Nintendo

The lone Graphics patent centers on a dynamic visibility system that redefines how dark virtual spaces are revealed to players. Rather than relying on traditional light sources that illuminate surrounding geometry, the system ties visibility changes to in-game events, using discrete target ranges to override normal rendering for entire zones at once. A deferred rendering pipeline blends these event-driven visibility zones with standard lighting calculations through mask data, giving designers macro-level control over what players can and cannot see without being constrained by light physics.

Networking accounts for 3 patents, two of which tackle the challenge of letting multiple players share a game world without interfering with each other. One patent renders other players' characters as ghost-like figures that pass through objects and turn translucent when overlapping with yours, so the presence of other players never disrupts your own progress. A related patent extends this idea into competitive play, where opponent characters exist visually in your space but have no physical effect on it, enabling parallel competitive sessions that feel both social and self-contained. The third Networking patent approaches a different problem entirely: keeping moving objects visually synchronized across 3 or more players during online matches. Instead of snapping objects to corrected positions when latency causes timing differences, the system temporarily slows a moving object's speed after an event, absorbing the discrepancy gradually so the correction never appears jarring. The slowdown is calculated from measured transmission latency between specific device pairs, making each adjustment precise rather than approximate.

With 8 patents, Game Engines is by far the largest category in this period, and several of the patents cluster around object combination and procedural content. One patent covers a real-time fusion system where players bring physical objects together in the game world itself to create new equipment, with the resulting item visually incorporating elements from both sources. Closely related, another patent automates the generation of collision meshes for these combined items using convex polyhedron approximation, so artists are not required to manually build collision geometry for every possible combination. A third patent in this cluster handles naming: a compositional grammar system generates contextually appropriate equipment names by combining base item names with modifiers in priority-ordered patterns, producing varied results without manual naming for each variant. Separate from the crafting cluster, one patent describes a construction system where players use their character's existing movement mechanics to place and connect buildings, with structures automatically switching between editable and enterable states depending on whether construction mode is active. Another patent defines illuminated waypoint objects that simultaneously control lighting, map revelation, fast travel, and health restoration, creating interconnected hubs that structure exploration. A club-rank patent ties a sports title's club progression directly to in-match mechanical advantages, with item appearance frequency linked to both rank and the execution of specific plays during a match. On the companion side, one patent automates the placement of NPC allies onto moving Platformss whenever the player boards them, making those companions immediately available for coordinated actions without requiring manual repositioning. Finally, one patent covers a bond management system for assembled virtual objects, where shaking or rapidly changing a component's direction releases only that piece's connections while leaving the rest of the assembly intact, allowing targeted edits to multi-object constructions.

The UI/UX category holds 1 patent, focused on how players navigate environments with multiple vertical layers. The system records player movement history across ground, aerial, and underground zones, then renders each layer's tracks with distinct visual weight, making the current layer's path more prominent while de-emphasizing paths from other heights. An icon indicator also marks which layer a replaying track currently occupies, giving players real-time vertical context as they review their movement history.

A single AI & Machine Learning patent describes a crowd animation technique where NPCs imitate a player's actions in an expanding wave rather than all at once. NPCs in progressively larger concentric zones begin their imitation at different times, with randomized waiting periods added per NPC to prevent uniformity. An optional synchronization layer ties the timing of these reactions to the background music, keeping the wave coherent with the rhythm of the scene.

The 1 Hardware patent covers a redesigned analog stick mechanism that adds force sensing at the mechanical limit of stick travel. Traditional analog sticks measure positional displacement, but this design places contact sensors at the edge of the stick's range so that the amount of pressure applied in any direction becomes a separate input value. The sensor geometry allows omnidirectional force detection while keeping the stick shaft from making direct contact with the housing opening.

One Game Mechanics patent addresses how players stay engaged with shared in-game spaces over time. When multiple players inhabit a shared area, the system filters that area's event log to show each player only the changes other inhabitants made to the shared environment, such as placing objects or constructing facilities, while excluding personal actions like item collection that leave no lasting mark on the space. The result is a personalized recap that keeps players aware of how shared spaces are evolving without surfacing events that have no relevance to them.