THQ executive impressed by 3DS piracy protection

@Megaqwerty Well it seems like in the past few years that Nintendo has pretended that piracy doesn't exist. I mean, I don't think I remember the last time I read an article that said "Nintendo worried over increasing piracy". But with Sony and MS on the other hand, it seems like I've read quite a few with them involved in the subject. :/

@Shadowbender Actually, I believe it was last year that Nintendo tried to take a case to court over flashcarts in Spain, only to LOOSE since the flashcarts added non-pirating functions and interesting homebrew to the machine. They basically lost because, while carts allowed piracy, it was only ONE of their functions. The others expanded what the DS could do.

@Shadowbender; You hear Sony and Microsoft openly discussing it, but with Nintendo you hear about how police raid homes of people importing and selling flash cartridges, and how Nintendo took the offenders to court and won hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars.

@Megaqwerty was DSi *SHOP* cracked?

@Megaqwerty I agree. Nintendo's strategy against hacking is to aim for demographics that do not hack: casuals and kids.

Also in fairness, while the DS was easy to crack it does require a special addon you have to buy whereas the PSP you can hack it using whats given to you.

The best platforms can do is make hacking so difficult that only the very hardcore can hack and thats if they invest in addons and the like. That or be the PS3 which 4 years into its life has yet to be hacked for PS3-level games.

I'll say this, more content being bought means more content being produced so if you like the developer, send them 10 bucks in the mail or something even if you won't spring for their game.

@Diogenesis: $10 in the mail? WTF is wrong with people who think they can make their own rules and it's the same game?

Sales numbers are important to game developers and investors, not the charity from copyright infringers. Piracy is not acceptable, there's plenty of low-budget or free alternatives. If you want the goods pay the price or you are doing harm to those who create. No, you're not stealing the clothes off their back single-handedly, but fill the well with stones and soon the water is but a memory.

The ONLY thing that would make THQ CEOs salivate would be TOTAL elimination of second hand exchange.

I have VERY very bad premmonition - it will be ONE copy ONE system lockout.
The cart after first run/a few minutes of play will LOCK to system it was run on and will be unplayable on any else... (maybe) unless some "activation code" will be bought and put in...

@jsx92
I think if you pirate some small developers game, you're a prick.

I think if you pirate something like Halo, who cares.
Those games would massively profit if it was $10 and sold less copies.


It's selective, sure, but the really big games and big publishers are far less effected by that stuff.

It's like how prices went up this gen on games. It was because "things were expensive to make", they say.

but really, you see a case of smaller developers having to underprice their games to even compete with the big multi-million sellers, kind of defeating that purpose.


In short, the game industry kind of sucks :/

@Megaqwerty
I'm not nearly as concerned with piracy as I am about action replay.
That fricken cheat device completely destroyed a lot of DS games online.
I just hope it's somehow not allowed for the 3DS

@Brodo
You should be concerned about piracy too, then - most flashcarts allow cheating online.

@Megaqwerty I can live with anti piracy measures. As long as they keep the games region free.

@Megaqwerty "the piracy problem is absolutely terrible with the DS"

I would say compared to DS game price problem, with the amount of over-prices shovelware on the DS, piracy is only justified.

Nintendo DS (and Wii) still doesn't have anything even remotely close to the full-featured demos: something people can try out before forking the $30-60 of the hard earned.

Nintendo is fighting the piracy the wrong way. Even with DSi they still can't provide all the services R4 was providing to gamers 5 years ago. (Moonshell? Cheats? Full games off the SD card?)

@Dummy00001
DS has plenty of demo's. Never heard of the Nintendo channel or DS download stations have you?

What I don't understand is why I can download a ton of demo's from Wal-mart on games such as Advanced Wars and Starfy but can't get anything but Brain Age or that Fossil game on the Nintendo Channel.

@b4dmash

+1 Agreed.

What needs to happen is some people that are smart enough, band together and actually sue the COMPANIES for this illegal practice.

@b4dmash

+1 Agreed.

What needs to happen is people band together and actually sue the COMPANIES for this practice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regional_lockout

@PhilipJWitow
It'll be cracked within a week of launch, if not before launch.

@PhilipJWitow Impressive thing is that Sony almost invited them to abuse the PS3 with Linux support. It took 4 years until someone remotely came close to abusing it for piracy, which ended up hurting everybody. (Not that everybody used it anyway though).

