owners Have Flash Cards

Following a report two weeks ago on the prevalence of Nintendo DS backup devices in Japan and video-game trade groups' efforts to "eradicate" them, Japanese game magazine Famitsu published the results of a DS flash-card survey conducted via postcards and its official website. The results are pretty sobering for local portable software developers: 10.7 percent of respondents reported that they owned a DS flash card, and anecdotes sent in by readers indicate that, like in much of the rest of the world, getting games for free is beginning to be seen as the norm rather than illegal among the DS's audience. 

According to the survey, 70.2 percent of Famitsu's readers see DS flash cards in a negative light, while 6.9% had a positive opinion of them and 22.9% had no particular opinion either way. Here are some of the opinions sent in by readers:

- "Flash cards are essentially unforgivable. The media needs to report more on the problem." (Male, 23)

- "Being able to download games that are no different from the retail version is no different from shoplifting." (Male, 41)

- "Some people with RAM carts say 'Well, make a game that I'd actually want to pay money for,' but I'd like to say to that their piracy is what causes development budgets, and therefore quality, to drop. Besides, what right do they have to complain about games they didn't even pay for?" (Male, 17)

- "To be frank, I don't really care. Even if they eradicated every flash card, I doubt it would raise game sales. People who use them are not the people who buy games." (Male, 36)

- "I think the problem lies in the uploaded ROM images, not with the cards themselves. Any device that expands the capability of the Nintendo DS is a good thing for users, and I think fighting against them is simply a case of the publishers pushing their egos on others." (Male, 32)

- "Most of the kids at the elementary school nearby have them. They whine at me to let them read off my games, but I tell them I can't and chase them off." (Male, 13)

- "I'm a father, and a lot of the kids around us have cards and bring them up in casual conversation. Some of their parents, the ones who know I like games, ask me why I haven't bought one if I play them so much. It's a very strange situation." (Male, 32)

- "I came to visit my friend the other day, and I was talking about the game I was playing with his son. He said 'Wow, you actually bought it? I downloaded it on the day it came out!' It made me more sad than angry. I remember saving up money with my brother back in elementary school so I could afford to buy Final Fantasy V." (Female, 26).