Speaking in the publisher's investor conference call today, THQ representatives provided an update on the status of its development effort for Sony and Nintendo's upcoming next-generation handhelds. THQ has software emulators, but not development hardware for Sony's PSP, and neither emulators nor hardware for Nintendo's DS.

An emulator allows a developer to run a piece of in-development software on a PC, while development hardware makes it possible to test that software on the same platform it will eventually be played on (or a similar piece of hardware equipped with added RAM and input-output capabilities). Both, of course, are necessary to complete a game, but development can progress further with an emulator than without.

THQ, currently the biggest third-party publisher of Game Boy Advance games in North America, held off from confirming support for the DS, but the publisher will be "on the platform aggressively" with two or three titles when the PSP launches at the end of this year. However, representatives backed off from a completely optimistic outlook on Sony's handheld, saying that THQ will evaluate the initial performance of its PSP titles and invest in the platform accordingly in 2005.

Copyright © 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in 1UP.