Nintendo Patents Watch

Program ➡️ Patent

Program ➡️ Patent ➡️ Poetry

Sources: patent 1, patent 2, Bananza image

[Originally posted on 2025-08-27 Pacific Time]

Interesting that Nintendo chose to transform WARPSTAR, Inc. into Nintendo Stars Inc. to handle the ancillary use of Nintendo films. Although the company’s profit bounced back after COVID, which hurt the Kirby Cafe and other retail sales, its performance isn’t too stellar. I guess that their experience and know-how won them the promotion.

WARPSTAR, and now Nintendo Stars, is located in the same building (Kanda Square) as HAL Laboratory, but I don’t know whether they share the same office.

[Originally posted on 2025-08-27 Pacific Time]

It’s been revealed that the It’s Me, Mario! stop motion shorts were produced by Dwarf Studios (ドワーフ), the same creative shop behind the Pokémon Concierge series. No wonder they exude the same quality of artistry and craftsmanship.

[Originally posted on 2025-08-26 Pacific Time]

Clickbait reporting. The truth is that National Diet Library does not have the means or legal basis to deposit download games at the moment.

The Library is rather slow moving when it comes to digital media. They only began collecting paid (i.e., commercial) ebooks since 2023, after the National Diet Library Law was finally amended for ebooks. The blocker here is not the Game-Key Card, but the law preventing them from archiving digital games.

Source: National Diet Library Law

[Originally posted on 2025-08-25 Pacific Time]

A sidebar to my last post about Nintendo’s R&D in small form factor handhelds:

AFAIK, there’s no Nintendo patent for a TV-only console in the past few years. While that isn’t a concrete evidence against the prospect of such a device, the company doesn’t seem to actively developing one.

Although there were remnants of a TV-only console in Switch firmware (nx-abcb, a.k.a. Copper and Calcio), I believe that they were only “check the boxes” prototypes never intended for commercialization.

Last but not least, “one [Switch] per person” has been Nintendo’s product strategy for some time. A TV-only model doesn’t fit.

[Originally posted on 2025-08-23 Pacific Time]

A few patent continuations for a mini gaming device were published yesterday. Since they aren’t new, I won’t share them individually but summarize Nintendo’s patents in recent years around three different designs of small form factor. I’ll speculate what it means for Switch Lite at the end.

First device (filed in 2022-2025) features [front:] 1 touch screen, 1 directional input, 4 face buttons, [top:] 2-4 shoulder buttons, [bottom:] 1 home button, and 1 capture button. The patents include layout, cooling, button mechanisms, low-profile stick, and reducing the number of screws. (Links in image alt text)

Second device (filed in 2022-2025) features two stackable tablets, each with [front:] 1 touch screen, 0-1 direction input, 0-1 camera, and [top:] 2-4 shoulder buttons. Two patents focus on a single tablet, and one patent on the coupling of two tablets. (Links in image alt text)

Third device (filed in 2023) features [front:] 1 touch screen, 1 directional input, 2 face buttons, [top:] 2-6 shoulder buttons, [side:] 1 camera, [bottom:] 1 home button, and 1 capture button. The patents include layout, cooling, button mechanism, and also a Labo-like packaging box. (Links in image alt text)

In addition, there are patents (filed in 2022-2025) that look like the Switch Lite at first glance, but actually not:

• One describes a handheld gaming device with a built-in camera on one side.
• One (plus a continuation) shows a device with built-in magnets for attaching front and back covers.
• (Links in image alt text)

Speculations:

• Nintendo appears to invest substantial R&D in miniaturization. So unlike the Switch 2, I suspect that Lite 2 may not increase in size much over the previous gen.
• The dual-screen patents seem academic, but it suggests that GameShare could see some interesting uses on Lite 2.
• Some of the patents mention a camera. Since an external one would be inconvenient, Lite 2 might feature a built-in camera for GameChat.
• The effort to reduce the number of sticks and buttons, plus the Labo-like box, hint at Nintendo’s interest in a My Mario type of tablet for children.

