Nintendo patent reveals cell phone gaming plans

by Kyle Orland { Feb 7th 2007 at 1:15PM }

Joystiq sister site Engadget recently unearthed a great Nintendo patent filed way back in 2001 for an "Electronic apparatus having game and telephone functions" -- that's right, plans for a gaming cell phone from Nintendo. Mock-up pictures of the device show a small, Game Boy-style D-pad and buttons atop a standard 12-button cell phone layout, along with sketches of a game of "Super Mario DX" being interrupted by an incoming call.

While the failure of the N-Gage and the current success of the Nintendo DS make it somewhat unlikely we'll see any actual products created from this patent anytime soon, it's still interesting to note that Nintendo included cell phones in its mobile gaming plans, at least at some point.

Tags: cell phone, CellPhone, DS, Game Boy, GameBoy, mobile, N-gage, Nintendo, patent

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

knot_U @ Feb 7th 2007 1:20PM

add me, my Wii nuber is:

8272-6692-6378-5861

knot_U

AirIntake @ Feb 7th 2007 1:22PM

What an ugly piece of crap....... even in 2001 that phone would have been huge and old looking.

Ralnakor @ Feb 7th 2007 2:15PM

This is mighty interesting. I have to wonder whether it would have to be hooked into the internet through the Wii or if it will serve as a regular cell phone.

Intentless @ Feb 7th 2007 1:28PM

Prototypes are never pretty... Does AirIntake have a reason to be biased?

Quando @ Feb 7th 2007 1:58PM

Ai dont dig my games being interrupted by a phone call or anything else. Gaming is a focused activity, phonecalls are of the genus of coitus interruptus. The twine shall never mate.

Myke @ Feb 7th 2007 1:29PM

AirIntake, patent drafts RARELY look like the finished product, typically they make them as generic as possible so as to allow room for adjustments down the line, I have a feeling if it actually ever were to be made it would be much sleeker and much more complex looking.

AirIntake @ Feb 7th 2007 1:38PM

Biased? Yes, towards ugly, poorly designed phones I am. I had a Nokia 8260 in 2001 and it looked much better than this thing (and played a wicked game of Snake). Take your Nintendo goggles off for a minute. If any other company came out with this it would be considered worse than the N-gage by people on Joystiq.

Intentless @ Feb 7th 2007 1:43PM

Ok... So ummm... Being a prototype means... What? They doodled on a napkin essentially, showing what the main premise would be. I imagine the DS didn't look that great when they first filed for the Patent rights...

Ben Heckendorn @ Feb 7th 2007 1:45PM

The word "craptacular" comes to mind... At least you're able to hold an N-Gage, unlike this which looks it's designed for the hands of a 10 month old baby.

AirIntake @ Feb 7th 2007 1:45PM

If this thing is normal cell phone sized, think of how close together your thumbs would be when playing with the D-pad and A&B buttons. They'd be bumping together the whole time.

Ikitsumatatsu @ Feb 7th 2007 1:46PM

AirIntake, Nursey sez it's time for your medicine.

Grunge @ Feb 7th 2007 1:59PM

http://www.google.com/patents?q=nintendo&btnG=Search+Patents

There's all the patents that Nintendo has filed. 886 of them. They can't all be winners ... here's a controller that never made it:

http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT5820462&id=MNMEAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=nintendo#PPP1,M1

And what I presume is the N64 controller:

http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT5984785&id=Y0MXAAAAEBAJ&dq=nintendo
(Just look at the picture.)

daniel @ Feb 7th 2007 2:07PM

if nintendo get around to making this it'll probably look a lot better probably minimalistic and white they wouldnt make a phone all by themselves would they be likely theyd pair up with a company that makes phones i wud say panasonic from the companies relationship with each other

daniel @ Feb 7th 2007 2:08PM

and i think that controller did make it that looks like a virtual boy controller

redspear @ Feb 7th 2007 2:10PM

Patents rarely look like their final product. The person who mentioned the DS brings up a good example. What was shown at the E3 was different from the Phat. They also probably didn't need a new patent for the DS lite. Patents are for process and not form. Structure is important only in so far as it effects the process. Bio Chemicals are patentable but only the process to make them. I have done a lot of patent cases and the keys to a good patent is the language and flexibility of the the patent itself.

