On April 12th, it was discovered that Nintendo has filed a new patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for a new gaming device.
Originally reported on by Digital Trends this past Friday, the patent describes a new type of “gaming system” that is able to track objects across multiple LCD devices.
Information supplied to the Patent Office include numerous illustrations of the concepts behind the new device, and how Nintendo intends for it to operate. These illustrations included ideas such as a finger able to use the touch-screen functionality to track an on-screen object across one screen and on to another, or a ball that seamlessly travels from the screen of one device to the screen of a second, without the need for any sort of wired connection.
A new Nintendo patent demonstrates a finger tracking an object from one screen to another
Other designs show multiple devices being used to display a single object: in this case, a banana, as well as the ability for multiple devices to be placed in an array of positions in order to display the object. Each LCD screen displayed a different section of a singular object, and when they were all placed together, the whole object would be shown.
According to the patent, “[T]his system is provided with a plurality of processing apparatuses that are capable of communicating with each other and include at least a first information processing apparatus and a second information processing apparatus, and a control unit that controls the plurality of information processing apparatuses.”
“These illustrations included ideas such as a finger able to use the touch-screen functionality to track an on-screen object across one screen and on to another”
What I believe this is describing is that information is started on the first device (processing apparatus) and can pass the information to a second device, with one of those devices acting as the “control unit”.
A diagram of how the processing units are set up within this mystery device confirms that whatever this is, it will use some sort of external storage, which in this case, would be a physical copy of a game.
So what exactly is Nintendo’s latest patent describing?
The two devices do not have to actually be touching each other to track an object.
Before we delve into that speculation it’s important to note that Nintendo, like Microsoft and Sony, is constantly researching new ideas and applications. So there is a possibility that they have a developed an idea that they want to patent, but may not ever bring to market. That’s the nature of R&D. However, it’s also extremely important to review the recent history of Nintendo’s development of the Nintendo Switch and the patents that were filed in the years leading up to the system’s reveal and release.
There’s also a strange element of conspiracy as well, which leads us to believe that there is that there is a fire out there that’s producing a lot of smoke: smoke which Nintendo is not ready to have seen quite yet. But more on that in a bit.
Let’s start by taking a look at the previous patents.
Remember the care free days of 2015 and 2016, when we knew that Nintendo was working on a mysterious device code-named NX, but no one knew what the heck NX was or would end up being?
Various forums were wild with speculation on what Nintendo was planning for a post Wii U world; however, the patents that Nintendo was filing throughout that time frame pretty much told the entire story of what the Nintendo Switch would be, well before the eventual October 2016 reveal video.
A single object can be tracked across many of these devices.
In July of 2016, NerdBacon reported on information passed to gaming outlet Eurogamer from sources that were familiar with the Switch’s development. This information confirmed that the as of yet unrevealed Nintendo system would be a hybrid between a home and portable console.
“the patents that Nintendo was filing throughout that time frame pretty much told the entire story of what the Nintendo Switch would be”
“Sources whispering into the ear of Eurogamer have confirmed that Nintendo’s NX will indeed by a hybrid console; a device designed for portable gaming on the go, as well as home gaming on your television. “
The article went on to state that sources had confirmed to Eurogamer that the patent’s Nintendo had filed in December of 2015 were indeed outlining what the Switch would be: A hybrid console that could connect to a dock and be played on a television screen, as well as be removed from the dock to allow the game to be played on the go.
Later patents that were uncovered outlined the detachable controllers that would be later known as the Switch’s Joycon’s and comments made by GameStop’s then CEO, Paul Rains, spilled helped spill the beans regarding the Switch’s return to the cartridge format.
These previous stories are important in establishing historical context to the latest patent filed by Nintendo: there is a LOT we can learn about Nintendo’s future plans in the patents that they file.
Now for the conspiratorial element.
Devices can be arrayed in a multitude of positions
On Saturday morning, a thread with a link to the Digital Trends report appeared on gaming mega-forum, ResetEra, which grew in length by a few pages. Hours later, the thread and any references to it, had completely disappeared off the site. NerdBacon can confirm that the thread was indeed killed by moderators of the forum. These acts of censorship are not uncommon on the site when information being discussed gets too close to truth. There have been many instances in which ResetEra moderators will censor information or outright kill threads at the behest of developers. While we can’t directly confirmed who ordered the thread removed in this instance, our conclusions (and please note that these conclusions are only speculation) are that ResetEra was contacted by Nintendo with a request to remove the thread.
” there is a LOT we can learn about Nintendo’s future plans in the patents that they file.”
This leads us to believe that there is something to this patent, and Nintendo does not yet want it out in the open.
So what is this patent actually describing?
That is the million dollar question.
We believe there are three possibilities based on the information released in Nintendo’s patent, as well as past statements coming from Nintendo and a few good old fashioned rumors.
Possibility 1: This is a new feature that will be implemented into the Nintendo Switch.
Perhaps Nintendo is readying an upgrade that would be pushed out to current models of the Switch via a patch and fully integrated into newer version of the Switch. Nintendo is describing the functionality of this feature and placing their claim on its use with gaming devices.
