GameCube exclusive Eternal Darkness is famous for its patented sanity system - but the rights have now expired. So, could anyone copy it? We asked a lawyer.
Tbf, I think Nintendo might have forgotten they even had this one, seeing as they’ve neither used the mechanic nor enforced the patent since filing it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Nintendo patents almost every mechanic they deem noteworthy, even if they amount to a bunch of gimmicky minigames or interactions. The sanity system, as it currently exists, is very rudimentary and overstays its welcome quickly, I’d argue making something substantially better was always on the table, and that alone would’ve bypassed the patent, so long is not literally the same code or instructions I guess.
I’m not against patents in general but looking at the list of specific insanity-induced hallucinations being patented this whole thing is ridiculous. This is on the level of being able to patent giving your restaurant guests cutlery. How is any designer supposed to keep track of which specific micro events are patented like this.
I am against all game design patents in general. You shouldn’t be able to file a patent on game mechanics, like no movie director could have filed a patent on, say, the idea of sequence shot.
Game content (art, characters, etc) is already protected by copyright. Patents have absolutely no business in this.
Wholly agreed. In general the concept that “you can’t patent an idea” or “you can’t patent a general concept” is supposed to be at the heart of patent law. I think some of these game mechanics parents, like this and the Nemesis System, go against that too much.
If you invented a new and novel method of painting, like Jackson Pollock’s, you could potentially patent that. Directionally brushing has imperial buttloads of prior literal art.
If every game had patented everything that they came up with, we probably wouldn’t have reached 1000 total games by now.
Some early game would probably patent “revealing more of the world as you move horizontally/verrically” and we would probably be confined to a single screen for every other game for decade.
Then some other game would patent “using an input source to move a gun’s aim/targetting on the screen” and we would never have had any fps. A “first person view” would probably be patented soon too. Leveling up? What a cool concept that I wish more than one game ever used.
At best, companies would all be paying licenses to each other for all of those mechanics - just like it works on hardware today where Samsung (for example) for a long time made a ton of money out of their main competitor’s sales. And games would probably be so expensive that a lot of them could even have their own dedicated hardware made specifically for them, without affecting the final price that much.
Modern day Nintendo would surely enjoy that. They could make gimmicky hardware for specific games and simply call it a toy. Games like Guitar Hero would probably only be playable on toy guitars (as some other game would’ve already patented translating basic inputs into something rhythm related).
In a way I could see some pretty cool games being invented for a while in this parallel reality, with the patent restrictions forcing people to think of new stuff like the hardware restrictions used to do last century - but we would never had Stardew Valley, Minecraft, Rimworld, Factorio, Dwarf Fortress and 99% of the most beloved games out there.
Sure we all agree but the dumbshits making the rules 1) Have no idea about technology older than color television and 2) Are really only interested in preserving corporate profitability
I think the big problem is when companies apply for patents but never utilize them. In my ideal world, patents should quickly expire and opened to the public if they aren’t being used. Like, what’s the point of protecting your idea if you have no intention to use it anytime soon?
That could deal with the patent troll problem as well.
What the point is? To cripple your competition. Nintendo is actively discouraging game development. If Nintendo was a human they would be garbage. Since they’re not human, everyone who choose to work for them is garbage.
Yeah I’m not against patents in general because it’s meant to allow the company or individual a chance to be only one on the market so they can recoup rnd costs instead of someone else coming in and undercutting them immediately.
The issue is they last too long. Especially idea ones like this for software. 5 years is what it should be around about.
Outside of the very specific cases of Palworld and WB’s notorious Nemesis System, you probably can just ignore the patents and do whatever you want, many of these are filed for self protection rather than to enforce them.
Metroid Zero Mission’s Mother Brain fight is patented, it literally is about shooting the player when they make line of sight with the Brain eye, besides being utterly ridiculous to have something like this patented, you don’t see anyone going to court over this.
Yeah well when the copyright courts agreed to Namco’s patent on loading screen minigames it kind of freaked everyone out back then and people patented every dumbshit thing. For a short time Amazon tried to patent the single click purchase
So Nintendo filed the patent, and paid the maintenance fees over the years. Did they even do anything with it beyond that one game? How much money did they think they gained just by preventing others from implementing a similar mechanic?
In 2006, Dyack said “absolutely yes” in response to the question of a possible sequel. He stated that Silicon Knights had intended for Eternal Darkness to be a stand-alone game, but they wanted to make more games set in the same universe involving the Ancients.[54][55] At Microsoft’s Spring 2008 Showcase, Dyack said there was a “strong chance” they would return to the Eternal Darkness brand.[56] In 2011, Silicon Knights said they were refocusing on one of their most requested titles for the next generation of consoles. This, combined with the fact that Nintendo had trademarked the title once again, spawned rumors that an Eternal Darkness game would be a launch title for Nintendo’s Wii U console.[57] However, the project was cancelled due to Silicon Knights’ legal troubles with Epic Games.[58] Any possibility for a sequel from Silicon Knights ended in 2013 when Silicon Knights filed for bankruptcy and closed its offices.[59] Nintendo has repeatedly renewed the Eternal Darknesstrademark, stirring rumors of sequels or re-releases.[60][61][62][63]
Followed by Dyack forming another studio, botching three crowdfunding attempts, forming another studio, then shuttering the project.
There’s no “sanity” system in Look Outside. The closest thing is a hidden “stress” stat which, last I checked, is literally just combat problems when it gets low.
