I think this figure is way, way off base. Considering the casual focus of the DS market, it's probably safer to say that (at least) 90% of users aren't pirating games. It's one of the most outrageous statistics I've seen in a while for this industry.
That's not to say piracy shouldn't be a concern....

I know at least 10 DS owners and only one of us have purchased the R4. I think they should measure the lower sales against a used game sales statistic. Personally, I've only bought 1 new DS game.

Barney done taught us to share our games!

I know plenty of DS owners and I've had mine for years, and this is the first time I've ever even heard that there's a DS-piracy product out there. I guess I must be making up for everybody else, because I've bought maybe 10 DS games plus two more in Japan. I'd like to know where that 90% guess comes from - it's far more likely that those with the R4 go on a mass downloading spree and therefore pirated copies comprise a large percentage of total game images out there...

I must agree - this is the most unbelievable "statistic" I have seen anywhere related to this industry. It's hard to imagine making up a number out of thin air and having it feel as off base as this does...

This may truly be the stupidest thing I have ever seen an analyst say. He should be fired for incompetence. I would be very surprised if even 30% of DS owners knew there were mod chips out there, much less own one.

I'm not at all surprised that the R4 exists, but I didn't know about it until this article. And I have a DS, and I (like most here) am in the games biz.

So, yeah, that 90% figure is ludicrous. I'd be surprised if it was as high 5%.

I'm going to go out on a limb and be overtly candid. There is a healthy pirate community for the DS out there (but nowhere near 90%!). There's a simple reason that stems from a flaw in the business model... demos for DS games are difficult to come by and the chronic influx of substandard games makes purchasing new games the equivalent to financial Russian roulette. Some games are well worth their price point and offer both entertainment and value, but the bulk are shelf filler. I'm certainly for diversity and I anxiously await the day that the DS titles in North America are as varied as the selection in Japan... that being said I think the developers as a whole truly have to take a cold hard look at their product to see if what they're offering the marketplace offers any substantial value over what's currently there. Innovate, keep the standards high, make products that are truly worth paying for rather than just another "brain game", "tetris spin-off", "sudoku puzzle set", "bland platformer", etc.

I completely agree with the fact that this is one of the most propaganda centered statements that I've heard in the game industry. This just goes to show what the media can do when their ignorant of video game knowledge. Kinda reminds me of the scandal the media is centering around Mass Effect and the so-called sexual scenes.

I hang with a crowd that is more likely to be aware of devices like the R4 than the average person. The primary use that they talk about? Productivity/inernet apps (alternate web browsers, IRC chat, organizers), multimedia apps (movie and music playback) and occasionaly homebrew or emulated games. (Some of these invoke legal grey areas of their own but they're seperate issues). This is not to deny the existance of a pirate community but to suggest that a large precentage of people who use the R4 are using it for legal activities.

@Richard: I can walk into my local Wal-Mart, bringing my DS and acces their download station for a number of playable demos. And of course many games support local multiplayer play through a single copy of the game which is also sort of a demo mode. And IIRC the Wii will soon offer demo download functionality. Considering that before the DS this level of functionality in a handheld was nearly unheard of outside the cell phone and PDA market, I'd say the DS is doing pretty well for demos. Agree that there is a lot of shelf filler (Nintendo handhelds are lucritive magnets for things like mediocre licenced IP tie-in games) but what worries me more is the number of strong titles from barely a year ago that are no longer readily avalible (and the used market puts a hefty premium on them). Some are even first party titles (Tetris DS or all things.) I allready knew about how cutthroat the competition for shelf space is but having just recently bought my DS this makes it really sink in.

OK, in an ideal world what I am about to say would be unnecessary. I am an R4 owner. I wish I didn't have to be, but there it is...

Why? Because I teach games development. We have XBox 360s (donated by MS with free access to the XNA Developer Club), we have PSP Dev kits (bought after approval from SCEE), and thank you to both of them for giving us this. However, after a year or two trying to build links with SN and Nintendo, we are no further forward with getting access to anything like a dev kit for the two leading platforms, and possibly the best for innovation from a learning perspective. We came close with the GameCube but EU legislation prevented the sale of a dev kit a few weeks before we managed to source the funds to pay for them.

So, I recommend to students interested in creating games for the DS that they purchase an R4 and download homebrew software. Yes of course it can be used to access pirated ROMS; we do discuss at length the ethics and legalities of IP, by the way.

Music companies tried to stop the compact cassette, with accusations of piracy. Of course, a tape could be used to copy your mate's CD collection, but it could also contain that budding young band demo that lands on a record producer's desk.

I don't find the 90% statistic automatically ludicrous. This is a website for game developers, not the general public. As a group we're inherently biased towards paying for games. Both in terms of ideology and the cash we have to spend.