However the GBA and GBA SP probably required 2 seperate patents because of the folding hinge. Nintendo didn't need to patent the folding hinge again in fact it couldn't unless it changed the way hinge worked so if not for the touch screen and dual screen set up on the DS Nintendo would not of needed a new patent for the DS in fact it probably couldn't get one as that is what would be called Double Patenting. Sony got around Nintendos patent for the analog stick by changing the process of how it works and is made. Sony tried to get around the rumble but ended up infringing on another patent(immersion)which was actually the second trial I ever worked on.

redspear @ Feb 7th 2007 2:17PM

Grunge the patent for what you presumed was the N64 controller was submitted on Jan 9th,1997 The N64 was launched September 29th. If that is the patent for the N64 controller than they probably already had a patent in Japan and relied on Prior art to sustain any copycats in the US. So their mock up would more closely resemble there final product. Also many things on the N64 controller would already have been patented from the SNES controler and the NES controller.

redspear @ Feb 7th 2007 2:23PM

http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT5949643&id=szkXAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=nintendo+dual+screen

Grunge @ Feb 7th 2007 2:26PM

Eh - there were over 800 of them, and I really only went through the first twenty or so. The point is, patent drawings always look like shit, and most of these patents never get used. Oh, and by the way, this is perhaps the most important videogame patent of all time:
http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT5004232&id=TxAlAAAAEBAJ&dq=nintendo
This is what saved the game industry and led to Japan having control over the market for so many years. Also, while I still have some links left, here's Gamasutra's article on the ten most important patents of all time:
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20070119/dannenberg_01.shtml

Jake @ Feb 7th 2007 2:26PM

It is just a patent. They probably did it to protect them from patents other people could have filed which may have prevented them from entering the mobile gaming arena down the road if that mobile gaming industry ever blew up.

It is cute, though, how they slapped Yoshi on it. Or was that Joystiq's sorcery.

Skwurl @ Feb 7th 2007 2:37PM

AirIntake,

Follow this link:
http://loop.worldofapple.com/wp-content/post-images/amtec-iphone-fig2.jpg

It's is an early design patent that shows Apple's direction in the cellphone industry. Sure looks like the iPhone, huh?

In conclusion, I politely ask that you please stop wasting our precious oxygen - or in this case, Internet bandwidth.

Thank you.

crono141 @ Feb 7th 2007 3:01PM

http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT6878067&id=CZQUAAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4&dq=nintendo&as_drrb_ap=b&as_minm_ap=1&as_miny_ap=2004&as_maxm_ap=1&as_maxy_ap=2007#PPP1,M1

Why we don't have custom soundtracks on Wii or PS3 built in.

F1ghter @ Feb 7th 2007 3:01PM

My first reaction is I'm surprised it doesn't have a touch screen like the DS.

My second reaction is that until proven wrong, I will continue to believe that cellphones and gaming don't mix.

mmarino @ Feb 7th 2007 3:30PM

#11 The controller that never made it is clearly the Virtual Boy controller. There is very little that differs in the final design.

pixelator @ Feb 7th 2007 5:21PM

I don't know why we wouldn't expect to see something coming from this in relatively short order. With gadget phones topping the lists for items consumers are dying to get (like the Blackjack, Treo, iPhone, Razr, etc.), it stands to reason Nintendo would want to cash in on this trend - just like Apple is.

I think they could make a go of it, but I don't see it cleaning up. I think people want more from their multifunction phones than just gaming. I see thousands of Gameboy Advance Micro screens and buttons finding new homes.

Crono @ Feb 7th 2007 3:46PM

Actually, I don't think it is. Its similar in design, but this one is wireless, and has 6 axis tilt functions. Its the precursor to the wiimote, or perhaps even a wiimote patent.

AirIntake @ Feb 7th 2007 3:53PM

@Ikitsumatatsu and Skwurl

I'm sorry that stating the obvious was against the rules if it involves Nintendo for you guys.
Since this never became a finished product, all there is to discuss is this one patent picture. And this one patent picture looks like crap.
Ok, perhaps you'd like me to ignore the picture and talk about the concepts discussed in the patent itself. Ok, lets look for some innovation, shall we?

Here's a summary of the claims:
1:It is comprised of buttons, and phone and game components
2:It can save games and phone data
3:The phone part knows your playing the game, the game part knows when a phone call is incoming
4:An incoming call can be shown on screen in game
5:You can download games
6:An interruption can pause a game
7:The game can do something specific when interrupted
8:You can resume the game with a resume button

Everything here applies to the N-gage, my Nokia 8260 from 2001, as well as virtually any cell-phone product made from 2001 on.

So what nice things am I supposed to say when this is all the information given?

I suppose you guys think that since its Nintendo it automatically would have been awesome and I suck, right?

Je2037 @ Feb 7th 2007 4:03PM

I had no idea you could search patents on Google. Thats amazing.

F1ghter @ Feb 7th 2007 4:04PM

@AirIntake

You don't have to like it. I certainly have many misgivings about the concept, and it would have to be proven to me before I'd buy.

Still, that doesn't give you license to go on rabid fanboy rants and make yourself sound like a moron.

AirIntake @ Feb 7th 2007 4:15PM

@F1ghter

I don't see how disagreeing with the patents awesomeness and presenting logical arguments is a "rabid fanboy rant". If anything, the posters trying to insult me are the fanboys, as they cannot handle appropriate criticism.

