Believe it or not, we would never have expected to be writing an article about Soulja Boy releasing games consoles in 2018 here at Nintendo Life. Somehow, though, we're here doing just that for the second time in as many weeks.
Yes, you may remember that just a handful of days ago, we shared the news that rapper Soulja Boy - or DeAndre Cortez Way - has been selling rebranded Chinese games consoles that come with a bunch of emulators running (presumably) unlicenced ROMs. If that, and the fact that people are actually buying the things wasn't crazy enough, he's now set his sights on even more gaming releases, including one that looks particularly familiar.
Meet the Retro SouljaBoy Mini, a $100 gaming device which comes with an 8GB SD card as standard. This SD card is home to 508 preloaded games, all of which are playable on the device's two-inch screen. We don't know about you, but we can't help thinking that the design looks fairly similar to Nintendo's very own Game Boy console. Oh, hang on a minute, he's actually using a picture of Mario to sell the thing so yes, it's probably definitely ripping off the Game Boy.
On top of this, Soulja Boy is also launching the SouljaGame Fuze - a rebranding of the console which attempted to simultaneously copy the designs of both PlayStation and Xbox a couple of years ago. It's quite hard to tell what you get with this one - Soulja Boy's advertising states that "The introduction of paragraph 76 games, starting 20 games shock", whatever that means - but we're sure it's all good fun.
What we can tell you is that it costs a frankly amazing $639.98. Don't worry, though, Soulja Boy currently has it on sale for just $400.
Make sure to let us know your thoughts on these and whether or not you'll be buying your own Soulja Boy consoles in the comments below. Also, please don't buy your own Soulja Boy consoles.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 71
he also wants to do esports as well. yeah... 🤷
https://www.tmz.com/2018/12/16/soulja-boy-esports-team-fortnite-call-of-duty-ninja/
@Aozz101x Will he be doing that from jail once Nintendo have sent their top lawyers?
Oh yeah that $200 Chinese market console with a Tegra K1.. like that will run anything deserving half the price souja is charging.
Something tells me Soulja Boy will be hearing from Nintendo's lawyers soon.
The SouljaBoy Boy
What is “the introduction of paragraph 76 games, starting 20 games shock” on the SouljaGame Fuze supposed to mean? It’s very obvious even without research that Soulja ripped these details from the original Chinese product descriptions.
Edit: Didn’t even read that part of the article, glad they figured it out.
What an idiot. He'll be paying many a fine, I'm sure.
@FragRed i gave up ever wondering about these knock off consoles in general. 🤷
Considering the news cycle of 2018, this seems to be a fitting end to the absurdity.....
"The introduction of paragraph 76 games, starting 20 games shock"
The meme potential of this thing is incredible.
Who is he? Why is he doing this?
...I'm confused, people are strange
Ooohh ... "Paragraph 76" Games .... probably my fave paragraph in gaming history EVER!! ... AND "starting 20 games shock" (no less) and everything!! SOLD!
WOAH!! The Fuze can play Mighty No. 9?!?! Shut up and take my money!!!1!
Oh man! This is hilarious. I also add, "This is delicious." in the words of M. Bison. I would add a Youtube clip of him chuckling, & saying that, but I forgot how. Doesn't matter, that's exactly how I'm responding to this article.
@ryancraddock Hey Ryan, just to add you might want to drive home the fact that the few people that have been ordering these (mainly to make jokey YouTube videos) aren't even getting the items, with money being taken fast and refunds (even through paypal) being troublesome.
Hopefully most people have the common sense. But it is <current year argument>, people are going to get scammed even from a joke news article like this one on it.
I wouldn't be advertising mighty number 9 with my game console for sure.
@MH4 Considering the game can run like crap on modern gen consoles, I dread to think what a Tegra K1 version will run like..
For a second I thought someone made a new Game Boy Color game...
@fluggy He really wants us to know how shocked we should be that 20 games actually start !! Now if only they'd play too.
Just preordered both systems! Cant wait to see how smooth these things blast process games...all paragraph 76 of 'em.
@fluggy
I can't believe that you are saying this. I can only assume that you missed out on the release of Paragraph 77. In my opinion, it was superior to 76 in just about every way. Can't wait for 78... I have it on pre-order!
Thanks, but I'd rather buy a couple of LEGAL current-gen consoles with that money.
How... I mean... err... why? What?
@Medic_alert Way to ruin my hopes and dreams
SouljaBoy? More like PrisonBoy (PrisaBoy?) if he keeps this up.
if he was using blatant rip off emulation games he might have been ok, but the moment he used mario in his advertising he just shot himself in the foot. Nintendo going to be all over this especially since i think Nintendo also recently renewed their gameboy design trademarks and he has blatantly ripped that off to. Only thing I can think of is he is having this made and shipped out of like China where the trademark laws don't exist.
