Nintendo Patents Watch

As I mentioned before, Takashi Mochizuki is strangely inattentive to details for a business journalist. How is the PlayStation segment “robust” when:

• YoY operating income increase came completely from exchange rate gain
• YoY sales decrease would’ve doubled without exchange rate gain

Yes, PS5 sold more units than Switch 2 in Q3, but that’s a pyrrhic victory through discounts that caused an “increase in losses from hardware”, leading to an anemic 8.73% operating profit margin (in PS5’s year 5). And yet Mochizuki called that “surprisingly strong”, but Nintendo’s 19.2% margin (in NS2’s year 1) “concerns”.

This is also a reminder that Mochizuki remains the lone source reporting that PS5 achieved breakeven in Aug 2021, even though AFAIK Sony never made such claim. Since then, in fact, losses from hardware were mention in:

Oct ’21
Feb, May, Nov ’22
Apr, Nov ’23
Feb, May, Aug ’24
Feb, Nov ’25
and now in Feb ’26

[Originally posted on 2026-02-05 Pacific Time]

A couple interesting bits in the Q3 earnings Q&A:

When asked why Switch 2 sold better in Japan, Furukawa didn’t mention the local hardware price but credited Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Kirby Air Riders. It seems that those games are system sellers in Japan, but less so overseas.

When asked why the financial forecast isn’t revised despite a weaker yen, Furukawa partly attributed that to the proportion of 3rd party software sales being higher than previously forecasted. Remember when Chris Dring suggested that 3rd party sales were “below [the] lowest estimates”?

P.S.: I suspected from the start that the infamous quote came from Unity’s Survival Kids team (who built a game that no one expected, and likely had unrealistic sales estimates) to shift the blame to the platform, and Dring relayed it uncritically.

[Originally posted on 2026-02-04 Pacific Time]

The APU (annual playing users) churn has been ongoing since 2024 (img 1 below). Nintendo’s solution isn’t to double down on hardcore fans—which would further shrink the number—but to release updates for Switch 1 games, such as ACNH and Splatoon 3. See the latest Q&A #7 (img 2 below).

[Originally posted on 2026-02-04 Pacific Time]

[Grain of salt] In a Nikkei Shimbun article, UBS Securities analyst Zhai estimates that “the Switch 2 memory cost will rise 2.6 times from the initial $46 to $120.” It will turn NS2’s estimated gross profit of $23 (after tariffs) to a loss of $35-$50 per unit by the end of 2026.

Nikkei also reported that their unidentified sources (unclear whether singular or plural) “believe” that the Switch 2 is “already in the red” in Japan and the US.

[Originally posted on 2026-02-03 Pacific Time]

Mike Odyssey continues to bamboozle his followers. “Publication date” simply indicates the date on which a trademark will appear in the Trademark Official Gazette (TMOG). The trademark applicant such as Nintendo has no control over the date whatsoever.

[Originally posted on 2026-02-02 Pacific Time]

An Alarmo patent regarding its motion-based sound control has been published in the EU on 2026-01-21.

1. An mmWave sensor (#21 in img 1) detects distance, direction and speed of motions around the bed (img 2)
2. By calculating the amount of motions accumulated during a given time, a different sound is triggered and its volume modified (imgs 3-4)
3. The aims are to encourage user to get up, prevent them from going back to sleep, and reward fully waking up

[Originally posted on 2026-02-02 Pacific Time]

Likely preparing for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie merchandise, Nintendo filed four trademark applications on 2026-01-20 for the following classes of goods.

Rosalina, Bowser Jr., and Luma: paper & printed matter, leather goods, clothing & footwear, games & toys

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie: cosmetics & toiletry, metals & jewelry, paper & printed matter, utensils & cookware, textiles

[Originally posted on 2026-01-29 Pacific Time]

Nintendo Japan’s official tweet explained why Tomodachi Life Living the Dream will limit certain image sharing features: to protect the persons whom the player made into Miis (img 1 original text; img 2 machine translation). It sounds that they want to avoid the Grok image generator situation.

On the other hand, the game’s Japanese site states that sharing your screen via GameChat is not restricted (Nintendo Switch 2 の「ゲームチャット」で、本作のゲーム画面を見せあうことはできます). This is possibly because GameChat already has built-in safety features.

