THQ Impressed by 3DS Anti-Piracy Tech

[Logan Westbrook]

THQ Impressed by 3DS Anti-Piracy Tech

Nintendo's anti-piracy measures on the 3DS are apparently so sophisticated, they can't easily be described.

Piracy on Nintendo's DS has been a major concern for platform holder and publishers alike, but according to THQ VP of Global Publishing Ian Curran, it's going to be very different story on its 3D successor.

"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," he said. "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. "Therefore the opportunity for people to invest more in product development 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."

In April Nintendo blamed piracy for a drop of nearly 50% in DS sales [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100118-Nintendo-Blames-Piracy-For-Huge-European-Sales-Drop] in Europe, and in 2008 ELSPA suggested that as many as 90% of American DS owners were playing pirated games [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/81081-90-Percent-Of-American-DS-Owners-Play-Pirated-Games-ELSPA-Says]. Hopefully, Nintendo's anti-piracy measures for the 3DS will be as effective as it hopes, because as Curran suggests, publisher confidence is going to be key to getting decent third party titles on the device.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=255298]


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[Velociferocks]

3 months untill it is hacked... I called it! (not that I hope it will be, I'ts just that " sophisticated" doesn't mean shit to the "Hackers" or whatever)

 

[GoGo_Boy]

Yeah let's hope.
Yet on the same time news like this isn't what Nintendo etc. want. Whenever the "hackers" read such news they'll feel challenged and try even harder.
Guess why Blizzard hasn't mentioned No-Lan as one step against Piracy yet? Yeh, right ;P

 

[rated pg]

Is it fair to say he's impressed by it? From the sounds of it, Mr. Curran sounds optimistic about it, but it seems like Nintendo told him nothing about it. So how could he be impressed by something he knows nothing about? Maybe I'm just nitpicking but...

 

[Roboto]

A lot harder to hack it if it is hardware based than software based DRM.

 

[Ewyx]

"I actually asked Nintendo to explain the technology and they said it's very difficult to do so because it's so sophisticated,"

"We're marketing, how the fuck should we know how it works."

 

[Mr. Fister]

The "always-on" network play they're planning for this system should also make it harder to pirate. That would allow them to issue stealth system updates that would quietly remove unauthorized content. Of course, that could be defeated simply by switching off the online, but I get the feeling that would lead to a very limiting experience.

 

[jason27131]

Lol. Sounds like Nintendo is just trying to BS devs into buying into 3DS. it's so complicated I can't describe it sounds like "If i describe it you'll just laugh at how stupid and ineffective it'll be".

 

[ZeroAE]

Doh!
I give it 3 month maximun.Video games cost the double in my country , so piracy is justified.

 

[shaboinkin]

The "always-on" network play they're planning for this system should also make it harder to pirate. That would allow them to issue stealth system updates that would quietly remove unauthorized content. Of course, that could be defeated simply by switching off the online, but I get the feeling that would lead to a very limiting experience.

I thought the R4 was just a card you stuck in the DS without having to install anything. How will that help?

 

[dragontiers]

Lol. Sounds like Nintendo is just trying to BS devs into buying into 3DS. it's so complicated I can't describe it sounds like "If i describe it you'll just laugh at how stupid and ineffective it'll be".

I think it's probably less "It's so bad you'll laugh at us" and more "We won't tell you because we don't want to give the hackers a head start." If it really is something new and innovative,it may take the hackers a little longer crack, but if you tell them how it's new, they can come up with plans and schemes ahead of time and cut out some of the legwork when the system is finally released. That's my guess.

 

[ramox]

Doh!
I give it 3 month maximun.Video games cost the double in my country , so piracy is justified.

This must be the worst justification for piracy i have ever heard...i and i've heard plenty.

OT: As much as i wish them luck with their anti piracy "technique", whatever it may be, i have low hopes for it on delivering what it's supposed to.

 

[LeonLethality]

Doh!
I give it 3 month maximun.Video games cost the double in my country , so piracy is justified.

Nothing justifies theft. If you can't pay for it, you don't get it, plain and simple. If you can't afford a couch that doesn't mean you get to steal it.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Lol. Sounds like Nintendo is just trying to BS devs into buying into 3DS. it's so complicated I can't describe it sounds like "If i describe it you'll just laugh at how stupid and ineffective it'll be".

This.

I give it max 6 months before a big name group hacks the fuck out of it.

 

[sephiroth1991]

"Just cos they make it hack-proof dosn't mean we're not going to hack it"

OT:Never say never is my motto and when it comes to companys and their Anti-Piracy stuff like DRM i just it won't work forever, they can stop piracy for years but it will happen.

 

[dryg]

Doh!
I give it 3 month maximun.Video games cost the double in my country , so piracy is justified.

Nothing justifies theft. If you can't pay for it, you don't get it, plain and simple. If you can't afford a couch that doesn't mean you get to steal it.

Only the companies that birbe courts and makes money from suing people call it theft. This is copying, nothing is lost. And yes, that is a bad excuse, Steam (almost) got the same price everywhere.

 

[Fenolio]

Legit Reason to own an R4: Cant be bothered to bring loads of cartridges everywhere you go.

Whether you actually bought all of the games within the R4 is a matter of how much you pirate.

 

[ZombieGenesis]

I'm willing to wager there will be pirated versions of games by the time the 3DS hits our UK shelves over here. Wouldn't surpise me at all, since hackers seem to compete to see who can crack the harder codes first. People can do some scary things with software nowadays...
Frankly I don't think piracy will ever go away, but it wouldn't be as prominent if games weren't so unjustifiably over-expensive. The sales reception for Modern Warefare 2 were vastly greater than most DVD movie releases of that year, and most of those go from £10-20 in the face of MW2's £60. I'm also willing to bet most of those movies cost considerably more to produce than the games do.

Whatever the argument it has to be said that games these days are overpriced in the extreme, but people will still buy them anyway. Those who don't want to pay though will pirate it, which at this point will be a MASSIVE number of people. Luckily for me I don't care to play the kinds of games that top the 50 pounds mark.