That said, Look Outside is a fantastic game, and the Dev is super down to earth and active with his players. Highly recommend.
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I don’t understand how they successfully patented this without challenge. Call of Cthulhu has a sanity system, and it came out in the 80’s.
Tbf, I think Nintendo might have forgotten they even had this one, seeing as they’ve neither used the mechanic nor enforced the patent since filing it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Good call. They couldn’t have been enforcing. Amnesia had a sanity meter, and it came out in 2010.
Nintendo patents almost every mechanic they deem noteworthy, even if they amount to a bunch of gimmicky minigames or interactions. The sanity system, as it currently exists, is very rudimentary and overstays its welcome quickly, I’d argue making something substantially better was always on the table, and that alone would’ve bypassed the patent, so long is not literally the same code or instructions I guess.
I’m not against patents in general but looking at the list of specific insanity-induced hallucinations being patented this whole thing is ridiculous. This is on the level of being able to patent giving your restaurant guests cutlery. How is any designer supposed to keep track of which specific micro events are patented like this.
I am against all game design patents in general. You shouldn’t be able to file a patent on game mechanics, like no movie director could have filed a patent on, say, the idea of sequence shot.
Game content (art, characters, etc) is already protected by copyright. Patents have absolutely no business in this.
Wholly agreed. In general the concept that “you can’t patent an idea” or “you can’t patent a general concept” is supposed to be at the heart of patent law. I think some of these game mechanics parents, like this and the Nemesis System, go against that too much.
No sorry, you can’t paint like that. I patented left to right brush strokes.
If you invented a new and novel method of painting, like Jackson Pollock’s, you could potentially patent that. Directionally brushing has imperial buttloads of prior literal art.
Nah fuck that I should be able to splatter paint and call it my work as well.
If every game had patented everything that they came up with, we probably wouldn’t have reached 1000 total games by now.
Some early game would probably patent “revealing more of the world as you move horizontally/verrically” and we would probably be confined to a single screen for every other game for decade.
Then some other game would patent “using an input source to move a gun’s aim/targetting on the screen” and we would never have had any fps. A “first person view” would probably be patented soon too. Leveling up? What a cool concept that I wish more than one game ever used.
At best, companies would all be paying licenses to each other for all of those mechanics - just like it works on hardware today where Samsung (for example) for a long time made a ton of money out of their main competitor’s sales. And games would probably be so expensive that a lot of them could even have their own dedicated hardware made specifically for them, without affecting the final price that much.
Modern day Nintendo would surely enjoy that. They could make gimmicky hardware for specific games and simply call it a toy. Games like Guitar Hero would probably only be playable on toy guitars (as some other game would’ve already patented translating basic inputs into something rhythm related).
In a way I could see some pretty cool games being invented for a while in this parallel reality, with the patent restrictions forcing people to think of new stuff like the hardware restrictions used to do last century - but we would never had Stardew Valley, Minecraft, Rimworld, Factorio, Dwarf Fortress and 99% of the most beloved games out there.
Sure we all agree but the dumbshits making the rules 1) Have no idea about technology older than color television and 2) Are really only interested in preserving corporate profitability
I think the big problem is when companies apply for patents but never utilize them. In my ideal world, patents should quickly expire and opened to the public if they aren’t being used. Like, what’s the point of protecting your idea if you have no intention to use it anytime soon?
That could deal with the patent troll problem as well.
What the point is? To cripple your competition. Nintendo is actively discouraging game development. If Nintendo was a human they would be garbage. Since they’re not human, everyone who choose to work for them is garbage.
Yeah I’m not against patents in general because it’s meant to allow the company or individual a chance to be only one on the market so they can recoup rnd costs instead of someone else coming in and undercutting them immediately.
The issue is they last too long. Especially idea ones like this for software. 5 years is what it should be around about.
I’d even be okay with patents lasting more than 5 years as long as the patented concept is being actively utilized. Essentially, use it or lose it.
Outside of the very specific cases of Palworld and WB’s notorious Nemesis System, you probably can just ignore the patents and do whatever you want, many of these are filed for self protection rather than to enforce them.
Metroid Zero Mission’s Mother Brain fight is patented, it literally is about shooting the player when they make line of sight with the Brain eye, besides being utterly ridiculous to have something like this patented, you don’t see anyone going to court over this.
Yeah well when the copyright courts agreed to Namco’s patent on loading screen minigames it kind of freaked everyone out back then and people patented every dumbshit thing. For a short time Amazon tried to patent the single click purchase
So Nintendo filed the patent, and paid the maintenance fees over the years. Did they even do anything with it beyond that one game? How much money did they think they gained just by preventing others from implementing a similar mechanic?
There was supposed to be a sequel but a whole bunch of fuckery kept it from happening.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Darkness#Cancelled_sequel
Followed by Dyack forming another studio, botching three crowdfunding attempts, forming another studio, then shuttering the project.
It really was a mess.
Well we can’t say they didn’t try.
I always wished they would have done more with the IP. Lovecraftian stuff is always fun.
The new game, “Look Outside” uses a sanity system and is also Cosmic Horror.
I can’t tell if “Look Outside” is the name of a real game, or a sarcastic-not-sarcastic commentary on current events.
Don’t look to closely or it will look back. o.o
It can be both.
There’s no “sanity” system in Look Outside. The closest thing is a hidden “stress” stat which, last I checked, is literally just combat problems when it gets low.
That said, Look Outside is a fantastic game, and the Dev is super down to earth and active with his players. Highly recommend.