An Australian man has been ordered to pay Nintendo $1.5 million after he was caught copying and uploading New Super Mario Bros Wii to the Internet prior to release.

James Burt, 24, of Queensland settled the dispute out of court agreeing to compensate Nintendo for losses incurred as a result of his actions. In recent years, Nintendo has made no secret of the fact that it intends to crackdown hard on pirates who copy and upload games for Wii and DS to Internet torrent sites, but this latest case proves show that it’s not just the mass pirates that it’s targeting.

"Nintendo will pursue those who attempt to jeopardise our industry by using all means available to it under the law," said the company this week.

Australian retailers were granted access to New Super Mario Bros Wii ahead of North America and Europe, but xx said that the case has caused headlines worldwide.

"It wasn't just an Australian issue, it was a global issue. There was thousands and thousands of downloads, at a major cost to us and the industry really," Ms Lappin said.

"It's not just about us. It's about retailers and if they can't sell the games then they have to bear the costs associated with that. "Once it's on the internet it's anyone's really."

Piracy is estimated to cost the video games industry over $700 a million.