'Pokemon Sun and Moon' release date, latest updates: threat of online ban to keep players from using pirated copies?

"Pokémon Sun" and "Pokémon Moon" may not have been officially released yet, but some players are already playing the game. They were able to do this since some gamers were able to obtain pirated copies of the title. However, there is a punishment for playing a fake copy of the latest installments of the "Pokémon" franchise.

It was reported in Kotaku that pirated copies of "Pokémon Sun" and "Pokémon Moon" can be found online and some players have already installed it on their Nintendo 3DS. It did not only allow them to play the whole game, but they were also able to gain access to the online features like battling other trainers.

However, grabbing a pirated copy of the game resulted in a punishment since those gamers have posted photos on 4Chan, an online forum. The screenshot showed that they could not access the online features of the game. Moreover, they mentioned that the online functions of the handheld device were not working as well since they are unable to connect to the Nintendo eShop.

The inability for accessing online does is not only limited to "Pokémon Sun" and "Pokémon Moon," but to other Nintendo 3DS titles as well. Aside from that, those players would not be able to re-download the past games that they bought digitally from the Nintendo eShop. It seems that the only solution to this problem is to actually buy a brand new Nintendo 3DS.

Based on the reports of IGN, Nintendo released an official statement saying, "As a result of a number of Nintendo 3DS users using unauthorized versions of several games, and connecting to the official game servers in violation of our terms of service, these users' Nintendo 3DS systems that stored the unauthorized game code have been banned from Nintendo's online network effective immediately."

It is still unclear how long the ban will last for those players, but this will surely prevent players to install the pirated files on their handheld system.

"Pokémon Sun" and "Pokémon Moon" is anticipated to be released on Nov. 18 in North America for Nintendo 3DS.