This guy is a complete, does he know nothing about Chinese knock offs? And then selling them in America? Where all companies can see? He'll be sued up his hole soon. Brags about it on social media for the past month too! 🙄 Idiot.
@IHateTombs It's not the free 8GB card that is the selling point per se, but that it has 508 games preloaded on it.
On Twitter, he also claimed to be launching a sponsorship with Ubisoft, of which I'm sure they are fully aware of. 😂
To be fair, I hear Paragraph 76 is actually better than Fallout 76...
I can't wait to play Mighty Soulja 9 and Souljblue!
Bang! Copyright and patient infringement claims coming his way.
What scares me is how long Nintendo is waiting to sue this guy. They are clearly piling up all the evidence to the point where not even OJ Simpsons lawyers could bail this idiot out.
He's a reseller of Chinese knockoffs so I don't think he'll get caught. For one the stuff he sells he bought from Chinese vendors and two all products came with roms and emulators already built-in so it's not like he officially stole them. Also he didn't sell hacked or jailbreaked official hardware like Xbox One, PS4, Switch, 3DS, or Wii U and resell them so companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft can't go after him. Basically he's doing what all of us are doing, selling away junks through arbitrage just that instead of eBay he did it through his own custom website.
Thing is people will buy it just because of his endorsement.
It's just sad, whats next? Vanilla Ice Cube?
@retro_player_22 He's making money of other people's games, including Nintendo's. I'm pretty certain you can get sued for that, no matter how you got your hands on it.
I mean, I don't have the data on whether any of the folks selling bootleg video games in 1990s' Eastern Europe ever died back then...but at this point it sure seems like this guy got possessed by the restless spirit of one.
Paragraph 76.
I heard it's pretty great! Don't get that Chinese knockoff "Fallout 76"....it's not as good and is mostly broken.
@Octane Not when it's through arbitrage though. Arbitrage is someone buying crap load of stocks from vendors and resell them for more than what they are worth for profit. One example is this, I could buy 200 Analog Super Nt and then sell them on my own website for 50% more than the MSRP to gain profit, Analog can't sue me cause I already pay them for the products. Same thing here with Soulja Boy.
Also the games that were on these things weren't provided by Soulja Boy, those already came with them built-in so even if Nintendo sue Soulja Boy for that, he'll just throw the complain to the other party which are the Chinese vendors and when that happens Nintendo will get nowhere cause heck they ain't going to waste time searching for some dudes in China. The only way Soulja Boy would get sue is if he is found guilty of illegally downloading these roms and selling them something I don't think he did. I got like 10 AtGames systems and I'm selling them right now for more than what they originally sold for and I'm getting good earnings from them, think Sega or AtGames would sue me? I don't think so.
What the fudge? Who is gonna sue this guy first? Seriously, how can he think it's possible to get away with this crap? Just because he's "famous"? If anything that makes him easier to sue. This guy has a big pair though that is for sure. If he was halfway intelligent he would have kept his name away from these products. Looking forward to seeing the lawsuit announcement.
@retro_player_22 This guy can be sued, though. One, they’re being sold under his brand. Two, the products are using IP for marketing materials.
Unless you’re selling your 10 consoles under your brand name with depictions of another company’s IP, and the consoles are loaded with ROMs of licensed games, your example is not the same thing.
Why is this even a published news? (loljk, I know it's published just for the lols)
@subpopz Contradictory questions. The more publicity it receives, the more likely it will be to face litigation.
Don't do drugs, kids.
@flapjack-ashley Ubisoft huh... XD
i can't get my brain wrap around that. i'll believe it once i see the CEO in my own eyes.
@retro_player_22 I mean, according to that logic I could buy a truckload of cocaine and sell it at a higher price and claim it's ''arbitrage''. I'm not the manufacturer, I'm merely selling it at a marked up price.
That's not how it works though. If it's illegal and you're selling it, you can get sued for it, regardless of where you got it from, or for how much you're selling it. He's making money of multiple intellectual properties, none of which are his own. Yeah, pursuing the Chinese manufacturer is pointless, not because it's not possible, but because (western) copyright laws don't really apply in China, so there's nothing to sue them for.
@readyletsgo insert prison joke referring to 'up his hole' here
@retro_player_22 I’m not sure of USA law on distribution of ROMs but in the U.K. it is illegal. Owning a ROM is not if you own the original medium it was shipped on. This is because under fair use, emulators provide a means to play the content which isn’t easily accessible due to original means ceasing. But even then you can play a ROM/ISO even if it’s brand new. But I digress, distributing ROMs for profit or not, is illegal. It’s piracy. The copyright is owned by Nintendo and whichever company owns whatever other games have been provided. A company like Nintendo for example, wouldn’t authorise this even if you disregard the fact that they distribute their software via their own hardware. They would want their own counter-piracy protection measures in place.
Brand SoujaBoy or whatever the brand is, is signing a contract and taking accountability for any infringements by association. Totally sue-able without a leg to stand on. I haven’t even mentioned the use of Mario and GameBoy form factor and likeness.
