Nintendo wants you to go insane; Eternal Darkness sequel?
by Ross Miller 
{ Aug 30th 2005 at 5:30PM }
Update: the patent was approved today, even though it was filed in
December of 2000, before the original Eternal Darkness was released (talk about expedient processing). Sorry to get
anyone's hopes up, and thank everyone for pointing that out.
As September 16th gets nearer and more people look to the Tokyo Games Show for information on the Revolution, I
imagined that crazier rumors would be spread in regards to the "secrets" that Nintendo is holding. However, when the
craziest of ideas comes from the U.S. Patent Office, I am slightly taken aback. Patent 6,935,954 gives Nintendo
full rights to a "Sanity system for a video game…and game system." Essentially, it describes the sanity system from
Eternal Darkness. In fact, one of the inventors of the Sanity System, Dennis Dyack, is the head of Silicon
Knights, which created the game. Does this mean we might see a sequel to Eternal Darkness? Maybe so, at least now
Nintendo has an option.
As for the "game system" aspect of the patent, I would not put too much emphasis on that. Maybe one feature of the
Revolution controller is grips that detect your pulse – which would be very cool, indeed, and Reggie did say that the
"revolutionary" aspect was a pre-existing technology that has not been used in video games. Still, I would not hold my
breath on that.
Since the idea of Resident Evil 5 on the Revolution seems hopeful at best, another Eternal Darkness
(or a spiritual successor, at least) would give the console some mature credibility. The sanity system in Eternal
Darkness was fun – I remember going insane just to see what all you could do.
[Thanks, bandersnatch]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Trevor @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Filed: December 14, 2000
Ruari @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I hate Silicon Knights, they're s*** developers. MGS: TTS was buggiest game ever, a real big let down. They don't exactly push graphics of physics in games either. They have to rent Unreal Engine not just to save money, but because they are s*** developers (said again).
Ruari @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
or physics
Ross Miller @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Sorry, I looked at the Sterchi, et al. and mistook it for the filed date. Can anyone tell me what exactly Sterchi, et al. means and what actually happened to the patent today?
Dignan17 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Wow, yeah, it would seem that this is a pretty old patent, and Eternal Darkness came out in 2001, so they must have filed it for that game.
Still, it's a funny coincidence, because the moment this was posted I was just thinking how fantastic a game Eternal Darkness was/is, and how I was thinking about starting it up again soon. Granted, it's not quite as scary after the first time through, but it's still a fantastic game.
Pretty Obvious @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Damn man. If the next Eternal Darkness comes out for the Revolution I may have no choice but to give into Nintendo again.
The first was the most memorable and entertaining experience ive had on the Gamecube and in videogames altogether. Its a shame that just like the Gamecube, this will prob be one the few great games that will come out for the Rev, with me wasting my money on another Nintendo console.
startled @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Awesome! Patenting video game ideas! What a great idea. Go Nintendo!
courtney @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
That was a great, great underrated game. Actually it was rated good, just not bought. Mostly becuase uninformaed people usually go for the "Nintendo is for little kids" thing the compatention spits out.
chaoflux23 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Im sorry Joystiq, but you guys need to stop jumping the gun on 'news' that isnt news at all.
the first post says it all.
btw, I loved Eternal Darkness.
(Im a HPLovecraft Fan)
Are you guys just desperate for Nintendo news?
So they own the system, there are a million patents out there that arent actually in use.
Bud @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Eternal Darkness is one of the greatest videogames of all time. From comments here and elsewhere, it's a true underground hit.
I would LOVE to play a sequel. I loved seeing the architecure and visiting the same locations in different time periods. My girlfriend loved it, too.
Best thing was I found it used at a game store for 6 dollars.
sam @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
This patent has got to be easy to bust. Any D&D game has such a system. If any game developer wants to put a bounty on this patent, count me in!!!
Vance @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Eternal Darkness is one of the finest video games ever made. It's worth owning a Gamecube just for that game. Shame it didn't sell very well.
Jeff @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Ruari: MGS:TTS was in NO way "the buggiest game ever" and since they made that and Eternal Darkness, they are NOT a shitty developer.
Get a clue.
Sicker @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Doh!
www.callofcthulhu.com/gameinfo/gameplay.html
kit @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Nintendo and Silicon Knights going their separate ways really saddened me... a lot more than the Rare split, which seemed to be more widely publicised.
Eternal Darkness is undoubtedly one of the greatest video games ever made. I would love more than anything to see a sequel, but given how poorly the game did, I'm not hopeful.