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THQ executive impressed by 3DS piracy protection
In a recent interview with CVG, Ian Curran, THQ's executive VP of global publishing, touted his favorite new feature the 3DS will bring to the portable market. No, not its titular three-dimensional display tech. No, not all of those rebooted classic franchises. "What excites me even more," Curran explained, "is that there's technology built in that device to really combat piracy." Curran added, "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." That's a nice sentiment, but considering how resourceful the modding community has proven itself over the years, we're pretty sure the only thing that could stop them from pirating 3DS games is some sort of self-destruct mechanism. We sincerely doubt Nintendo could get something like that past the FCC.
THQ Partners program to assist publishers and developers with global distribution
Amidst the seemingly endless barrage of recent business announcements from game developers and publishers, THQ revealed its new "THQ Partners" program, led by former THQ wireless head Tim Walsh. Rather than mirroring similar initiatives at EA and Activision, THQ seems to be taking a different approach to its program: the publisher will be assisting developers and publishers in the US to bring their games to a global audience. Like the aforementioned EA and Activision initatives, however, there's a heavy focus on pedigree. "I'm looking forward to working with a select number of world-class developers and publishers to distribute their great games through our global network," Walsh says of his new position, briefly touching on the "quality over quantity" mantra repeatedly preached by THQ as of late. THQ Global Publishing executive VP Ian Curran echoes the sentiment, adding, "THQ Partners is charged with maximizing the efficiencies of our global distribution network by enhancing our product offerings with quality games from developers and publishers who don't have the benefit of our extensive retail and online sales operations." In human speak, "enhancing our product offerings with quality games" means "we're going to publish good games, and more of them," and those other parts in there talk about working harder to bring more games to more markets, on a global scale. Though we've reached out to see if THQ is already in talks with developers and publishers, the announcement says that Tim Walsh and THQP "will be meeting with interested parties at E3." Update: Tim Walsh answers some questions on the new program for us after the break.
