Kotaku: Patents

Patents Show that the Next Xbox Might Be a DVR, Too

Evan Narcisse — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:30:00 EST

Xbox 3, Xbox 720, NextBox… whatever you call it, lots of rumors are being floated about Microsoft's next home console. Some say it'll output Avatar-level visuals while others say it'll lean heavily on cloud architecture. But the latest hint as to Microsoft's gaming future point to their ever-increasing ambition to fuse TV, film and gaming content. More »

Nintendo Seeks to Patent the Massively Singleplayer Online Game

Owen Good — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 19:20:00 EDT

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Back in 2010, Nintendo filed a patent application for something called a "massively single-playing online game," something whose interactions don't take place in real time and what sounds a little Animal Crossing-ish (above). More »

Look, Somebody Actually Made A Wii Football Controller

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 05:30:00 EDT

Last year, a patent was uncovered for a Wii football. It had been designed by Nintendo, and yet, it was stupid. Well, looks like somebody else has beat the Big N to the market. More »

Sony's "Degradable" Video Game Demo Patent

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:30:00 EST

Sony has patented a new form of trial or demo for video games that, rather than presenting us with a small piece of a title, gives us the whole thing, then takes bits away as time goes on. More »

Google Bringing Games To YouTube?

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST

Google applied for a patent earlier this year called "Web-Based System for Generation of Interactive Games Based on Digital Videos". Translation: bringing games to YouTube. Interesting. More »

Sony's Motion Controller Patent Goes Attachment Crazy

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:40:00 EST

A newly published patent from Sony Computer Entertainment, which looks a lot like the company's PlayStation 3 motion controller, showcases a plethora of possibilities for the forthcoming device, more attachments than you could shake a Wii Remote at. More »

Sony's Mystery Science Theater-Like Interactive TV Patent Puts You In The Movies

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:40:00 EST

Your PlayStation 3 may become a reasonably priced, earthbound Satellite of Love, if Sony Computer Entertainment America's patent application for a Mystery Science Theater 3000-like interactive television becomes a real-life product. More »

Microsoft Patents Drop-In Co-Op In Shooters

Stephen Totilo — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:00:48 EDT

Last week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office assigned the maker of the Xbox 360 and publisher of Gears of War the feature to offer seamless switching from solo to co-op gaming in squad-based shooters. More »

Nintendo Patents WarioWare Take On Othello

Stephen Totilo — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:00:17 EDT

The last time we unearthed a big new Nintendo patent, we found hints of a video game paradigm shift. This time, Nintendo may have locked up a multiplayer mode from a 2004 GameCube game. More »

Sony Patents Method To Emulate PS2 On PS3

Luke Plunkett — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:30:00 EDT

My single biggest problem with the PS3? The loss of backwards compatibility. It's a gaping hole in the system's feature set. Then again, it may also be one that's on the way back. More »

New Nintendo Patent Looks Like Picture Pages 2.0

Owen Good — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EDT

A new patent application Nintendo has filed in the U.S. tips its hand to a potential new focus for the game-maker, and no, it is not core gamers. More »

Crazy Old-Timey Game Patents

Stuart Houghton — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:20:00 EDT

Insert Credit has unearthed some patents from the early days of videogaming that are.. special. More »

Oh Look, Another Patent Lawsuit Filed Against Nintendo

Luke Plunkett — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 01:30:00 EDT

Yes, another Nintendo lawsuit. A Mr. John R. Martin, from Illinois, claims that the Nintendo DS infringes upon a patent he holds for "touch screen and pointing device gaming technology", filed in August, 2005 (pictured). Only problem? The DS was released in 2004. Bonus problem? While his patent applies to a touch-screen gaming device, it's for a gambling device, one more concerned with GPS and gambling laws than with male cheerleading or phantom hourglasses. More »

Apple Patent Looks More Than A Little Like The Wii Remote

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 09 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT

A patent's been uncovered by VentureBeat, which Apple first filed in November 2006. It's for a pointer/remote device, that communicates via IR, and has a sensor bar you place in front of the tellie to detect 3D movement. You know, just like a Wii Remote. The patent states the following:

...the absolute x- and y-positions of [the] remote control can be used, for example, in video games to position a user's character or to otherwise track the movement of the remote control in a user's environment.

