Nintendo is registering a number of new patents from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom which might be extraordinarily broad, to the purpose the place they appear unreasonable for different builders to be beholden to.
Automaton, a gaming web site that focuses on Japanese video games like Zelda, has a roundup of the 32 patents Nintendo put forth. A few of them are particular to Hyperlink’s newest journey, together with issues like Riju’s lightning capacity, which lets the participant goal enemies with a bow and convey down a lighting strike wherever the arrow lands. The weirder ones are associated to baseline sport design and coding that applies to loads of different video video games in the marketplace. One of many hopeful patents pertains to the physics of a personality driving on high of a shifting automobile and reacting dynamically to it in a practical method.
The excellence, in line with Automaton’s translation of Japanese website Hatena Weblog consumer nayoa2k’s put up on the matter, is right down to how Tears of the Kingdom codes these interactions. Hyperlink and the objects he rides on transfer collectively on the identical velocity, reasonably than Hyperlink being technically stationary on high of a shifting object as is widespread within the physics of different video games. The 2 are functionally the identical, however provided that loads of video video games displayed characters who can stroll round on high of shifting autos, it’s extremely unlikely this sort of method hasn’t been utilized earlier than.
On high of making an attempt to patent the tech, Nintendo seeks to patent the loading display screen that exhibits up when the participant is fast-traveling throughout Hyrule. This particularly refers back to the display screen that exhibits the map transition from the participant’s start line to their vacation spot. Certain, that’s fairly particular and never one thing each sport makes use of, however it’s nonetheless such a common idea that it feels nearly petty to patent it when it’s hardly an iconic draw of Tears of the Kingdom.
It’s not unusual for sport builders to attempt to patent mechanics and options. One of the well-known examples is when Bandai Namco had a patent on loading display screen mini-games, which lastly led to 2015.
Who is aware of if these patents really go anyplace? However when sport design ideas are gatekept like this, it solely results in a lack of innovation for different devs. Although these particular patents are small within the grand scheme of issues, they could be a slippery slope for issues like WB patenting Shadow of Mordor’s Nemesis System, which ought to be in additional video games.
