Nintendo bans 3DS users for early Pokémon piracy

Enlarge / The error message many early Pokémon pirates are receiving when they try to go online with their 3DS. (credit: 4chan)

Players that go online with early, pirated copies of Pokémon Sun & Moon on the Nintendo 3DS are reporting that their systems have been completely banned from accessing Nintendo's servers, including the system's online eShop.

Though the latest pair of portable Pokémon games doesn't officially come out until tomorrow, downloadable full versions started circulating around the Web earlier this month (playable via jailbreaking software mods stored on an SD card). In the last few days, many of the players who have used those early copies have taken to sites like GBATemp and 4chan to complain that their 3DS accounts have been banned after taking those early copies online. Early birds who played the titles strictly offline don't seem to be affected.

"As a result of a number of Nintendo 3DS users using unauthorized versions of several games, and connecting to the official game servers in violation of our terms of service, these users’ Nintendo 3DS systems that stored the unauthorized game code have been banned from Nintendo’s online network effective immediately," Nintendo said in a statement provided to the press.