Shortly after Nintendo and 54 other software companies formally filed a lawsuit in an attempt to curb the distribution of the R4 flashcard, the demand and pricing of the R4 had significantly jacked up in the Japanese market.

It's no surprise, really, given the consumer panic that the recent R4-related developments in Japan had caused. In this case, many retailers in Japan (Akihabara in particular) took advantage of the situation and greatly increased prices in as little as two days; the price of an R4 in one retail store had increased from 2,980 yen (US$ 28) to 4,980 yen (US$ 55) overnight.

Is this what Nintendo wanted to happen when they sued Japanese R4 retailers? The legal attempt to eradicate the flashcard has quite predictably caused an increased demand and higher sales numbers for the much sought-out R4. Or does the Big N has something else in mind? Stay tuned for more updates.

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