Nintendo has aligned itself with 54 software companies in Japan in a lawsuit targeting parties that import and sell alleged piracy devices, the company has confirmed.

Nintendo and the other plaintiffs filed suit in Tokyo District Court against five importers who sell and distribute game copying devices such as the R4 Revolution for DS, fellow Future website Tech Radar reports.

Devices like the R4 chip allow users to play pirated copies of games. Nintendo hopes to suspend the importing and sales of such devices.

The accused importers insist that such devices are simply for "backing up" software that had been legitimately purchased.

Nintendo has been public in past years about its actions against piracy. The company said that to date it has seized "close to 30,000 infringing game copying products" in this year alone, as well as "taking actions against those distributors and manufacturers."