It’s an interesting concept, but if this is the main input device for the NX, it feels like Nintendo might be repeating a mistake it’s made before.
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People claimed to be working on behalf of Nintendo have registered and filed for a patent of a quirky-looking, free-form game controller that may or may not have ties to the company’s covert upcoming console, which goes by the codename “NX”, as reported by Gamespot.
Nintendo has been granted a patent for a touchscreen controller.
Obviously companies file all sorts of patents, so this gamepad may never become a reality, but it’s the second Nintendo patent we’ve seen this week – the first being about a cloud-based upgrade system for the console. Moreover, no release date has been confirmed yet for the said console but Tech Radar speculates that it will be released in the holiday of 2016 given Nintendo’s track record of releasing their consoles a year after announcement.
Wii U Daily notes a patent outline which shows just that with the game network having a console and a “supplemental computing device”.
Newly-spotted patent filings show off designs for a controller that’s essentially a touchscreen with two holes cut directly into it, letting dual analog sticks poke through for regular use.
The patents elaborates at length on the device’s potential applications. This patent seems intent on fixing that awkwardness by placing the traditional controls and touchscreen controls as close together as possible.
It could also have non-game uses, like showing an internet browser in the middle of the screen with controls around one of the sticks.
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Previous reports have said that Sharp would be supplying Nintendo with its IGZO LCD that can take the form of a number of different shapes, as well as be bent. The device described in this patent would certainly fit that bill, even though the patent contains absolutely no mention of integration with a separate console. Furthermore, its design also seems to corroborate the rumors that the Nintendo NX will be a hybrid of a home game console and a handheld, so perhaps it is meant to be the successor to both the 3DS and the Wii U simultaneously.