While this is a plausible scenario, we feel that the arrival of an additional feature to the current Switch is pretty unlikely, given that software patches are normally not going to go through a patent process.
Possibility 2: This patent is describing features pertaining to a hardware revision for the Nintendo Switch.
The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid home/portable gaming console and Nintendo has an extensive history of providing revised, streamlined versions of their portable gaming systems. So it’s logical to believe that Nintendo would want to provide some sort of revision to the Switch hardware. They could do this by streamlining the design and removing the features that would allow it to dock to a t.v. , as well as make the Joycons non-removable from the device. The result would be a portable version of the Switch: a Switch Mini, if you will, that would still play all the software released for the Nintendo Switch, but would be less expensive than the current version of the console.
Could the Switch be getting a portable only hardware revision?
While this is an appealing notion, the language in the patent doesn’t allude to any sort of redesign of current hardware. There are no diagrams showing what the redesigned version of the system would look like within the patent filing. Instead, it uses language and diagrams that point to a functionality not currently offered by the Nintendo Switch, or any other Nintendo product.
Possibility 3: Nintendo is getting ready to launch a brand new product.
To us, this is paradoxically the most likely and unlikely of the different possibilities.
The language Nintendo uses in this patent is very obviously describing communication features to a device that they are not yet manufacturing. It also revolves around a singular concept that is separate from the Nintendo Switch: being able to share gameplay elements of a single game across multiple screens. The diagrams are very similar in concept to Nintendo DS/and 3DS titles that would display a single image over both of those devices screens; however, this time, the screens are not physically connected to a single unit.
This begs a much larger question that the gaming world may not be ready for: is Nintendo developing a new handheld to act as a successor to the Nintendo 3DS?
Based on the fact that this patent is very explicit in its references to concepts that are unrelated to those of the current form of the Nintendo Switch, we believe that this patent is outlining an entirely new, separate gaming system.
This idea is at once exciting and extremely alarming, and is one that needs to be debated; however, the idea that there would one day be a successor to the Nintendo 3DS is not new.
“we believe that this patent is outlining an entirely new, separate gaming system”
Nintendo has previously floated the idea of an eventual successor to the 3DS system even prior to the release of the Nintendo Switch
On February 3rd, 2017 Anime News Network’s Rafael Antonio Pineda reported on an article originally released by Nikkei’s Technology website which stated that Nintendo was developing the replacement for the 3DS, and that the plan was to release it sometime in 2018 or later.
“Nintendo is currently developing a successor handheld system to the Nintendo 3DS, with a planned release in”2018 or later”.
The report states that the handheld system’s specifications will be based on whether or not Nintendo‘s upcoming Switch hybrid home/handheld system is a success. If the Switch is successful, Nintendo will possibly develop the next handheld as a “Switch Slim” version of the console — a smaller version with a correspondingly smaller screen, designed so that it will not break even if children drop it.
The report goes on to quote a statement made by Nintendo President Tasumi Kimishima, who stated in the Kyoto Shimbun paper that Nintendo would “target different child-focused needs and market from the Switch, and will differentiate a future handheld for the Switch through price and form factor.”
So we have two competing statements released last year at the same time that would take Nintendo on vastly different courses.
Conflicting signals from Nintendo’s Kimishima heighten the anticipation of what the company may be planning next
The original concept of the Nintendo Switch was to bridge the development gap between teams that had been developing for the handheld Nintendo 3DS and the teams that were developing for the home console, Wii U. By creating a hybrid unit that could be played on either the television when docked, or on the go when un-docked, consumers would no longer have to worry about having to purchase multiple devices in order to enjoy the full array of content developed across both devices.
The portability of the Nintendo Switch is a key factor for its success, especially in Japan, where in one year the Nintendo Switch has nearly caught up to the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 4, which released 4 years earlier.
“The portability of the Nintendo Switch is a key factor for its success”
Given the wild success of the Nintendo Switch since its launch in March of last year, logic would dictate that Nintendo would want to stay the course of the Switch vision. That would mean that the device represented by this patent filing is a slimmed down version of the original Switch software.
Developing a new handheld device, no matter how novel the screen sharing aspect described in this patent actually is when put in practice, would serve to undercut the appeal of the Nintendo Switch system.
However, given the fact that the patent doesn’t make any reference to the existing architecture of the Switch, we have to assume that this is indeed a new dedicated handheld device that plays its own separate library of titles, and that Nintendo will once again split their market between two devices.
If that is the route that Nintendo wants to pursue, then they risk the danger of confusing and splitting their consumer base even further than they did with the ill-fated failure that was the Wii U. After all, what is the point of buying the portable Switch, when you can also buy a second, cheaper portable gaming system from Nintendo that plays different games.
Releasing a brand new Nintendo handheld could very well undercut the Switch’s electrifying momentum, and serve as a stark turning point for Nintendo as a whole.
With E3 2018 less than two months away, we likely won’t have to wait long to find out exactly what Nintendo has up their sleeve.
Would you be excited if Nintendo decided to launch a brand new dedicated handheld system, or do you think the launch of such a device would undercut the Switch? Let us know in the comments section below.
Written by The Watchman
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