[Originally posted on 2025-08-22 Pacific Time]

A patent continuation is published by USPTO today. It describes a two-way charging system between the console and Joy-Cons, essentially combining three batteries into one larger battery.

It doesn’t seem to be implemented in Switch 2, and I don’t know if it’s possible to add via a system update. Note that it isn’t a purely software solution. A resistor and a switch are required on each device.

[Originally posted on 2025-08-21 Pacific Time]

Nintendo Dream Web published a lengthy interview of three Donkey Kong Bananza developers: Motokura, Takahashi, and Kubo. It’s much more in-depth than Ask the Developer Vol. 19, and a good read for anyone interested in game design. (contains very minor spoilers)

The article is long, so I’ll translate only the part about working with Miyamoto-san.

Miyamoto-san said something like, “Donkey Kong’s movements seems floaty and light. Maybe because his footsteps sound a bit low.” […] We kept the footsteps quiet so not to lessen the impact of destruction sounds.

We repeated the process of slightly increasing the volume and having Miyamoto-san listen to it a few times. In the end, I think we achieved a balance that feels good, giving a sense of weight without losing the satisfaction of destruction.

Initially, [the button mapping] inherited from Mario, using B button to jump. However, Miyamoto-san pointed out to me, “for digging downward, wouldn’t the B button be more intuitive?” When I actually tried it, this key mapping indeed felt more intuitive. So that was Miyamoto-san’s suggestion.

[Originally posted on 2025-08-20 Pacific Time]

Look how they massacred my boy

(Seriously though, the trademark is for the new My Mario product line. So they probably want to teach kids proper grammar.)

[Originally posted on 2025-08-20 Pacific Time]

Back in June a new trademark application for “ポッ拳 Pokkén Tournament” was filed in Japan by Nintendo. That was interesting but might not mean much. On Aug 18, however, a new application was jointly filed for 17 other territories, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Switzerland, China, EU, UK, Indonesia, India, South Korea, Mexico, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, USA, and Vietnam.

Is something happening? It could be as simple as Pokkén soundtracks in Nintendo Music though.

[Originally posted on 2025-08-20 Pacific Time]

This is bizarre. A credit union in Pennsylvania (image 1 below) filed an intent-to-use (ITU) trademark application for “SWITCH 2” on 2025-08-14 (img 2).

There are only 5 associated profiles on LinkedIn (image 1 below), and their website doesn’t contain the phrase “switch 2” (img 2). Unsure what their game is?

Not much info is available online about Bessemer System Federal Credit Union, except that they sued Fiserv (fintech provider) in 2019, and their CEO published an article complaining about “regulators” and “DEI” in 2022. It’s a small town credit union with just $45.5M assets.

[Background] Nintendo holds SWITCH and SWITCH 2 trademarks in Japan, but in other territories the company only holds NINTENDO SWITCH and NINTENDO SWITCH 2.

[Originally posted on 2025-08-19 Pacific Time]

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Follow-up post: PA Credit Union’s “Switch 2” Trademark

IntelliGo (意騰), supplier of the AI noise cancelling chip in Switch 2, disclosed in a recent investor conference that the production of this IC continues to ramp up (image 1 below), and Nintendo’s raised the shipment targets for H2 (img 2).

This echos the official disclosures from PixArt Imaging and Hosiden, two other Switch 2 suppliers, regarding raised projection of sales to Nintendo in Q3.

[Originally posted on 2025-08-19 Pacific Time]

In honor of the Air Riders Direct, I’m sharing this Nintendo + HAL patent (filed in 2022, published in 2024):

A 3D rendering technique using line & color info in G buffer, and depth info in depth buffer (images 1-2) to generate a more natural looking Kirby arm, instead of an eldritch tentacle (img 3).

[Originally posted on 2025-08-18 Pacific Time]