Joystiq would be quite a boring place if every comment had to be positive.

F1ghter @ Feb 7th 2007 4:34PM

"What an ugly piece of crap....... even in 2001 that phone would have been huge and old looking." ~AirIntake

That is a sensationalist statement, as well as obvious flamebait. If you wanted to state the same content without sounding like a blind anti-fanboy, you could have said something like: "It looks pretty ugly, even when compared with old phones." This statement is especially bad when talking about a patent picture, which seldom look like the final product.

Besides the look of the phone, calling it a "piece of crap" while knowing nothing of the technical specifications is also ignorant flamebait.

I'm not saying that some of your arguments weren't valid, but your presentation is what causes me to cry "FANBOY!"

redspear @ Feb 7th 2007 4:36PM

AirIntake.

You were not mentioning the patent itself but rather the design. Which the only thing I think a few people were saying is that if the product ever came to being it would not look like what you see here.

You may feel that the all of those things exist in the N-gage but I can guarantee you that the processes are different.

I am an not exactly enthralled by a gaming cell phone just yet myself. I don't think electronics have the versatility to provide the adequate needs for an all in one machine just yet.

Reading a patent abstract and the patent itself are two seperate things. The language ofthe patent itself is the important thing. In fact during a patetn case they have what is called a Markman Hearing which is the most dull thing you will ever here. Theyargue over specific words in the litigation with regards to the patent. I once had to sit through a 6 hour hearing over the meaning of the word corner.

Again not liking hte idea of the phone is relevant to the patent not liking the design of the phone based of a patent is another story. that is all I am saying

AirIntake @ Feb 7th 2007 4:52PM

@F1ghter

So this all started because of my use of the word 'crap'? Sensitive crowd today I guess.

AirIntake @ Feb 7th 2007 5:04PM

@redspear

Thanks for not calling me a fanboy. I'm just not that impressed so far with cell phone based gaming implementations and the picture and the wording of the patent didn't do anything to change my mind.

F1ghter @ Feb 7th 2007 5:11PM

@AirIntake

Wow. I can't even comprehend your ignorance.

AirIntake @ Feb 7th 2007 5:20PM

@F1ghter

What am I ignorant about? Cell phones? Video games? What the word 'crap' means? You seem to just want to insult me today. Perhaps you should relax using this patent:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=5,920,923
I'm done, you win the internet

Ikitsumatatsu @ Feb 8th 2007 7:37AM

AirIntake, the reason so many people are railing against your comments is not because we're raging fanboys, but because it's hilarious how you've ignored most of the good points mentioned in this thread, and continue to do so to protect your dignity.

No-one but you cares about your awesome INTERNET REPUTATION, but go ahead and call me a Nintenfag if it makes you feel better, honey.

rokobungi @ Feb 7th 2007 8:06PM

mow the real reason for the patent is so another console maker can't get an all in one device that 'could' knock the ds off it's #1 handheld perch without having to pay nintendo a huge settlement (plus $ for every additional phone/game thingy sold) this little patent might be the only thing that has kept the Apple phone thing without buttons and gaming with buttons (ha take that apple you aren't going to even be able to use the iphone name without paying big bucks for it)

in all I think the patent has been perverted into just a way to keep the good ideas into something only big business can afford (the $6800+++ patent application fee makes sure of that for the most part) I think that a patent should not be issued for an IDEA that someone has ZERO intention of using but only holding in order to score big bucks when someone uses it effectively.

another funny thing is even if a patent is being infringed on no legal action seems to take place until there a really big success with it. (kinda like how immersion seemed to wait until their force feedback was aready in every video game controller in existance)

excuse me I've go to patent air so I can collect from every living person on earth for using it without my permission.

jaysins @ Feb 7th 2007 8:16PM

Just want to say that I called it in the N-Gage thread. At least add EDGE or UMTS so you can play online anywhere through their next handheld. Making calls would be even sweeter.

Doomstalk @ Feb 7th 2007 9:59PM

Grunge: The cutaway showing how the analog stick is held looks shockingly like the Nunchuck.

Cuja @ Feb 8th 2007 2:36AM

Save us from the details. So they got all these lame brains lock up in a torture room spitting out all kinds of stupid crap hoping one of these can in up landing in legit court. Nintendo's quest to patent anything to rot your brain and make money on it.

Skwurl @ Feb 8th 2007 11:37AM

"So this all started because of my use of the word 'crap'? Sensitive crowd today I guess."

Wow, you really are an idiot aren't you?

People aren't being 'sensitive' on your concerns with the idea - instead, they're calling you on your moronic critique of the DESIGN...which is a FUCKING PATENT PROTOTYPE.

You obviously can't see this, and for that I'm a little embarrassed for you - actually very embarrassed for you.