Cognition Dissemination: Not Every Nintendo Patent Means Something
The fun individuals at Nintendo have done it again: They’ve concocted another patent to get several internet communities talking. This time, a patent has been discovered for a strictly-handheld device with dual screens and a clamshell design that resembles a Nintendo DS or 3DS from initial glance, particularly the latter considering the single left analog nub. More meaningfully, the documents show how the device can split apart, allowing for two players to play games on the system wirelessly. It would be an evolution of the Switch Joy-Con’s ability to split into two very tiny controllers, but this process should be more ergonomically comfortable.
Even more remarkable is how there’s a third screen, indicating that the system can be operated as the clamshell is closed. This would qualify as a true 3DS if that name wasn’t already taken and somewhat wasted on a 3D gimmick that most players became disinterested in. There are plenty of ways for which Nintendo could use this with their games, I’m sure, though I can’t provide any solid ideas here outside of minigames and WarioWare titles. I am not a game developer, after all.
This is a nice idea for a system, and it didn’t take long for the Internet Nerd Speculation Machine to start running at full speed. Perhaps this could be the next Nintendo platform, instead of the direct successor to the Switch that everyone’s expecting. This was followed by measurements of how the market would react to a new system that appeared to be more of a dedicated handheld than the prior system. It’s possible this one could still have the idea of a feature that lets players use it on a television through placing it on a dock, though it would clearly work differently. I’m not an engineer either, so I couldn’t begin to tell you how feasible the function would be.
We may never find out, either. For as nice as this idea sounds for a new handheld, especially for those of us who spent far too much time with our DS and 3DS systems, this is unlikely to come to fruition. I’m having a hell of a time determining how current battery technology could handle a system with a whopping three screens, all of them having a widescreen aspect ratio, with at least two in potentially 720p resolution. Nintendo would have to sacrifice the power for the new system to keep the battery running for a respectable amount of time, and perhaps for the system to work well at all. The overall console would have to remain at the same power as the current Switch at least, to the extreme disappointment of anyone who wanted a more powerful system.
There’s no cause for alarm here. The details of this system don’t come close to lining up with existing rumors about the next Nintendo platform as reported by reputable sources like Eurogamer and VGC. Its power was reportedly demonstrated behind closed doors at Gamescom, and though the final system’s true power is still being nailed down at this point, it should at least be on par with the base PlayStation 4 in handheld mode. That is, clearly, not the system shown in the patent.
This is hardly the first patent for a new Nintendo platform to go nowhere. One of the more legendary examples came prior to the Switch’s reveal (then known under the “Nintendo NX” codename), when a patent was discovered for a weird-looking oval-shaped controller with a screen on top of it. The screen surrounded the limited number of physical control options, which would reserve some functions usually assigned to dedicated buttons to a touchscreen. Nintendo is known for their peculiar experiments compared to other hardware manufacturers, but this was bizarre even by their standards. It also looked like an ergonomics nightmare.
This, of course, was not what the Switch turned out to be, and went nowhere. But it was fun to read all the discussions around it at the time. Those discussions got extremely fun when a few crafty people 3D printed the controller and fooled a portion of the internet into thinking it was real. This led to further speculation about how the controller could possibly work, whether it was the system itself or just a controller for a console, and where the “leak” came from. It was a fun time, and I hope it happens again with the 3-Screened DS or whatever the community is calling this now.
If someone does a 3D print of this thing and tries to fool the internet with it, hopefully they do so well before Nintendo formally reveals the Switch successor. I’m aware that me talking about this now lowers the chance of anyone being tricked by it. Yet, it doesn’t entirely diminish them. The first 3D print will simply have to be a hell of a quality job. But expect the system itself to remain nothing more than an idea for the foreseeable future, despite the neat prospect of having a system that will play hundreds of DS and 3DS games. I’m sure a company like Analogue will eventually get on a system that fulfills the latter functions.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
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Geoff, I saw this on Kotaku and etc. and it HAS fueled a lot of speculation.
I would like to put in my 2 cents that when the device looks closed with screen on the outside that’s a good format if it was for phone-like “one screen” mobile games (where you don’t need to be holding game pad)
Also want to point out it’s curious everyone talks about 3 screens. From the pictures isn’t is possible the outside screen is simply the top screen but you would have to “twist” the screen around backwards then close the device? in that case it’s 2 screens.
I think you are right it’s unlikely to be switch 2.0 but something they thought about
Yup. All three screens can’t be used at the same time. Well, I guess it’s possible, but definitely not practical. I’d like to see someone try that.
…if this was going to be a real device. It’s definitely not happening, but it will be interesting if they try something like it years down the line.