Meet Gary Bowser - The man who owes Nintendo $14.5M

In April 2023, a 54-year-old programmer named Gary Bowser was released from prison having served 14 months of a 40-month sentence. Good behaviour reduced his time behind bars, but now his options are limited. For a while he was crashing on a friend's couch in Toronto.

The weekly physical therapy sessions, which he needs to ease chronic pain, were costing hundreds of dollars every week, and he didn't have a job. And soon, he would need to start sending cheques to Nintendo. Bowser owes the makers of Super Mario $14.5m (£11.5m), and he's probably going to spend the rest of his life paying it back.

The Guardian have an interview with Gary up at the moment, crazy he'll be in debt to Nintendo the rest of his life.

https://www.theguardian.com/games/2024/feb/01/the-man-who-owes-nintendo-14m-gary-bowser-and-gamings-most-infamous-piracy-case

Nintendo make so much money that there's no actual threat posed to them by piracy, cases like this shouldn't go any further than a cease and desist order being issued, no-one needs to get sent to prison over copyright infringement.

Personally I feel sorry for him.... People have shot and killed people and got a better deal. I wonder why there's no way of declaring himself bankrupt to get out of some of it.

He was a small cog in something he has been made the scapegoat for. Nintendo think it makes them look big and scary, I think it makes them look like sad bullys really.

$14m?! So long, Gary Bowser

In my entire 35 years on this planet I have only known of 2 people called Bowser.

One is head of Nintendo of America, one owes Nintendo money.

aayl1 wrote:In my entire 35 years on this planet I have only known of 2 people called Bowser.

One is head of Nintendo of America, one owes Nintendo money.

Muriel Bowser is the current mayor of Washington D.C. and has been since just after I last went there, so almost ten years.

I think that everyone involved in any way with the arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment of this harmless nerd should be deeply ashamed, and as always, I find the knowledge that none of them will ever actually feel that shame very upsetting.

This was completely disproportionate. I get a company protecting its IP, but strawberry float, they went way too far on this.

kerr9000 wrote:Personally I feel sorry for him....

I think we all feel sorry for him Kerr.

I wasn't aware of this story before reading the article. It's horrifying quite honestly. One doesn't immediately think of Nintendo as a bad company but of all the cruel, scummy practices you read about in the gaming industry what's happening to this individual is the worst.

Heart goes out to him.

site23 wrote:I think that everyone involved in any way with the arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment of this harmless nerd should be deeply ashamed, and as always, I find the knowledge that none of them will ever actually feel that shame very upsetting.

Perfectly put.

site23 wrote:I think that everyone involved in any way with the arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment of this harmless nerd should be deeply ashamed, and as always, I find the knowledge that none of them will ever actually feel that shame very upsetting.

This type of corporate bullyboy behaviour is disgusting (though sadly, it is widespread), Nintendo are absolute gooseberry fools for doing this.

I always assumed this guy was in his 20s with somewhat slick black hair for some reason.

Meet Gary Bowser - The man who owes Nintendo $14.5M

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