Nintendo’s Latest Patent Reveals What Might Be A New Handheld Device

Nintendo may very well be working on two separate handheld devices according to a patent released at the tail of June. According to Tech Insider, Twitter user ZhugeEX did a little digging and discovered the concepts for what seem to be two different devices from the company. Clearly there’s no confirmation with a patent, but their existence shows that the wheels are turning for new things over at Nintendo.

Now all should be quick to note that patents are filed all the time and this is in no way a confirmation on what we’ll be getting with the Nintendo NX — despite rumors that they’ll be combining a console with functionality of a handheld device.

According to Tech Insider, the first device featured in the patent seems to resemble a smart phone. It’s something that could follow Nintendo’s arrival in the mobile game market with titles like Pokemon Go. It doesn’t seem like the company would want to take on a company like Apple directly with their own smartphone, but you never know. The device apparently utilizes a touch screen for control, has an “acceleration sensor” that detects motion, and a few other “phone-like” buttons.

The other and more familiar looking device looks to be a return to basics for Nintendo, away from years of DS and 3DS design. The interesting portion according to Gamnesia is linked to how the handheld would utilize sound:

The speakers are wired such that they are able to be inversely controlled, giving the illusion of a moving sound source. For example, as a character moved from the left side of the screen to the right, the speaker configuration would mean that the sound could mimic this movement, giving rise to the use of 3D sound.

In addition, a vibrator is located between the speakers and can interact with them in two different ways as well. If the vibrator is going off, the device will be able to adjust the volume of the speakers accordingly. The vibrator will also be able to change its amplitude in proportion (either regularly or inversely) to the volume of the speakers. The vibrator would also be able to provide haptic feedback and interact with on-screen actions, providing more of a rumble feature to the device.

Full immersion certainly seems to be the goal of future gaming devices, with many companies jumping on the wave of VR technology to allow gamers to enter the games themselves. Messing with sound and creating that in a handheld might be Nintendo’s next trick after working with 3D visuals for the past few years.

Of course, all of this is meaningless if nothing ever happens with the product.

(Via Tech Insider / Gamnesia)