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Image: Leidsch Dagblad, September 16th 1994

Nintendo games seem to be a particularly popular option for counterfeit product makers; the chances of finding a whole host of knock-off goods from any car boot sale or eBay search is scarily high. While we don't always see how companies such as the 'Big N' deal with such matters, these recently rediscovered photos show what is possibly the best method we could ever imagine.

Enter the steamroller. Found by the archivists at Gamegeschiedenis, these images of counterfeit Nintendo products being crushed were reportedly taken in the Netherlands back in 1994. The photos featuring some lucky employee whose job was to go around stomping on the fake games in a Mario outfit stood out as a particular highlight to us, although that actually does seem like a good way to put across a strong message to potential fraudsters.

Leidsch Dagblad, September 16th 1994
Trouw, September 16th 1994
Club Nintendo Extra, year 2 issue 7, Nintendo Netherlands BV, 1994
Nederlands Dagblad, September 16th 1994

Translated, the caption from this final photo reads:

Video game company Nintendo is using a roller to combat piracy. At Lelystad airport ten thousand counterfeit video games were crushed. The Japanese company has started a targeted and structured worldwide campagn to combat forgeries of their video games. The destroyed games came from Hong Kong and were confiscated from a Dutch importing company.

If that's not an effective way of getting rid of counterfeit goods then we don't know what is. We bet you weren't expecting to see photos like this to kick-start your weekend!

[source resetera.com, via nintendoeverything.com]