5 Interesting Nintendo Patents You Haven’t Used (Yet?)

It’s definitely not new that Nintendo patentsWhen this is revealed. Sometimes they expected important applications, other times they did not have any; newly We talked Of the three that can – and according to the trailer – form part of the skeleton of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 (It still has no official title, although a release is scheduled for Spring 2023.)

Today instead we’re talking about 5 interesting patents, which have not yet been used, which obviously may not be, and which we found interesting. It’s pretty recent, so it’s by no means certain that they won’t have a working response sooner or later, unlike one that seems, by its very nature, closely related to a now-dead console like the Nintendo 3DS. Let’s see what they are together.

Head/eye tracking

There was a lot of talk about this technology fifteen years ago, when Johnny Lee applied it to the Nintendo Wii, using – among other tools – the console’s sensor strip. It is certainly the most interesting innocence among those we are going to talk about: for the resulting effect, for the potential, for the fact that despite the fact that we have been talking about it for years, no one has ever taken advantage of it. What generates a fileHead/eye tracking It is a 3D effect quite different from that guaranteed by 3D renderers, because it does not exploit holography in any way, but magnifies and moves the elements on the screen in relation to the position of the user. Basically, you get the impression, thanks to the contrast of perspective, that the TV is a kind of window on another world and that you get it in a more creative and simple (and economical) way from the viewers.

In its patent, Nintendo postulates the sensor’s insertion on a pair of eyeglasses: it has nothing to do with expensive full-head helmets. The effect, as you can see in the video linked at the beginning of the paragraph, is charming and convincing. Doubts lie in practicality: if it is necessary to move as far as Johnny Lee to get good results, it will not be a suitable technique for long sessions. This issue wouldn’t relate to Nintendo’s patent, which should mimic with eye movement – if we get it right – the same effect Jimmy gets with head (and body) movement. Second, we imagine it’s limited to titles with a central perspective, which ultimately isn’t that many. Also, video games are usually played in a stationary position, without walking or moving much, even those with motion control: will they still work in such conditions? Perhaps these are the tangible reasons for this, despite its impact embarrassedWe haven’t yet seen which peripherals you’re exploiting.

Smartphone boy game

For a long time there were rumors of a Game Boy Classic Mini, as well as the arrival of the Nintendo Switch of the most popular portable console titles of the 1990s. And if instead of these solutions, Nintendo decided to make every smartphone in the world a potential game boy? The goal of this patent appears to be just that: to produce a smartphone protector that has a very similar look and buttons to those of the Game Boy. The idea certainly isn’t evil, but it wouldn’t change the relationship between Nintendo and the smartphone quite a bit: where would the rest be? Currently – and historically – the Japanese company is not interested in letting its classics play on other platforms: why has it changed its attitude towards an operation of this kind with relatively limited ambitions?

observer

When this patent was issued, the Nintendo Switch had not yet been announced, but Iwata spoke publicly about the NX, the console’s codename; Its nature was not yet known, although there was a lot of talk about a hybrid ecosystem. Anyway, many people have linked this patent to bandage future consul; At some point, they converted some images (fake, of course) of this infamous console, lying on the desk of some developers involved in the NX project.

At the time, there were rumors that Nintendo was developing this console with Sharp, but its operation was never clear: apart from the classic bumps on the top (L and R), the reasons for the oval are still unknown. In addition to the advantages, if not the obvious advantages, of having a pillow equipped touch screen: For some dreamers, it would have been a controller with variable buttons. Basically, each game will have its own keys, arranged differently according to the needs of the developers. However, we repeat that the oval remains a slightly understandable feature.

remote touch pen

As you understand, this is a patent closely related to one console we’ve been talking about, the Nintendo 3DS. To make sense, he needs a portable platform, which simultaneously guarantees stereoscopic 3D and supports the stylus. It is unlikely that a console will be produced in the future that combines these three elements again. Despite this, the idea was and still is interesting: it’s a pen that’s capable Touch the photo remotely, without access to the screen. Basically you could pet dogs from Nintendoes + cats In a visually intuitive way, getting to where you “saw” the image with a stereoscopic effect, avoiding the touch screen. It will also be able to vibrate, to emphasize touch.

health detector

This patent can certainly be linked to the development area identified by Iwata.”quality of life“: A division in which Nintendo has invested a lot, and has not offered any practical application. As mentioned earlier, the former president of Nintendo was very close to this sector, so it is possible that using Furukawa It was permanently marginalized. The idea was to create products that could improve the health of users, while also taking into account the increasing average lifespan of Japanese (and thus, potential buyers). This gadget, with a smartphone (or switch?) was supposed to monitor your vital signs during the night and then give you tips/warnings to improve the next morning.