The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington has issued a temporary restraining order against the import and sale of systems containing versions of Nintendo games being sold at various shopping malls. In response to the court order, U.S. marshals will seize the systems at shopping mall kiosks in the western Washington area. Nintendo is also supporting numerous federal criminal investigations and U.S. Customs has seized tens of thousands of the devices upon their entry into the country.

"This action is one of many steps Nintendo is taking to protect its creative rights and to combat the growing international problem of product piracy," explains Jodi Daugherty, Nintendo of America's director of anti-piracy. "Nintendo won't tolerate these illegal products, and is grateful to its devoted customers. We'll aggressively protect the quality and integrity of the video game products our fans are so loyal to."

The products in question look very similar to Nintendo 64 controllers and plug directly into televisions (not unlike the JAKKS TV Games series). They allow users to play dozens of Nintendo games from the original Nintendo Entertainment System, such as Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. Nintendo re-released many of these popular games, as part of its Classic NES Series, which sell for roughly one dollar since the year they were originally released on the NES. The products in question sell under the names "Power Player," "Super Joystick," "Superjoy" and "Powerjoy." As a result of the federal court order, Nintendo is urging mall management companies around the country to close the kiosks selling these products.

Daugherty added, "We're confident that mall management companies around the nation will provide their complete cooperation upon being informed of the court's decision."