Nintendo's annual blockbuster, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, has sold 18.5 million copies and is the Switch's best-selling game this year. However, before the release of the game, the emulator game sneak incident appeared on the Internet for a while, which once again challenged the confidentiality of the Switch game.
And Nintendo has finally given a response recently, that is, like PC games, using D encryption anti-piracy technology.
Security software company Iderto has announced that D encryption protection technology is now available to Switch developers. However, although D encryption technology is used in Switch games, the ultimate purpose is not to prevent the game from running on cracked Switch models, but to prevent the PC's Switch emulator from running the game.
From this point of view, the introduction of D encryption into Switch games can be described as quite targeted.
Although D encryption is often used to prevent game piracy, Switch emulator games are not strictly pirated. Because of the principle of the simulator, it is actually to build a simulator on the PC device to simulate the Switch game console. Only if you have a genuine key can you map Switch games to your PC.
Since the hardware of the PC is generally superior to the Switch itself, many Swtich games run through emulators, which will have a better gaming experience. (picture rendering, smoothness, frame rate, etc.) Some Switch players will even actively use the emulator to play. Of course, the vast majority of emulator players use a master key, which allows them to play games at zero cost.
In order to avoid the problem of the new Switch game sneaking away due to the emulator, Nintendo can fully understand the D encryption commonly used in PC games. However, players also have their own concerns, that is, whether D encryption will make the Switch's already stretched performance more embarrassing.
Iderto's concerns about Switch players were also expected, and the official response was: "The technology used in the Nintendo Switch can be seamlessly integrated into the build toolchain, which will certainly not affect the game experience." And it also allows instant checks to be inserted in the code, preventing the PC emulator from running the game. ”
The argument that D encryption affects performance has been fairly common online these years. A random search on the Internet can find many videos comparing the operation of the same game with or without D encryption, and there will be some differences in loading speed, frame rate, and memory occupancy.
However, Iderto has always denied this claim, arguing that the presence or absence of D encryption in these tests is not the only variable, because as the game version is updated, many content will actually be optimized and cannot be proved to be caused by removing D encryption. Therefore, Iderto intends to conduct professional comparative tests in the coming months to prove that D encryption has no effect on device performance.
At this stage, D encryption is only sure to add to the Switch game. However, starting from the next new work, or achieving "full coverage" in old games, Nintendo did not give an answer. But anyway, from the player's point of view, I still hope that the addition of D encryption will not affect the game experience.
So do you support the introduction of D encryption into Switch games?