P.S.: This isn’t the first time that overseas audience received a lesser version of Nintendo corporate communication. I don’t know where the problem lies. Either NCL isn’t sharing complete info with their branches, or NOA is doing a poor job retransmitting.

[Originally posted on 2026-01-29 Pacific Time]

Two copyright records re: The Legend of Zelda movie are now searchable in the US CPRS. These aren’t “registrations” but “recordations” of copyright transactions:

1. Nintendo Studios granted Columbia Pictures the film’s distribution right; executed on 2023-09-28 and 2024-05-17 (img 1)
2. Nintendo Studios transferred the film’s copyright to Columbia Pictures; executed on 2025-11-07 and 2025-12-09 (img 2)

[Sidebar] Nintendo Studios LLC is registered in the State of Washington, and governed by NOA (same address too). The registered “nature of business” is “entertainment, arts & recreation” (NOA itself is “other services”). It has a branch in Glendale CA, most likely to conduct business with the SoCal entertainment industry.

[Originally posted on 2026-01-29 Pacific Time]

Someone brought the following Mike Odyssey tweets to my attention.

This “NEW” (all caps) patent was actually filed in JP in ‘22/US in ‘23, and published in JP in ‘23 and US in ‘24. The so-called “new vs shooter IP” is just Splatoon 3.

And these are undoubtedly not a “New Controller and Joy-con Grip”. They are simply drawings for illustrative purposes in a key mapping patent. It was filed in Japan in ‘24—before the Switch 2 reveal—therefore they couldn’t show the real Pro Controller 2 and Joy-Con 2 design in the application.

As someone generating plentiful content on patents and trademarks, does Mike O. genuinely cannot comprehend the basic info of a filing, or choose to ignore facts for clicks?

[Originally posted on 2026-01-28 Pacific Time]

Three patents covering different aspects of Pro Controller 2 were published by USPTO on 2026-01-22. Click through if you’re interested in the design details, such as seamless grip and GL/GR buttons.

Two alternative configurations of back buttons/rockers are presented, but Nintendo is unlikely to commercialize them.

Patent links: US471594115, US471594116, and US471594117

[Originally posted on 2026-01-28 Pacific Time]

In Macronix’s (旺宏) Q4 results conference, President Lu confirmed what Nintendo tech watchers had pieced together for sometime—Switch “ROM” is essentially MLC NAND plus a controller chip. The abysmal ROM revenues (image below), however, suggest that they hadn’t volume-produced any Switch 2 Game Cards yet.

In the Q&A session, Lu made two somewhat contradictory remarks:

• Macronix is a certified Switch 2 supplier
• Their ROM controller is “in the midst of obtaining certification”

While both can be true, the net result still means no Switch 2 Game Cards from the company as of December 2025. Is Rohm (ローム) the maker of rumored smaller cards of 16GB and 32GB?

Notes:

• I think that “the final year of Switch 1” text in the slide is not to be taken literally.
• MLC NAND is more durable than TLC and QLC, hence a sensible choice for a “ROM” product. The lower density, however, contributes to its higher unit cost than the more common TLC and QLC memory. This may be one reason behind the high prices of Game Cards.

[Originally posted on 2026-01-28 Pacific Time]

A lot has been said about the “disappointing” Switch 2 holiday sales in certain markets. It might surprise you that Nintendo themselves had anticipated this. As shown in pierre485’s infograph below, Nintendo forecasted to sell 8.64M units of NS2 in the 3rd and 4th quarters post launch. That is lower than NS1’s 10.16M units in the same period.

Furukawa said this in the Q&A session last May: “Nintendo Switch 2 is priced relatively high compared to Nintendo Switch, so we recognize that there are corresponding challenges to early adoption.” He reiterated it later in the same session: “But the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware is priced relatively high compared to Nintendo Switch, so even if there is momentum around the launch, we know it will not be easy to keep that momentum going over the long term through the holiday season and beyond.”

So it seems that despite a fast start (most likely due to pent-up demands after an 8 year gen), Nintendo management correctly projected a slower sales velocity than NS1 into the holiday season. And as such, I expect them to have a software lineup planned for 2026 to pick up the momentum again.

[Originally posted on 2026-01-12 Pacific Time]