Well that guy's going to jail
I just want it to stop so others don't get ripped off but for sure he'll get away pretty much scott free. Or pay a fine equivalent to a millionth of his income.
How has nobody told him no! How? It cannot be him personally updating the site with all this and managing orders etc? Can it? There must be some business guy helping him? (Or hindering it, as it may turn out...)
I’m going to presume that his target market could care less about the legality of all of this. For some, being poor means owning goods of questionable origin as a way of life. In the US, that some is in the millions. Is it worth it to go after him? That’s for the infringed parties to decide. It doesn’t appear that he’s actually stocking these items. So if the cease and desist letters come in, he’ll lose nothing. Honestly, all of this attention to the situation is like preaching to the choir. Morality is fluid. I can afford to buy legit items. I cannot truly know what I’d do if I couldn’t.
Nintendo...
FINISH HIM!
I'm having an aneurysm. Right?
Hopefully Nintendo drags him through the weeds.
Soulja Boy is still a thing? I think the last time I heard of him was at a dance I attended in high school about 10 years ago.
He hasn't been relevant in nearly a decade and even then he was only known for "Crank That" , then he disappeared. A one hit wonder where the song hasn't aged well.
Oh the tyranny
@XenoShaun I'd get the Shield TV instead, it's not a piece of crap
@robr The problem is not just with his fanbase which will likely eat up anything he puts his name on, but let's face it, these are aimed at people that want to play older games, and don't give a damn about the legality of it.
Now, I'm not condoning piracy, but Nintendo and other companies are not making things easy by locking their games up in vaults and never putting them out on newer generation hardware. Nintendo kinda started to go in the right direction with the NES and SNES classics, but those console still lack many of the classics those systems had to offer, and Nintendo is going to take them off the market at the end of the year.
Look at Sony and the PlayStation Classic. You have a guaranteed money maker and Sony somehow managed to screw it up with a lackluster game selection that barely touches the real classics of the PS1 and poor emulation.
This is the reason why rom sites thrive. Because there is no legal way to play these games, or if there are you have to jump through hoops to do so.
Look at the Switch. Nintendo could be hitting a gold mine with VC on that system, and yet they are content to toss out the same warmed over NES titles and then put it behind an online membership.
Want to play The Legend of Zelda or SMB 3 on your Switch? Well, you have to keep your membership active. Let it end? Well, tough s***, no NES games for you.
It should say something when the best consoles that are emulated on modern systems are the Neo Geo.
Yes, Soujia Boy is breaking the law and profiting off other people's work, and I don't defend him. But companies like Nintendo need to stop this BS and put an end to it.
If Nintendo truly wanted to kill emulation in its tracks, then rather then suing a Rom site, build a Nintendo Retro Console. Market it as a separate product from the Switch and offer a line-up of games with the system with more retro games added later on.
Basically a Virtual Console in a box, but legal with Nintendo's blessings and support.
Suing Souija Boy is not going to solve a damn thing. Even if Nintendo sue him to the ground, it does not stop the larger problem, and Nintendo is a major part of their own problem, as are other video game companies.
The stance of retro games reminds me alot of how digital music worked until Apple showed up. Before Apple, you had to jump through hoops to download songs, and many people simply turned to Napster and Kazaa because doing it legally was not worth it. The Record Industry was iconically their own worst enemy.
Until someone finally realizes the potential of selling retro games and making them appealing, you're still going to have rom sites and sleazy people like Soulja Boy selling shady products to desperate gamers who want to play an older game they can't get anywhere else.
I only found out who this soldier boy guy is about 2-3 months ago lol ... These knock offs look awful
Shouldn't he be called a scammer & not a rapper if his main source of income comes from scamming & not rapping?
@NintenDan_ lol, I should read over my txt before I post lol. It's mad that Nintendo, Sony and Sega haven't jumped on this yet.
@Kimyonaakuma some bygone rapper from a decade ago.
@Octane That is how it works if it's legal. Like I said I bought 10 of those AtGames Sega systems and sell them for twice the original price and got good money from it. All I did was just not mention AtGames but use Sega's name in there instead.
@retro_player_22 Keyword: ''if it's legal''. Those systems aren't. Case closed.
@Octane Then how come he didn't get sue yet? There must be something he did right if he's still out there doing it.
@retro_player_22 Because these things take time, it's inevitable though: https://www.nintendoenthusiast.com/2018/12/21/nintendo-soulja-boy-consoles/
Lol: He puts the soul in boy. What a hero!
Please say Nintendo's lawyers send him a C&D letter.
Please say Nintendo's lawyers receive a reply letter simply stating,
"Dear Nintendo,
Yah trick, get outta my face!
Sincerely,
Souljaboy"
I'm quite sure that's the official artwork for Super Mario 3D World's mega mushroom...🤨
Tap here to load 71 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...