But I think the PS3's "problem" is that it uses Blu-Ray disks, which isn't as easy to get a hold of and burn. 360 and Wii is easy, everybody can buy and burn DVDs, but Blu-Rays? No... Many PS3 games are also big in size (not all), but that makes it harder to download.
Seriously, Sony couldn't be happier with the piracy on PS3, 4 years into life, and still no issues, that is a big win.

@PhilipJWitow

The reason nobody bothers cracking the PS3 is because Bluray disks aren't much cheaper than the games that come on them.

@Beastage
Tell that to the people at my college where I hang out and they'll laugh at you. There's someone who calls himself a devoted SMT fan yet he refuses to buy any of them. He loves the series and every game in the series, he just refuses to pay for them. A lot of people where I hang are like that. They'll steal what they can and refuse to pay for what they believe are some of the best games around unless manditory. This guy has only bought PS3 games since it's yet to be cracked.

@The Aquacharger :: I purchased lots and lots of DS games, all $70 each. I then may have bought an R2 adapter and proceeded to use it to play lots of games I hadn't paid for, if I did this it's because of the ridiculous prices on the games, if I did download games I didn't own then, I have stopped now.

Another comment, I bought my Nintendo DS for $180 and it came with Mario Kart, later when they brought out the Nintendo DS light they made it cost $190. Then there was the Nintendo DSi which cost $248 or more. Now there is a DSiXL which costs $298. Those prices are absolutely ridiculous. Every year there is less value for dollar.

@The Aquacharger

I'd be likely to laugh right back, because the people at your college are assholes. Anyone who calls themselves a "devoted fan" of any game series but can't be bothered to actually support the developers deserves a punch in the face.

I've been known to download a title or two, but the ones I like I do actually buy. And obviously I'm not alone because the best games out there are still massively successful even with the rampant piracy that's present today.

@WiredKnight
That's what I said Knight. I laughed and told him he's not a devoted fan. I even paid $115 for my copy of Devil summoner 1. New in it's orignal Shrink wrapping.

But I'm not saying all R4ing people ar elike that. My one friend downloads every game that comes out that month, tries each out for 4 hours, then buys the ones he likes and deletes the ones he doesn't. I'll demo some games through downloaded means, that's how I got into a lot of franchises I'm into, because the actual demo's released for games are either non-existing or like 5 minutes.

I've no problem with people who use the R4 to demo games or use it for homebrewing. It's those people (quite a few) who use it for piracy with no intent to buy that ruin it. It's like the Wii it's homebrew channel is nice, but so many people use it for piracy that it ruins it. Infact, I believe Nintendo hired the guy who made the HBC to help prevent piracy on the Wii.

@Beastage I'm glad valve understand that. I've spent a hundred bucks on games in the past month because the likes of them. And Blizzard I guess.

@The Aquacharger

I'm almost exactly like your friends at college. In my current financial situation I can't afford to buy games brand new so I previously acquired games via Netflix or used games from ebay etc. Since the money being spend via these methods don't reach the developer I don't feel bad about resorting to piracy. Though when I've finished paying student loans I'll start buying brand new games when possible.

@saturn118
If I can't afford a game I simply don't get it, to be honest. I don't like the second hand market so I don't look to it as an option unless it becomes the only way to get the product for my collection. If a game is like 10 years old and there is no way to actually get it (TM2 on the PC) I'll pirate it whilest I look for the actual game to buy for my collection.

@delicatessen lama what DS games cost $70???? all your DS games were $70???? do you just buy imports???

@onlysublime Given the prices he's using, I'm pretty sure he's from Australia. You know there are other countries that use dollar as the name for currency.

>all your DS games were $70????
Console games outside the US can be ridiculously overpriced and paying half the price of your console (be it handheld or not) isn't at all unusual.

>If I can't afford a game I simply don't get it, to be honest.
This. I don't get the "but I don't have the cash and I NEED TO PLAY" mentality, it's not like you'd die without gaming.

@RonnocoMail

Y'know, DS games in Australia aren't even $70.
I've had mine since launch and the most I've paid was $50 each for Metroid Prime Hunters and Mario Kart the week they came out.

