Nintendo files for "invitation system" patent [update 1]
[Update 1: Slightly altered the headline.]According to U.S. Patent No. 20070123353 (are there really that many patents? No. 1 must be for "fire"), Nintendo is contemplating an "invitation system for [online videogames]." A fairly standard feature of Xbox Live, this would enable Wii users to be automatically notified of any friends logged into Nintendo servers, and enable the ability to invite said player to join them in whatever wonderful fantasy land in which they currently reside.
This technically may not even be for the Wii, but with rewritable firmware and a crapton of yen to replace their entire online infrastructure, hey, you never know. If you have ridiculous superstitious tendencies, please feel free to perform them ... now.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
hvnlysoldr @ Jun 3rd 2007 7:46PM
Can you say true universal friend code?
Author X @ Jun 3rd 2007 8:49PM
Dear Nintendo: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, at least let people invite when one enters the other's friend code! The system would still be obnoxious, but it would be just that much more reasonable to use if you could cut half the crap it takes to add each-other!
NvM @ Jun 3rd 2007 8:53PM
Nintendo seems to be less sucking at online everyday.
sam @ Jun 3rd 2007 8:53PM
The first four digits of the patent are the year it was registered.
Spyder @ Jun 3rd 2007 9:02PM
If you look hard at the patent number, it looks like they've switched to a date based system ;)
20070123 == 23rd January 2007
Alf @ Jun 3rd 2007 10:44PM
http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=nintendo&OS=nintendo&RS=nintendo
The patent was filed May 31.
steve @ Jun 4th 2007 1:54AM
make millions on the launch. . .use that to expand the online service. . .what will be Nintendo's 3rd step?
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Liqwid @ Jun 4th 2007 7:16AM
The first ever US Patent was given to one Samuel Hopkins in 1790 for the process of producing potash, for soaps, and pearlash, for baking.
vidGuy @ Jun 4th 2007 8:13AM
This would allow my idea of friend codes to work.
Wii friend-codes could be entirely invisible to the user. If I play JimmyBoy in Strikers, I should be able to click a button to invite him to be my friend. If he accepts, the Wii's could trade all of the necessary codes and we would be on each other's list. If I don't meet my friends online, THEN I could manually enter codes, but I wouldn't have to -- friend codes could be traded in Wii messages. Jill22 sends me a message to be a friend, I open it up and accept. Suddenly the friend code is transferred and we are friends.
This shouldn't be hard. Even if the Wii wasn't coded this way, an update could fix it. This, IMO, would be the best solution to the madness that is friend codes.
Lofi @ Jun 4th 2007 9:35AM
this is ridiculous. how can they file a patent on something that's already been existing for a long time like eg in icq?
Archebaldo @ Jun 4th 2007 1:08PM
It's not a patent yet. That is just a patent APPLICATION publication. It just means that their application is now published. That does not mean it is patented or will ever be patented. Anyone can submit a patent application and have it published.
Steve @ Jun 4th 2007 4:50PM
You should probably correct your blog to say they filed a patent application. see: http://www.asitri.com/app/asitri/uspto?pageid=pn_search&pn=20070123353&wr=on
tom turner @ Jun 18th 2007 7:49AM
uhh the patent system is numbered by date of application, followed by a numerical sequence. There aren't 20,070,123,353 patents, but rather 2007/01/23-353 I think... Im no legal whatchumacallit