THQ: 3DS will ‘really combat piracy’, tech too sophisticated to describe

The Nintendo DS has been highly susceptible to piracy throughout its life, with a variety of cheap, dodgy flash cartridges letting you grab, store, and play almost every game for absolutely nothing.

It's great for ethically flexible jerks, but for anyone trying to make a living off their creative juices it’s a constant worry and threat to their bottom line. That’s why it’s been up there, alongside glasses-free 3D, at the top of Nintendo’s priority list with the 3DS.

THQ’s executive VP of global publishing, Ian Curran, says the hole is plugged, and the problem is fixed. "What excites me even more [than 3DS games] is that there's technology built in that device to really combat piracy," says Curran.

Curran says that when he asked Nintendo to describe the anti-theft tech, the 3DS creator couldn’t on account of the technical sophistication.

This is even more important on the 3DS than earlier consoles. Creating higher quality graphics (the 3DS packs more graphical prowess than its predecessors), as well as that whole 3D thing, will make budgets rocket, so publishers "want to make sure we get a return on our investment when we do it," says Curran.