Interesting. Now, as anyone who has ever used AppleTV with a remote will tell you, entering text is not fun. This device is most likely intented primarily to make stuff like entering text and navigating menus a lot easier than it currently is. Then again...that does say games up there. What's stopping Apple from adding some Wii-like titles to iTunes, available to AppleTV users? Nothing, that's what. More »

Arstechnica has a article up about ridiculous...

toejam316 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:18:07 EDT

Arstechnica has a article up about ridiculous gaming patents, a good example being one on the ARROW in Crazy Taxi owned by Sega. More »

Should Video Game Patents Be Legal?

Mark Wilson — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:40:53 EST

Over on Gamasutra, designer Ernest Adams has posted an interesting piece on video game software patents. He argues that not only are such patents morally gray, but that they are too encompassing—citing an example from Namco's PSOne version of Ridge Racer in which they patented, we kid you not, load-time minigames. He explains:

The US Patent and Trademark Office has taken a much more vague approach to determining what may or may not be patented. Its guidelines for patent examiners requires that the invention produce a concrete, useful, and tangible result, and gameplay patents are being allowed.

Then he later continues: More »

Hot Guitar Hero Patents Exposed

Michael McWhertor — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 20:20:00 EDT

When Harmonix released the first Guitar Hero on the PlayStation 2, many rhythm game fans wondered exactly how the company would fare once Konami's legal team smelled the patent violations in the water. Harmonix was noticeably quiet on comparisons to Konami's Guitar Freaks franchise, clearly an influence on Guitar Hero, but no indication that any bad corporate blood between the parties was ever publicly evident. More »

Nintendo Online Possibilities

Kim Phu — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:40:00 EDT

The Wii has been great for parties. People come over, they have some snacks, dance around the living room like wild animals thrusting the wiimote into the air, and always leave happy. But you know what? People are messy. And cheap. I say, get your own Nintendo Wii and play with me online so I don't have to vacuum every other day. More »

Ten Game Patents That Matter

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 06:25:15 EST

The rumble. That Crazy Taxi arrow. And Pong. Website Gamasutra has a smart look at the industry's ten most important patents based on these metrics: More »

Nike "Game-Pod" Patents Jogging-for-XP

egauger — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 20:40:40 EDT

All this newfangled full-body gaming has me a little worried about the upcoming heart attack epidemic. I intend to play Red Steel until I keel over from sheer awesome, and I'm sure not a few fanboys will suffer Twilight Princess-related "fishing accidents". More »

Nintendo Patents Pokemon Multiplayer

kotaku.com — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 09:40:26 EDT

How odd. Though video game patents usually seem to vaguely describe some rather obvious technical innovation. This time, though, Nintendo has taken it upon itself to request a patent that vaguely describes some sort of rather obvious gameplay innovation. In this case, in regards to multiplayer Pokemon. Ah, progress! More »

Nintendo and Microsoft Sued Over Controller Patents

brownlee — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 11:40:55 EDT

Someone should just flush the entire patent system down the toilet: ultimately, patent disputes are as tedious as they are frivolous. And anytime companies get involved in a gaming-oriented patent dispute, it's usually bad for gamers. More »

EFF Slams Nintendo For Emulation Patent

brownlee — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 07:00:03 EDT

Looks like someone besides hyperactive fan boys (we count ourselves amongst their noble ranks) have noticed Nintendo's recent tendency for running off at the patent mouth. The Electronics Frontier Foundation have updated their list of Top 10 patent abusers and number 8 on the list? Well, we spoiled it in the first sentence... it's Nintendo! More »

Hey Flower Children, These Wii Trademarks Are New

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 03:20:51 EDT

Nintendo of Japan has registered two new Wii-related trademarks: WiiPointer and WiiCulture. Details are scant, but it's likely the WiiPointer is connected with the Wii-mote. But, WiiCulture? That's either the console's answer to Touch Generations or some hippy campfire sing-a-long. Brian Ashcraft More »

PSP2 to Feature Foldable Screen Tech? Patent Says Nothing.

brownlee — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 11:40:56 EDT

Well, this certainly could make the PSP2 a hell of a lot more portable: Sony has filed a patent for foldable screen technology. More »