Short version: Nintendo is now filing patents on game mechanics, claiming ownership which would prevent use of iterations upon said mechanics in future games.
Let me start by saying I know this is a difficult sell, Nintendo makes some of the greatest games ever made regardless of the outdated hardware they shove them on. At some point though people need to step back and think objectively about whether or not we want to support this companies practices, I don’t think we should after the most recent news coming from the big N.
Nintendo has filed patents on game MECHANICS present in TOTK, Nintendo feels it has the right to patent mechanics present in a game that in itself would not exist had other developers not inspired them with new mechanics in the first place.
Had Bethesda or Rockstar patented their RPG or open world systems and mechanics the games industry would be a far cry from what is available today, including all of these great Nintendo games we play today. If Bethesda had a patent on FPS because they filed for one after Doom where would we be today?
As much as we all stan for Nintendo we need to be conscious of supporting this absolute bully of a company. These combined with their treatment of the community of modders and content creators, taking millions away from people in petty lawsuits.. our power is our cash, and we should think twice about supporting such a hostile player in the gaming space.
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Edit: I knew this video was in the pipeline so I was waiting for it to drop to share it, The Linus Media Group does a pretty good job explaining how they are overreaching
by OfficerFriendly2
13 Comments
What millions in petty lawsuits?
Pretty sure a patent asked me something fairly specific, not a broad concept.
So you wouldn’t really be able to patent having an open world game but One could possibly patent the VATS system or gluing items together, or a program that handled NPC activities or even something like Like when Namco patented the auxiliary game concept, playing a game while another game loaded.
Games do patent mechanics. A good example is the nemesis system from the Shadow of Mordor games. Activision also has a ton of patents for COD. I have no idea how morally ok it is to do but it’s a perfectly legal thing to do and companies outside of Nintendo do it all the time
Surely blame patent criterias in certain industries if you dont like them. Obviously its a balance of greed but flip side, Companies need to protect themselves and their employees
>Nintendo feels it has the right to patent mechanics present in a game that in itself would not exist had other developers not inspired them with new mechanics in the first place.
I hate to break it to you, but patenting mechanics/their implementation is a common thing. The reason you never saw minigames on loading screens is because the concept was patented, for example (the patent is expired now but loads are generally fast enough to make the concept pointless).
Patenting game mechanics is a lame move and, to use one of Nintendo’s own favorite legalese phrases, it stifles creativity. It’d be bad enough if they were just doing mechanics truly unique to TOTK like Ascend, but they’re going as far as to try to patent mechanics like Ultrahand and Fuse (done before many times, most notably in Gmod) and even extremely basic concepts like the ability to stand on moving objects, climb ledges or use a map for fast travel.
Edit: before anyone says it, YES, I understand that those patents would never actually go through. Thats not the point, I’m not worried that Nintendo would actually have a patent on ledge grabbing and moving platforms. I *AM* alarmed that Nintendo’s showing their hand that if they had their way, they WOULD monopolize basic gameplay mechanics.
I mean, its silly, but its also very specific. Nintendo bought 40 acres of land last year because they didn’t own it and had a building on it. Nobody was going to buy it, and it was surrounded by other land owned by them, but Nintendo bought the land anyway. They are simply wacky.
Another stupid call of an “boycott” over some silly outrage people will forget in a couple days. These patients are not going to have as much of an effect as you think on your gaming experience.
This is good satire.
Short version: companies have been patenting game mechanics since the 70s. Many of your favorite old Nintendo games use patents
you are comparing game mechanics with *types* of games here. do you not see how these are different things? yet another rage post about when nintendo does it, but when everyone else does it, and yes they do, noone gives a shit.
Adding this to the discussion:
I knew this video was in the pipeline so I was waiting for it to drop to share it, The Linus Media Group does a pretty good job explaining how they are overreaching
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chCBDFdmgTQ
I mean let’s be honest. The parents ain’t gonna stick for a majority of them.