Australians complain too much about the prices IMO. No-one apart from EB and sometimes GAME sell it at RRP, and all of our prices include tax. Plus there are the JB HiFi trade deals, which got me HeartGold at launch for $25.

@Esposch

BS. I walk into EB games right now, and see brand new release games at full-retail price of $69.95. I paid $10 less for Pokemon Heart Gold cause it was on special. $70 IS the normal retail price for DS games, you must be getting a bargain.

@Esposch

I also checked Kmart, Target, JB Hifi, Wow sight and sound and Gametraders. The best price was $59 at JB where i got EB to price-match them. I don't overly bitch about Aussie prices, cause i know we have a relatively small gaming population to distribute too, which means those costs are shared among a smaller gaming population and are therefore higher. Our prices also include all taxes as you said.

@Foetoid

Wow, really!? You can't have been looking hard!
I definitely remember it being $48 at Big W on launch day, and Kmart and Target were $55 (I think they dropped to $50 soon to match Big W).
Plus JB had it in a 2-for-1 deal; I got it by trading 2 old games I got for about $12 each.

@saturn118
You know what I did with games I couldn't buy?
I didn't buy them. I had other hobbies to fill my time.

I missed out on all those games... except, years later, nowadays, I actually go back and buy them! Or better yet: A revamped version comes out with more options! OH THE HUMANITY!

The only thing I ever regretted missing out on the first time was the Sega Dreamcast. ...because I couldn't buy a Dreamcast.
The Dreamcast community talked about the great time they had with all their games... online-enabled and several options. I missed out on that generation (I was stuck with the growing Playstation fandom-side). It sucked.

But gods-forbid that I miss out on the legendary Xbox Live community! Or the greatest moments of fandom randomly being thrown around in forums! Goodness-gracious, if I missed out on this generation, I'd - I'd... nothing really.

If I were to miss out on this generation of consoles, I wouldn't miss out on too much. Nothing truly mastered in this generation other than some Valve games, the Demon's Souls craze, and the Wii parties.
The communities are always complaining...
Hell, most of the games this generation are just waiting to reach next level in the next generation. They're waiting to be re-sequeled again!

At least in previous generations, not too many games aimed to be 10 games long other than Nintendo franchises (with each game feeling different yet samey - which isn't a bad thing).

...don't got money for the game? Then don't get it, it's just that easy. You're not missing out too much in this generation. Practically a "better sequel" comes out one year after the other for this generation.

@saturn118

Dude, when you rent games on Netflix or get them from Ebay, you've helped the developer. Without a rental or used game market, developers make less money. It's simple economics.

Used game market is no different than if you and a couple of your friends pooled your money together to buy a game, then agreed to take turns on who owns the game at any point in time.

And rental game market is the same exact thing as buying a used game. A rental store buys a copy of the game. If the game is rented out very often, the store will buy additional copies of the game to ensure that there are enough rental copies available, which satisfies customers and ensures they keep renting from them overall.

When you pirate a game, NO money goes to the developer.

@schmalpal

You mean, it's easier on handhelds because you ONLY need a special cartridge?

@hkhawkins

When he says "cracked" I think he is referring to the newer DSI specific system level code. Like, at the moment you can play regular DS games with a DSi flashcart, but you can't play pirated DSiWare games, access the SD card slot, or utilize the added power of the newer CPU and higher RAM. The DSi exclusive features haven't been cracked, but the regular DS side has been for awhile.

@igasagu
DRM has never been an issue on nintendo systems. Pirates are going to need a better excuse than that.

@igasagu

That said, the DRM it does have is a pain in the ass. Content downloaded to the Wii and DSi are locked to that console ONLY. The only way to transfer it is to send it to Nintendo, who will transfer it.

@igasagu

No, only the DS games work on the DSi. They're limited there because they have to make sure DS games work on the old systems too. However, the DSiWare games have not been cracked and the "enhanced" features of DSi Enhanced games haven't been cracked... Or at least the last I heard.

@Drakkenfyre
That's not really DRM, it's more of a feature they haven't added yet. For all we know they could include a method of transfer with the 3ds/next console.

@KaBob

No, it's definitely DRM. If those games didn't have DRM then you would be able to copy them to another console and play them. There's no reason a game shouldn't work on another console unless DRM was involved.