Field research time! Website Gpara wandered up and down train carriages on Tokyo's Yamanote Line, looking for players using R4 piracy devices.

Since R4 piracy devices use cartridges with SD Card slots, it was possible

Gpara deployed on trains last week — and did profiles of the DS players it spied on the train. Those profiles include the approximate ages, gender, type (student, salaryman, etc), what platform the individual was using and the approximate time window.

On the first day, Gpara spotted 106 individuals on the train playing the DS throughout a chunk of the day. Out of those, five of them were using R4-type piracy devices — four of them were men, and one was a female college student. One of those five, a businessman, was using the piracy device to play Dragon Quest IX.

During the second day, Gpara observed 109 individuals on the train playing the DS. Out of those 15 individuals were using a R4-type device to play DS games with only one playing a pirated version of DQIX. The pirates varied from middle school students to college students to female office workers to businessmen.

And you thought all pirates looked piratey, ha! Wrong!