Super Mario Bros. Wii may have a surprise in store for gamers when it hits later this year.
Speaking to Kotaku at E3 today, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto seem to let slip that the game may include at least an initial glimpse at a revolutionary save system first hinted at in a patent filed by Miyamoto last year.
Nintendo is working on a gameplay system meant to ease the pain of completing a difficult game, without watering it down so much that it turns hardcore gamers off.
The new system, described in a patent filed by Nintendo Creative Director Miyamoto on June 30, 2008, but made public today, looks to solve the issue of casual gamers losing interest in a game before they complete it, while still maintaining the interest of hardcore gamers.
The solution would turn a game into a full-length cut scene of sorts, allowing players to jump into and out of the action whenever they wanted. But when played this way, gamers would not be able to save their progress, maintaining the challenge of completing a game without skipping or cheating. It would also allow players to bring up in-game hint videos and skip directly to particular scenes in games.
The topic came up near the end of our interview with Miyamoto. The famed developer seemed surprised that people read through his patents and then, after a lengthy exchange between two of his translators and a bit of laughing, said that we should keep an eye on how the game deals with players getting stuck in the game.