Nintendo

Six Hardware patents describe controller design improvements centered on comfort and modularity. One application details a manufacturing approach where the controller body and grips form a single seamless piece with an opening at the top, avoiding the seams that typically run along grip areas in traditional two-piece shells. Another focuses on rear grip buttons with asymmetric, widening surfaces that follow the natural curve of finger placement, reducing accidental presses during long play sessions. The modular vibration system patent describes self-contained grip units that combine circuit boards, vibration motors, and button detection in replaceable assemblies that slide into the main housing. Two applications explore magnetic attachment systems: one allows accessories to snap onto controllers while letting users press buttons through the attachment surface using magnetically coupled components, and another describes buttons that physically rise or change resistance when the controller magnetically connects to a console body. The remaining patent covers a ring-shaped accessory with strain gauges that measure squeeze and pull forces, connecting to standard controllers through a rail system to capture analog force input.

Game_engine applications include 6 patents addressing character interaction, world rendering, and combat mechanics. One system manages NPC followers using two distance thresholds, stopping companions when the player moves within the first range and only resuming following behavior after the player exits a second, larger radius, preventing characters from immediately chasing when players try to position them carefully. A mesh simplification algorithm reduces polygon counts in voxel-generated terrain by merging vertices while considering material boundaries, ensuring that visual transitions between grass, stone, and dirt remain distinct even after aggressive geometry reduction. The open-world racing patent allows players to switch instantly between multiple characters scattered across a field, with progression tied to collecting items that unlock additional racers and costumes. Two applications describe combat and capture systems where players control both an avatar and battle creatures, using a unified lock-on mechanism that directs attacks and aims throwable capture items without switching modes, with capture success rates increasing for recently defeated enemies within a time window. The final patent introduces a dual-resource system that lets players spend a secondary currency to bypass ability cooldowns, with UI elements showing both timer status and whether enough resources exist to force-activate skills.

Networking patents address 3 different aspects of online multiplayer management. The priority-based session system juggles active players and spectators across multiple concurrent game sessions, automatically removing viewers when capacity limits are reached while preserving slots for users who temporarily switch to watching other matches. Another application enhances recorded gameplay data with dynamic behaviors, allowing ghost recordings or saved player actions to react to current game conditions rather than simply replaying static movement patterns, creating more interactive asynchronous competition. The selective screen sharing system uses game-level logic to control which players in a voice chat session can view each other's screens, enabling team-based sharing while preventing opponents from seeing competitor displays during matches.

The single Graphics patent describes a vertex shader technique that enlarges distant racing opponents based on their distance from the player's vehicle, improving visibility without adding UI overlays. The scaling happens at the GPU level and maintains proper ground alignment for composite objects like vehicles with riders, adjusting each component independently.

Three UI/UX applications focus on control schemes and camera behavior. One patent rotates directional indicators on acceleration objects based on camera position, showing different arrow orientations when players view the same boost pad from opposite angles or during camera perspective switches. The dual-control combat system remaps controller buttons based on lock-on state, letting players move their avatar with one button set and command battle creatures with the same buttons when locked onto targets, with the system automatically positioning creatures to execute attack animations. The camera transition patent aligns character facing direction with camera orientation when players dismount vehicles, preventing jarring camera snaps, and intelligently sets vehicle direction based on whether players are moving when they board.

Two Game Mechanics patents describe progression and capture systems in creature-collecting gameplay. The racing application permanently unlocks new playable characters and alternate costumes when players collect specific items during races, tying roster expansion directly to in-game performance rather than menu-based challenges. The creature-capture mechanic creates a temporary window after defeating wild characters where capture attempts have higher success rates than normal, with the opportunity expiring after a time limit or set number of throws, balancing immediate capture against further weakening through combat.