A European Court has reduced a multimillion-euro (dollar) fine imposed by EU officials on Nintendo after the Japanese maker of popular video game consoles and game cartridges such as Super Mario Bros agreed to cooperate in an anti- trust investigation. In 2002, the European Commission found Nintendo and six of its European distributors guilty of setting up a complex of agreements designed to prevent parallel exports of its products, thus reducing competition.

 The practice, carried out between 1991 and 1997, saw Nintendo punish distributors that allowed parallel imports of its products with a reduction in supplies and even a total boycott. The Japanese maker was subsequently fined 149.1 million Euro (USD 198.7 million,) while its distributors in Britain, Portugal, Italy, Sweden, Greece, Belgium and Luxembourg received combined fines totaling a further 18.7 million Euro.