THQ: 3DS will "really combat piracy"
Nintendo "hurt" by game copying says Curran, but can't explain portable's anti-piracy tech
THQ has claimed that the upcoming Nintendo 3DS will best the piracy problems that have dogged the DS range to date.
Executive VP of global publishing Ian Curran told website CVG that what most excited him about the new handheld was that "there's technology built in that device to really combat piracy."
Nintendo "know they've been hurt across the world, and they believe the 3DS has got technology that can stop that."
He argued that rampant use of copied game tech such as the notorious R4 cartridge had "made it almost impossible to shift any significant volume" of THQ games, but that the new copy protection systems in the 3DS presented "the opportunity for people to invest more in product development and bring more 3DS products to market."
Piracy on portable consoles (also including the PSP) is estimated to have cost the industry $41.5 billion over the last five years, although that figure was based on the unproven presumption that every illegal download of a game equates directly to a lost sale.
Unfortunately Curran was unable or unwilling to describe just how the 3DS would combat piracy. "I actually asked Nintendo to explain the technology and they said it's very difficult to do so because it's so sophisticated," he claimed.