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Nintendo has filed a patent application in the US that could see you being assisted through tougher parts of levels by characters in the game.
Shigeru Miyamoto is behind the idea and its main purpose will be to save us all time bothering to become any good at a game, and simply show us where the secret door is instead of you know, actually bothering to work it out for ourselves.
“In some of these games, a volume of the story or the scenario is too large, and therefore a lot of time is needed for clearing the game,” reads the patent application.
“Further, in some cases, various puzzles are set in the scenario… However, there is a problem that these puzzles and the like are too difficult, and therefore the game may be stuck halfway, and the game may not be cleared to the end.”
“As means for solving the problem, disclosed is a game control method for lowering the difficulty level of a game by presenting, while the game is being played, a hint for allowing the game to be continued.”
By Mike Bowden
Viewing 8 responses
Blerk said:
If games get any easier they may as well just play themselves.
JPickford said:
Seems like a good idea to me. I get stuck in loads of games. If I could choose to skip sections then I’d get a lot more out of many games. Just like I can skip a boring passage in a book or film.
What I don’t like is when stuff like this is patented.
Tonka said:
I would have loved to just tell Baird and the other fat fucks in Gears of War 2 to drive their own boring tank up their own boring mountain and shoot their own boring cannon at boring enemies that sapwn at the same boring places over and over again andthen give me a call once there is a fun shootout.
Tonka said:
Not to mention that extremely stilted (and boring) boss fight. Talk about rinse repeat.
Psychotext said:
I’m fairly certain I’ve seen prior art on this… not that it will ever stop the patent office.
Truk said:
Don’t patents have to be non-obvious or something?
Tonka said:
As in obscure and vague?
illegal Hugs said:
Didn’t that already happen in Prince of Persia and Dead Space? This patent is already meritless.