There are some great little nuggets here, from an early design for the Nintendo Powerglove — sorry, "Forearm mounted multi-axis remote control unit" — to a 'button presser' that lets you hit two buttons alternately by rolling the device back and forth. This sounds ridiculous, until you think about Track & Field.

There is even a slice of true console history in the form of a prototype for the first NES cartridge.

My favorite, though, has to be the SEGA racing controller/game pictured above that has an actual model car that moves left to right on a shelf in front of your TV. Come on SEGA, the time is right for this thing to see the light of day - bring it out on a current-gen console & you will clean up.

News: Old videogame patents [InsertCredit via Boing Boing Gadgets]

Nintendo Faces Patent Lawsuit, Apparently Over DS Touch Screen [GamePolitics]

UPDATE - While this particular patent is more recent, it's actually the continuation of a series of patents first filed all the way back in 1995.

...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.

Thats right, the directional arrow which points to where you should go next is actually patented by Sega.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080309-patents-on-video-game-mechanics-may-strangle-innovation.html

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.

[Video games] are not inventions at all in the normal sense of the word. They are imaginary systems. Unlike mathematical theorems (which cannot be patented), game rules don't even have to be coherent — though obviously they should be for playability reasons.

The Designer's Notebook: Damn All Gameplay Patents! [Gamasutra][image]

For the release of Guitar Hero III, however, we're starting to see some evidence of the licensing of Konami's patents for the ultra-successful Activision franchise, now at developer Neversoft. Gamasutra's Simon Carless explains the relationship between multiple parties, including one that, oddly enough, was originally in an MTV branded product, not unlike the upcoming Rock Band.

A fine piece of investigatin' by the gang at Gamasutra.

Exploring Guitar Hero III's Patent Secrets [Gamasutra]

Thank the stars a patent that was filed a year ago by Nintendo at the US Patent & Trademark Office for an "Invitation System for On-Line Video Games" has recently been published. This patent basically includes what is already standard on Xbox Live which is enabling users to automatically see when their friends log on, though it is unknown if the Wii can even do this, with or without a patent. The hope is that this will mean more online multi-player gaming outside of Mario Strikers. And of course, less cleaning days. Kim Phu

Invitation and Wii Online Gaming... [Codename Revolution]

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:

• Relativity to Video Games
• Financial Value
• Technological Importance
• The It-Factor

Gamasutra explains further:

Politics aside, it's difficult to select the top 10 video game patents when multiple patents have accomplished similar stature. Thus, we provide our top 10 types of video game patents, with examples for each. And by "type," we refer to what the patent (or its owner) has accomplished in the industry based on the invention described in the patent (i.e., we gave preference to patents that were actually enforced at some time or another).

A difficult, if not impossible, task. Head over and check out the full list. It's a good read. Brian Ashcraft

Important Patents [Gamasutra]

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".

It comes as no surprise that Nike is wiggling their way deeper into this possibly damning fruit. They've registered a new patent for game-friendly shoe-related peripherals that will communicate with your PC or console, turning real miles clocked in your tennies into valuable in-game cash and prizes.

According to the patent, the game-pod could be configured to measure heart rate or even blood oxygen content, thereby foiling potential dodges such as driving your trainers around in a car.

No partnerships with developers have yet been announced, but all I can think about is that old NES Power Pad you were supposed to jog on, but that everyone just put on the floor and slapped with their hands. Eliza Gauger

Nike game-pod forces gamers off butts [Computer and Video Games]

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!

Nintendo describes the multi-player, portable version of its Pokemon game in this patent. In the pokemon game, each player collects and trains pokemon. When another player is encountered, the pokemon battle each other and the winner captures the loser's pokemon. Capturing a pokemon includes transferring information about its appearance, strength, etc. to the wining player's game machine.

I'm particularly tickled by the patent illustration, which looks like a Pokemon screenshot as illustrated by memory by a patent attorney. Florian Eckhardt

Patent: U.S. Pat. No. 6,764,402 (Pokemon) [Patent Arcade]

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.

For example, Anascape Ltd, a Texas-based company, is alleging that Nintendo and Microsoft are in breach of no less than twelve of their controller patents. What patents are they? Very precise ones, naturally: "Remote Controller with Analog Button", "3D Controller With Vibration" and "Game Controller with Analogue Pressure Sensor" are the peachiest examples.

Obviously, Anascape wants an assload of money. Let's hope this ends differently than the Immersion rumble fiasco... I don't want to lose analog on my controller. Florian Eckhardt

Microsoft, Nintendo sued over games controller [Inquirer]

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!

In particular, they are upset by Nintendo's attempt to patent emulation, which is protected under fair-use doctrine. Said Jason Schultz at the EFF:

. "A bunch of small game companies are writing these emulators, and they're really no threat to Nintendo,"

Of course, big video game companies trying to squash emulation development is nothing new. But patenting emulation as a whole? It's hard to look at that as anything less than delusional. Florian Eckhardt

EFF Publishes Patent Hit List [Wired]

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 Here [Go Nintendo]

Basically, the patent describes electronic devices and displays that are flexible enough to be rolled up or folded when not in use, but become rigid when a small electric current is passed through them. The application lists wide-ranging uses for the technology, and suggests it could be applied to cell phones, PDAs, PCs, remote controls, clocks, glasses, and even game systems.

For me, pocketability is extremely important in a portable game device. That's why I don't particularly care for my PSP or DS non-Lite, but still give my SP and Micro as much love as possible. The sooner this tech hits, the better. Florian Eckhardt

Sony Patent for Screens & Devices that Fold, Change Shape [Evil Avatar]