A RAID on two Sim Lim Square shops yesterday afternoon turned up 10 Nintendo Wii gaming consoles illegally modified to play pirated games.

This is the first time modified or 'modded' Wiis have surfaced here. Illegally modified Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo Dual Screen game consoles have been seized in past crackdowns.

The raid also yielded 21 disks of pirated Wii games and a hard disk of pirated games, said Mr Cyril Chua, lawyer for video-game industry watchdog Entertainment Software Association (ESA).

The two outlets raided by officers of the Criminal Investigation Department's Intellectual Property Rights Branch and ESA representatives were Games Industries and Next Global, located on the mall's first floor and fifth floor respectively.

Mr Chua added that several other retailers identified to be selling modified consoles, pirated games or offering console modification services would have their names submitted to the police in the coming weeks.

More than 35 million sets of Wii have been sold around the world since its launch in 2006, making it the best-selling game console in recent years.

This is the third raid at Sim Lim Square for intellectual property-related offences since November last year.

Two Sim Lim Square retailers accused of selling modified Nintendo Dual Screen consoles are scheduled for a Subordinate Courts trial in the coming weeks.

A video-game retailer, who declined to be named, said retailers sell 'modded' game consoles because customers ask for them.

'Customers want it so that they can play pirated games. Shops that don't 'mod' game consoles will lose customers to those that do,' he said.

He declined to say whether he sold such consoles. They cost $80 to $150 more than unmodified Wiis, which sell for about $420.

He estimated that 'probably more than half' of all game consoles sold here have been 'modded'.

An Intellectual Property Office of Singapore survey supports his observation: Only two in 10 people here are bothered by intellectual property infringement.

It is illegal under the Copyright Act to 'circumvent...technological access control measures'. Those convicted face up to $20,000 in fines or up to two years' jail, or both.

This story was first published in The Straits Times on 15 November 2008.

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