Soulja Boy Makes Ripoff Game Systems
Lawsuits may always seem serious, but there are some legal battles that are too unique to not be hilarious. Odd news article titles are spread around the internet very often purely for the entertainment value in it, and one about the popular rapper Soulja Boy is spreading like wildfire. The music artist was recently sued by the gaming giant Nintendo, as he started selling a blatant ripoff of the original Gameboy system that was created by the company in the 80s.
Gamesradar says that in early December of 2018, the famous rapper put a very suspicious looking product on his online store. The device, known as the “Retro SouljaBoy Mini,” looks nearly identical to Nintendo’s GameBoy handheld that originally launched in 1989. This system comes with a variety of games pre-installed, each one similar to antique Nintendo and Sony games or free-to-play mobile games available on iOS and Android devices.
Soulja Boy claimed via Twitter post that he firmly believes that Nintendo will not actually take any legal action against him, as he feels that his systems are completely original with no connection to the more popular products. Soulja Boy holds this belief although Nintendo has threatened to sue him if he continues the production and sale of the system. He also says that “My console [is] not going anywhere, everything I’m doing is 100% legit stay mad.” In a separate Tweet, the artist says that he has sold an astounding five-million units in the last month, but financial analysists are skeptical about this. The website BusinessInsider reported in August of 2018 that the fastest-selling game system since the Wii, the Nintendo Switch, had sold just under twenty-million units in the first year and a half. After a very successful holiday season, the Switch has broken that record. Since the Nintendo Switch released in March of 2017, the Retro SouljaBoy Mini has supposedly already sold enough systems to compare to 25% of the Switch’s sales in 1/22 of the time.
Even after being threatened with lawsuits by game developers, Soulja Boy has not stopped selling his system. To make the situation even worse, he also just released a system known as the “SouljaGame Handheld” which is eerily similar to Sony’s PS Vita system which released in 2011. Sony has also silently taken legal action against the rapper, leading to the system quickly being removed from his online store. His other systems have also been removed while the major companies look into the issue further.
Although Soulja Boy’s previous systems have been shut down, it is expected that he will attempt to create more systems in the future. Unless he manages to make a unique system of his own, it is likely that these ripoff systems will be taken down quickly after their appearance. The popular musician has yet to comment on the systems being removed from his store, but the entirety of the gaming community is watching his every move.