{"id":20590,"date":"2023-08-08T18:45:41","date_gmt":"2023-08-08T09:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=20590"},"modified":"2023-08-08T18:45:43","modified_gmt":"2023-08-08T09:45:43","slug":"20230808-20590","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/20230808-20590\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo registers numerous new patents from Tears of the Kingdom, even for loading screens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nintendo has made a significant number of their registered patents public in the past month, and an overwhelming number of them seem to pertain to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom<\/strong>. Various aspects of Tears of the Kingdom\u2019s mechanics and gameplay being patented had been a topic of discussion in the past as well, with some being of the opinion that Nintendo may be a tad too aggressive with their patents, registering functionalities that could be considered \u201ctoo general\u201d and unfair to block by patenting.  Among the patents recently made public, there are some functionalities which seem to be rather \u201cbasic,\u201d but a thorough look at them does reveal unique points as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within Japan\u2019s game and entertainment industry, Nintendo stands out for the volume and competitiveness of their patents. In a study by Patent Result, it was found that Nintendo\u2019s patents had been cited as ground for rejection of other companies\u2019 patents in 180 cases during the year 2022 (Related article<\/a>). A large portion of Nintendo\u2019s patents are unsurprisingly related to technology used in the latest entry to the Zelda series, Tears of the Kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the period between July 10 and August 4, Nintendo made public a total of 32 patents, 31 of which seem to be related to Tears of the Kingdom, including patents pertaining to more general mechanics and in-game abilities such as Ultrahand and Fuse, as well as more specific patents related to the abilities of certain side characters, such as Riju\u2019s remote lightning attack<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One patent (as spotted by naoya2k<\/a>) that appears to be \u201cobvious\u201d as a functionality at first glance is related to the calculations performed while Link rides on top of objects. The solution<\/a> is described as follows: \u201cthe movement of movable dynamic objects placed in the virtual space is controlled by physics calculations, and the movement of the player\u2019s character is controlled by user input. When the player\u2019s character and a dynamic object come in contact in the downward direction relative to the character (in other words, when the character is on top of an object), the movement of the dynamic object is added to the movement of the player\u2019s character.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Put simply, the game judges when Link is making contact with a movable object underneath him, and if the object moves, Link will automatically move in the same way and speed as the object does, without any input being made. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The functionality seems at first glance to be a given for any game with a similar environment, but according to an observation by naoya2k, what makes Nintendo’s solution unique is that there are no physics working between Link and the dynamic object. Since both the character and object use physics, the most straightforward solution would be that Link moves together with the moving objects he is on top of as a result of physics (such as frictional force), but Nintendo apparently decided that what works better game-wise is Link being given the same movement that the object is performing, without any physics working between the two. At the same time, it\u2019s still hard to firmly state there are no predecessors to the mechanic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A related patent<\/a> defines a mechanic that prevents Link from grabbing an object he is on top of using Ultrahand, which also seems rather intuitive. The patent does, however, go into details such as the mechanic also blocking Link from using Ultrahand on objects which have been joined to an object he is on top of.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A rather unexpected mechanic of Tears of the Kingdom that has been patented by Nintendo is the very brief loading sequence that commences when using fast travel to instantly relocate to another place in the vast world. The patent<\/a> is a solution to providing \u201ca game processing method capable of enriching game presentation during a waiting period in which at least part of the game processing is interrupted\u201d and consists of filling up the loading period that ensues after the user inputs their fast travel destination with a sequence in which an image of the starting point\u2019s map transitions into a map of the destination. After this sequence, the character is placed into the virtual space of the destination.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s fascinating to see that even game mechanics that most will barely register while playing, such as a loading screen sequence, can be legally protected patents. When asked what technology used in Tears of the Kingdom is new and unique, surely no one would think of the map transition that happens in between fast travelling. It just goes to show how thoroughly designed every aspect of the game is, whether apparent or running in the background.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the detailed patenting by Nintendo has also been criticized as excessive by some, both in the sense of them patenting mechanics that have seen predecessors, such as the time manipulating ability Recall, as well as in the sense of blocking other developers from using mechanics that players would want to see implemented elsewhere as well. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nintendo has recently made public numerous patents they have registered, most of which are related to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Even unexpected game mechanics such as fast travel loading transitions have been patented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":20592,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[63],"class_list":["post-20590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-zelda"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nNintendo registers numerous new patents from Tears of the Kingdom, even for loading screens - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nintendo has recently made public numerous patents they have registered, most of which are related to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. 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