Nintendo is one sly mofo

Nintendo patents key console online gaming features
By Tony Smith
Published Thursday 19th August 2004 10:06 GMT

Nintendo has been granted a US patent that yields it the ownership of key online multi-player gaming facilities, including player league tables, voice communications and online gaming host services.

The patent, number 6,769,989, was granted on 3 August this year, but is essentially a continuation of another Nintendo patent, 6,599,194, which was filed in April 1999.


The two patents detail a "home video game system with hard disk drive and Internet access capability", but the second filing adds provision for "substantially real-time" online multi-player gaming, connection via an online gaming service, support for online "player performance data", using the connection to download information and do so securely through an authentication process, and the communication across the Net of "audio input signals".

All of these components are well-established elements of modern online gaming, and have been available for PCs for some time. Nintendo's patents focus on "home game video systems", so it's more of an issue for rival console vendors than PC gamers. The PC world might provide the basis for a prior art claim, but it would arguably be negated by Nintendo's specific console-oriented implementation of the broader concepts.

Patents can be modified to add new elements, and technology companies frequently amend existing intellectual property with new, related ideas - which then apply from the first filing date, in this case April 1999, long before last year's introduction by Microsoft of Xbox Live, its console-oriented online gaming and information service, and which also offers voice chat facilities.

How Nintendo will make use of its new intellectual property remains to be seen, but it does appear at first sight to give it some weight over rival console vendor Microsoft and, indeed, any moves Sony or other console vendors offer in that direction. It certainly strikes us that Nokia's online N-Gage Arena service may fall within the terms of Nintendo's patent, as might the upcoming Internet-enabled (via GPRS) Gizmondo handheld console. ®


I'd post the link, but I cannot yet. The article was origionally written for The Register, and a link to it can be found at Fark.

This does not even sound legal...how can they have a patent for something they not only did not originate but has been implemented by other for nearly a decade now...Nintendo does no even DO online gaming in any form and has repeatedly stated that "Gamers do not want online gaming"...this has to be bogus.

haha i've been a fan of Nintendo since the beginning and this just makes me love them even more......they may even kick ass in the next console wars for once :)

Strangely enough it's perfectly legal, provided no other company or person contests it before a given date provided by the copyrighting authority, Microsoft have done this a few times ( no suprises there... )

This looks like it was deliberatley aimed at the new generation PS2, Sega and X-Box, it will force them to pay a royalty at the very least or even allow Nintendo to gain access to source coding for the internet based console games. It must the only way for them to pay their soon to be unemployed programmers as they haven't exactly being to well lately.

Seems rather a bit too much like ambulance chasing to me...

PS. Check out the new DOOM 3 if you like PC games, it is intense to say the very least.

nintendo make shit loads of money in Japan especially with the gameboy and they must get bazillions of things like super mario alarm clocks and other cheap gimics with nintendos name on it somewhere

and i'de love to play doom 3 if my computer cringes at the thought of seeing it and it's needing of all powerful hardware :(

Nintendo kicks ass!

i left my 2 NES systems in AZ :(

pheer the goomba power http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ow/Goomba2.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ow/Goomba2.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ow/Goomba2.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ow/Goomba2.gifhttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ow/Goomba2.gif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CypherZA

Strangely enough it's perfectly legal, provided no other company or person contests it before a given date provided by the copyrighting authority, Microsoft have done this a few times ( no suprises there... )

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Given the importance XBL and Sony's own Online offerings to their collective bottom line...it's safe to say this will be contested...IF it's even real.

even tho im a big nintendo fan i find this hard to believe