Nintendo has filed a patent for ‘smart fluid’ joysticks, perhaps to eliminate drift | VGC
Nintendo has filed a patent for ‘smart fluid’ joysticks, perhaps to eliminate drift | VGC
The fluid can become elasticated when used with a magnetic field…
Let's hope this isn't just a random patent, and we actually get better sticks next generation.
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A company already makes hall effect joysticks that are JoyCon sized and they claim to hold a patent for them. I haven’t taken the time to verify, but even if they don’t have a leg to stand on they could still take Nintendo to court.
2 0 Reply@JonDorfman I wonder how they would do that while also not violating patents on JoyCons that I suppose Nintendo has.
I have not checked, but would be surprised if they do not.
1 0 ReplyNintendo doesn’t hold a patent on the JoyCon joysticks. As far as I am aware they are an off the shelf component.
1 0 Reply@JonDorfman, I did a quick online search for Nintendo’s JoyCon patents, and interestingly found a US one from 2023 (2020 in Japan) about what looks Hall effect analogue sticks:
https://patents.google.com/patent/US20230280850A1/1 0 ReplyThat patent is what I was referring to when I mentioned a novel approach.
1 0 Reply@JonDorfman, right, but Hall effect analogue sticks themselves have existed for a long time, so that technology in general (except any novel addition) is (most likely) not patented anymore.
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To be fair I hope anybody and everybody that has a leg to stand on in court does so and wastes their time and money there.
Nintendo consistently uses it's legal might in anyi-consumet ways to harm its biggest fans. As somebody that loves Nintendo games, fuck Nintendo.
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