Have you ever been through a situation with four players and only three controllers? Nintendo‘s new patent asserts a promising upgrade by allowing smartphones to join Switch 2 games.
The patent, published in the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), demonstrates the game-processing system and a portable information-processing terminal.
The game-processing system includes the information needed to participate in a participatory game. The new hardware could enable users to share screens with multiple players.
To invite players to participate in supported games, players need to share a QR code displayed on the screen. Scanning the QR establishes a live connection to the game via a host. The host can configure the participating users, edit profiles, and change the team.
Since the players will use smartphones or tablets to play the game, the secondary screen will access in-game mechanisms like maps, inventory, or mission objectives.
This new patent will not only enable a new way of enjoying games but will also allow large players to join the platform. So, you can play games from your smartphone. The patent has also hinted at collaborating on online games.
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However, Nintendo has not explicitly linked the patent to a potential Switch 2 gaming console. The illustrated image displays the current Switch console. However, sources tie the patent with Nintendo’s upcoming console.
The patent profile on WIPO lists Ikki Niwa and Yusuke Akifusa as the inventors of the patent. Both are prominent Nintendo developers who’ve worked on several major projects. For instance, Ikki Niwa worked on The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, while Yusuke Akifusa directed applications like Nintendo 3DS Sound.
Nonetheless, the givens are just intelligent assumptions derived from various sources. After taking a glimpse into the history of Nintendo’s patents, it files over 500 patents each year, and most of them haven’t turned into reality yet. However, the given technology isn’t completely new; it can amount to something.