Nintendo is confident that all-new anti-piracy tech in 3DS will be foolproof to cracks from illegal downloaders.
That's according to THQ's executive VP of global publishing Ian Curran, who told CVG that that piracy had scuppered his firm's ability to produce more games for DS Lite in the past.
"What excites me even more [than 3DS games] is that there's technology built in that device to really combat piracy," said Curran.
"The problem with the DS market in the last few years, particularly with the DS Lite, is that it's just been attacked by piracy. It's made it almost impossible to shift any significant volume. The DSi combated it a little bit, but the 3DS has taken that a step further."
"I actually asked Nintendo to explain the technology and they said it's very difficult to do so because it's so sophisticated," he continued. "They combated the piracy on Dsi, which they don't believe is cracked yet - but they know they've been hurt across the world and they believe the 3DS has got technology that can stop that.
"Therefore the opportunity for people to invest more in product development [on the system] and bring more 3DS products to market comes out of that. It's going to probably cost us more to do it all in 3D - so we want to make sure we get a return on our investment when we do it."
When Curran says piracy has "attacked" DS, he isn't kidding. Rampant illegal activity has killed revenues for publishers on the device - driven by the release of re-writable cartridges, particularly the R4 cart, which has been outlawed in Japan.
Piracy hurt the PSP? But hang on the DS is the most pirated system I know! People that I know that are just regular moms and dads, with no real interest in gaming have the hooky cartridges for them an their kids! In many ways an easily piratable system sells units, part of the reason the dreamcast bombed is because it was far easier to pirate for the PS2. as much as the industry might speak out against it, and rightly so, but piracy sells systems!
as much as the industry might speak out against it, and rightly so, but piracy sells systems!
That's probably true, but if everyone buys the console and then pirates all their games then why would any game company invest in making games for the console?
We'd just end up with a million more shovelware titles that cost peanuts to develop, as anything more ambitious would lose money for the developer.
as much as the industry might speak out against it, and rightly so, but piracy sells systems!
That's probably true, but if everyone buys the console and then pirates all their games then why would any game company invest in making games for the console?
We'd just end up with a million more shovelware titles that cost peanuts to develop, as anything more ambitious would lose money for the developer.
Funny, Nintendo said themselves that adding 3D would cost very little, and the DS has sold so much software it's hard to believe these companies haven't received a fair return.
I don't think Nintendo have the anti-piracy right yet, from what this guy said.
Yes it will prevent piracy.... for about 6 months max. then sumone out there will crack it just as they have every other generation of Nintendo's handheld, remember last year? firmware 1.4 for dsi apparently stopped the use of flash cards, that didnt last long.
Remember when microsoft also said they could ban peopel from XBLive? that didnt last long either. The reality is that there are programmers and hackers out there that will explore the inner workings of the machine and a way to play copied games will eventually be found.
Also have u ever noticed how the ability to mod a machine realtes to the sales of a gaming machine? every nintendo handheld has outsold its rival, every one has had copied games, the PSone and ps2, both easy to mod and play copied games and sold in insane amounts, then look at xbox vs ps3, xbox can be modded simply and has outsold ps3 quite well.
I wish them the best of luck with it...though I would say Piracy has done little to damage the 360 even though its rife. Also, the psp is fine. If you think it's s**t with games like Persona 3, 3rd Birthday, Valkyria Chronicles, Birth by Sleep, Blazblue Portable, Disgaea etc then thats your problem and not the psp.
Begs the question, do Nintendo give a fcuk. They make money on every single console they sell. The more they sell the more money they make. Ok so they lose out on software royalties, but a nice middle ground must be in their interest. Not as easy as the DS, but achievable with a little bit of Know how and only after a period of time for them to get their own software out there at profit.
"What excites me even more is that there's technology built in that device to really combat piracy," said Curran.
I can imagine this guy's head exploding if he won the lottery...
HAHA> I effin LOLED!
I don't think Nintendo can do anything about it. There will always be a way. But I feel for them and also happy. Because for the system to be a success, there needs to be piracy too.
I mean these things help sell the console especially overseas which then give game developers reason to make games because there are a LOT of market which own the system.
It's just like a cycle. Hopefully Nintendo 3DS really hits it big so that we get great games.
part of the reason the dreamcast bombed is because it was far easier to pirate for the PS2.
except it wasn't.....
What, you dont agree it was one of the reasons, or that it was easier to pirate for the PS2?
Piracy was rampant on the PS2 and was incredibly easy, where-as in the early days this was not the case of on the Dreamcast, a friend of mine used to work at gamestation and I remember him saying that the week they released the bootdisc for the dreamcast he went from selling about 1 dreamcast a week to selling out in one day!
Im not saying it was the only reason why it bombed, but I think it was certainly a huge part of it!
It will get hacked. The PS3 did, the 360 did, he wii did, the PSP did, the PS2 did, the psx did in fact, Just about ever console has. The PS3 was hard to hack but it has been hacked.
Piracy on any system is inevitable. The best way to keep it at a lower level is to bring down the price of games.
Everyone knows the state of the economy these days and it's not gonna get better any time soon, so its no wonder mums and dads are buying r4 cards etc. instead of forking out £30 to £50 every month on games.
I think maybe DS (or 3DS) games should be about £10 to £15. It could be done, the carts are very cheap to make these days and shops take too much of a cut of the profit as it is.
They combated the piracy on Dsi, which they don't believe is cracked yet
Really? Really? I'm pretty sure R4-style cartridges are still working fine on the DSi, unless the pirated-to-f**k DSi I played with last week was an elaborate hoax.
D'oh! I've just realised he was probably talking about the actual ROM-dumping aspect of piracy. Yeah, I don't think that's possible on DSi.
I doubt 3DS security will stand up for long though. The DSi would have been cracked by now if there was any real need for it (as it stands, they just use a DS or DS Lite to do the dumping)
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D'uh!! Everyone knows that Pirates have only one eye, so of course 3D's the perfect weapon to use against them. 
You made me LoL!
