12,000 consoles with 47 million pirated games seized by Italian police in $52 million retro game trafficking bust leaving 9 pirates facing up to 8 years in prison
"Mario Bros, Street Fighter, and Star Wars" were among the pirated franchises
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Italian police have busted up a retro game trafficking ring worth an estimated $52.5 million USD, and now nine pirates are facing up to eight years in prison.
“Around 12,000 consoles on which more than 47 million pirated video games were illegally stored were seized, for an estimated value of more than €47.5 million (US$52.5 million),” Turin economic crime division boss Alessandro Langella tells news service Agence France-Presse (viaSCMP). That estimate includes both the value of the consoles themselvesandthe theoretical license cost for the games,
The story describes these machines as “counterfeit vintage video game consoles from China,” featuring games like “Mario Bros, Street Fighter, and Star Wars.” The consoles didn’t meet European tech and safety standards, according to the report, and were imported from China to …
