So I was having an interesting conversation the other day (possibly with Shawn?) and an intriguing concept came up. As I'm sure you're all aware of, we're firmly against piracy here at Game-Hackers. So the question became, what steps can we take to prevent pirated software from being used with our next line of software, specifically our Animal Crossing software. We were throwing around ideas, and one particular concept came up that is both interesting from a programming standpoint and complicated for a pirate to avoid. Here's the basic premise:

Instead of accepting a "standard" save format (either extracted via a 3rd-party device or homebrew application), the PC software would accept a streamed, possibly encrypted save via our homebrew application that would require the game card be inserted in order to stream. This eliminates a hard-copy of the save file and requires a legitimate copy of the game to use the software. The downsides, of course, would include the need to run the 3DS hardware in order to access your save, the need for a wireless network for streaming, and the use of a PC for the actual software. This would obviously eliminate the use of pirated software with our product, but would increase the number of "hoops" to jump through in order for legitimate users to enjoy the software.

So the question (and real reason for this topic) is: What would your thoughts be, as a user, on the requirements for the next generation of software? Obviously this is just an early concept, and makes quite a few assumptions about 3DS homebrew, but would eliminating the possibility of piracy be worth this extra effort for the average user? Is streaming the save an easier solution than extracting/installing saves (the current model)? Voice your opinions below!