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Nintendo Revolution Revealed In Patent Application?

Nintendo Revolution

UPDATE: Someone jumped the gun.  More below.

GamesRadar claims to have seen the patent that covers the revolutionary aspect of the upcoming Nintendo Revolution.  Has Nintendo blown their own secret by applying for a necessary patent?

The controller for Nintendo's upcoming Revolution console will feature gyroscopic, tilt-sensitive technology, an LCD touch screen, and a greatly reduced number of face buttons, according to documentation on the US patent website.

Searching the patent database for upcoming technology is an old trick in this day and age of accessible government documents.  Unfortunately for GamesRadar, their report fails to link to any such patent to back up their claims.  These claims also contain mention of an LCD touchscreen, something that Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has denied.

I searched the USPTO database looking for any patents assigned to Nintendo and found a lot of interesting technologies listed (tilt sensors for Game Boy Advance, Play-Yan for music playback, etc.) but I didn't find anything pertaining to an input device for the Revolution.  Maybe I just didn't search long enough; I limited my scan to patents (both filed and applied) recently.  After all, the revolutionary aspect probably isn't coming from a 1997 innovation.

So, is this real or not?  I'm taking this with a grain of salt, but I have to admit that a patent is a lot more credible than "My best friend's uncle works for Nintendo and..."  If GamesRadar had linked to the actual patent on the USPTO website, I'd be a lot more convinced.  Feel free to sift through the legalese in the patent database and be sure to speak up if you find something intriguing.


Shortly after posting their report, GamesRadar withdrew it and replaced it with an report about Revolution rumors spreading regarding this patent listing.  Damningly enough, the site makes no apology or claims responsibility for making the initial report.  A site that labels itself as "The UK's Number One Games Website" should have more respect for their readers than to put its hands behind its back and whistle innocently after issuing a false report.  There's no shame in being wrong about this kind of thing, but distancing oneself from the initial article is rather unethical.

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