Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics • Hacker News Board

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#21

Post by nomercy400 » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:19 PM UTC

racl101 wrote: post #11

Huh, didn't think there were that many new and innovative things even though the game was fantastic experience. The two things I really liked about TOTK was the ascend ability and the rewind / recall ability. Those were pretty cool and seemed novel to me. Admittedly, I don't play a ton of video games other than Zelda titles and the odd indie game so maybe those features are not novel and have been implemented before…

I haven't played TOTK, but when you say rewind-ability, it makes me think about Braid. Is it similar?

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#22

Post by bdowling » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:19 PM UTC

monocasa wrote: post #10

hermannj314 wrote: post #4

We seem to always focus on the cost of the patent system, never the benefit. One day we will all be dead (or much older) and all of these features and patents will be freely available, described in significant detail to be reproducible, and the world will be a slightly more amazing place than it is now. If you look at all the expiring patents, many filed 20 years ago, you will find there are some neat things document…

I mean, these seem pretty obvious, or even visible from the game itself in a way that publishing it as a patent results in no additional publication since it was apparent in the game already. For instance the loading screen bit simply seems to talk about how they show where you're going on the map during fast travel. Seems like mainly a net loss.

If the claims are non-novel or obvious, then the examiners, who are familiar with the state of the art in the field, will reject them. Maybe the applicant will amend the claims to claim something narrower, or maybe not.

If the examiner and patent office screw up and allow a claim that shouldn’t have been allowed, then the claim can be challenged later and revoked. Yes, that costs money and is inefficient sometimes.

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#23

Post by acomjean » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:20 PM UTC

racl101 wrote: post #11

Huh, didn't think there were that many new and innovative things even though the game was fantastic experience. The two things I really liked about TOTK was the ascend ability and the rewind / recall ability. Those were pretty cool and seemed novel to me. Admittedly, I don't play a ton of video games other than Zelda titles and the odd indie game so maybe those features are not novel and have been implemented before…

Rewind was a gameplay mechanic in the pretty great 2d platformer “Braid”. There is a GDC talk about how it was implemented in 2010.

https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012210/The-Implementation-of-...

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#24

Post by loeg » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:20 PM UTC

manojlds wrote: post #19

no-dr-onboard wrote: post #18

Nintendo doing Nintendo things again. Honestly the whole article gives me flashbacks of the various legal battles that they've been involved in [1]. They seem to pay no mind to the effect their litigiousness has on competition and innovation in this area...as if it wasn't already hard enough. 1. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/switch-hacker-gary-...

When clones like Genshin Impact exist, why do you blame Nintendo?

Do you think Nintendo has or needs a monopoly on open-world cartoon-styled games?

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#25

Post by monocasa » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:20 PM UTC

bdowling wrote: post #22

monocasa wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, these seem pretty obvious, or even visible from the game itself in a way that publishing it as a patent results in no additional publication since it was apparent in the game already. For instance the loading screen bit simply seems to talk about how they show where you're going on the map during fast travel. Seems like mainly a net loss.

If the claims are non-novel or obvious, then the examiners, who are familiar with the state of the art in the field, will reject them. Maybe the applicant will amend the claims to claim something narrower, or maybe not. If the examiner and patent office screw up and allow a claim that shouldn’t have been allowed, then the claim can be challenged later and revoked. Yes, that costs money and is inefficient sometimes.

If only that's how the patent system actually worked.

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#26

Post by racl101 » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:20 PM UTC

acomjean wrote: post #23

racl101 wrote: post #11

Huh, didn't think there were that many new and innovative things even though the game was fantastic experience. The two things I really liked about TOTK was the ascend ability and the rewind / recall ability. Those were pretty cool and seemed novel to me. Admittedly, I don't play a ton of video games other than Zelda titles and the odd indie game so maybe those features are not novel and have been implemented before…

Rewind was a gameplay mechanic in the pretty great 2d platformer “Braid”. There is a GDC talk about how it was implemented in 2010. https://www.gdcvault.com/play/1012210/The-Implementation-of-...

interesting.

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#27

Post by loeg » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:21 PM UTC

hnlmorg wrote: post #5

foobarian wrote: post #2

Ah yes don't want a repeat of Genshin Impact

I’m unaware of Genshin Impact. Are you able to explain the reference?

A game that looks stylistically very similar to the recent Zeldas and has some similar game mechanics.

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#28

Post by monocasa » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:21 PM UTC

nomercy400 wrote: post #21

racl101 wrote: post #11

Huh, didn't think there were that many new and innovative things even though the game was fantastic experience. The two things I really liked about TOTK was the ascend ability and the rewind / recall ability. Those were pretty cool and seemed novel to me. Admittedly, I don't play a ton of video games other than Zelda titles and the odd indie game so maybe those features are not novel and have been implemented before…

I haven't played TOTK, but when you say rewind-ability, it makes me think about Braid. Is it similar?

In TOTK, it only rewinds a specific object rather than the whole world as in Braid.

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#29

Post by nottorp » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:23 PM UTC

So... would you SNES nostalgics quit cloning Nintendo titles and giving them mind share?

I've been toying with getting some of their hardware and finally seeing what the hype is about for years. This piece of news just saved me the money I would spend for a Switch or whatever follows it.

Re: Nintendo filed numerous patents for Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom mechanics

#30

Post by mattnewton » Wed, Aug 09, 2023, 4:23 PM UTC

manojlds wrote: post #19

no-dr-onboard wrote: post #18

Nintendo doing Nintendo things again. Honestly the whole article gives me flashbacks of the various legal battles that they've been involved in [1]. They seem to pay no mind to the effect their litigiousness has on competition and innovation in this area...as if it wasn't already hard enough. 1. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/switch-hacker-gary-...

When clones like Genshin Impact exist, why do you blame Nintendo?

I’m a fan of breath of the wild / totk and didn’t really enjoy genshin impact. They really are very different games with a superficially similar cel shaded art style and open world. (But even then Nintendo’s art direction is totally different)