2024-09-17 17:28:24
Authorities in Italy have busted a lucrative retro game trafficking ring which was supplying pirated versions of classic consoles and games.
Police in the country seized around 12,000 fake vintage consoles from brands including Nintendo, Sega and Atari and around 47 million pirated video games such as ‘Mario Bros.’, ‘Street Fighter’ and ‘Star Wars’.
Alessandro Langella, head of the economic crime unit for Turin’s financial police, told AFP the seized assets – worth around€50m ($55.5m) – were made in China and were fitted with non-certified batteries and electrical circuits which did not meet European technical and safety standards.
They have since been destroyed.
Nine people have been charged with trading in counterfeited goods and face up to eight years in prison if convicted.
The supply ring is believed to have been capitalising on the “retrogaming” trend which has seen classic games from the 1980s and 1990s surge in popularity in recent years and create a high demand for old game and second-hand consoles.
The bust comes after five years after a major bust in Raleigh, North Carolina led to the seizure of hundreds of fake versions of Nintendo’s NES Classic Edition consoles which were worth around $800,000.
US officials warned gamers at the time: “If it’s ‘too good to be true,’ it probably is”.
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