00:00 Ever wondered why that amazing bit of tech they use in games or an amazing system never
00:04 made it into other games, like the Nemesis system in Shadow of Mordor?
00:08 Some of them literally transform the game and you wonder why has nobody else used this?
00:13 Do other gaming developers not play this game or know about it?
00:16 Well it turns out if the system is THAT good, it's probably been painted by the company
00:20 so no other gaming developer can use it without getting sued into oblivion.
00:24 Which has happened and it is on this list.
00:27 Now Apex Legends' beautifully simplistic ping system is one example of a patented system
00:32 but, interestingly, it was done for a good cause.
00:36 EA took out a patent on the much lauded ping system in Apex Legends.
00:41 Patents tend to be used by companies to protect innovations but in this instance EA has patented
00:46 the system as part of its Accessibility Patent Pledge, an initiative that opens up accessibility
00:51 led patents to developers in a bid to encourage collaboration and drive forward accessibility
00:55 in the video game industry.
00:57 The ping system allows you to communicate with your teammates in Respawn's Battle Royale
01:01 Hero Shooter by making points of interest, calling out the location of an enemy, and
01:05 much more, as well as reducing in-game toxicity by offering an effective alternative to speaking
01:10 over voice chat.
01:11 The ping system also helps players with cognitive, speaking and hearing disabilities.
01:15 As you can see here, the patent filing gives a detailed rundown of the system.
01:19 EA's EVP of Positive Play told GamesRadar in a recent interview that when you patent
01:24 a technology or idea, you publish technical information that would otherwise have never
01:28 been accessible to the public, and, as such, this equips developers with know-how and it
01:33 advances the state of art in game development.
01:38 The Nemesis system introduced in Middle-Earth's Shadow of Mordor, and later refined in Shadow
01:43 of War, put a refreshing and innovative spin on procedurally generated enemies.
01:47 Instead of fighting nameless, carbon copy foes, Shadow of Mordor pits you against various
01:51 different members of Orc society, and each and every one is unique to your playthrough.
01:56 With their own names and ranks, every Orc you come across will remember your encounters
01:59 to add more depth to the action.
02:01 It quickly became a huge selling point and trademark feature of Monolith's action RPG
02:05 series.
02:06 Many have wondered why Social Vendettas never made their way out of Mordor and into other
02:10 games in the industry, and this, it would appear, is why.
02:14 After several years of trying, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment successfully patented
02:18 the Nemesis system, meaning that the appearance of similar systems outside of games produced
02:22 by Warner Bros. is very unlikely.
02:27 In The Medium, you take on the role of Marianne, who you control in both the real world and
02:31 the spirit world in which developer Bloober team calls 'dual reality' gameplay.
02:36 The screen is split in half so you gain two different perspectives in both worlds.
02:40 Ahead of the game's release, many were quick to notice that Bloober described this dual
02:43 reality style as 'never seen before' and officially painted a gameplay.
02:48 As it turns out, Bloober filed a patent for this dual reality gameplay back in 2016.
02:52 As you can see from the filing, the developer patented the 'method of simultaneous playing
02:56 in single player video games', where 'the key feature of the invention is the way of
03:00 playing in a video game for a single player, involving simultaneous controlling of several
03:05 character avatars placed in several virtual realities that constitute separately presented
03:10 story universes'.
03:11 Currently active until 2039, it does make you wonder what kind of Bloober projects we
03:15 might see using this style of gameplay in the future.
03:20 One very prominent part of the Mass Effect experience is actually painted by the developer.
03:24 BioWare requested a patent for the 'Dialogue Wheel' or 'Graphical Interface for Interactive
03:29 Dialogue' used to select your responses back in 2006, which was officially approved
03:34 a few years later.
03:35 Still currently active, this might go some way to explaining why other RPGs that came
03:39 after this date continue to present dialogue choices in a list form.
03:43 The wheel interface that presents you with a selection of different responses went on
03:47 to be used in the entire Mass Effect trilogy, as well as the more recent Mass Effect Andromeda,
03:51 and also found its way into BioWare's other franchises in both Dragon Age 2 and Dragon
03:55 Age Inquisition.
03:59 With the advent of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, lengthy loading times are quickly becoming
04:03 a thing of the past.
04:04 But, for years we've found ourselves staring at a loading screen as we waited to get back
04:08 into the virtual adventuring.
04:10 Perhaps one of the most famous and well-known patents just so happens to be related to loading
04:14 screens.
04:15 Back in 1995, Namco took out a patent for the use of auxiliary minigames during loading
04:20 screens.
04:21 The idea to keep players busy with a minigame while they waited for the main game to load
04:25 was a novel one, with the likes of the classic arcade shooter Galaxian popping up during
04:29 the loading screens for games such as Ridge Racer.
04:31 There were some ways around the patent, with the likes of FIFA including some distractions
04:35 in between matches, but for the most part minigames rarely appeared to mitigate loading
04:40 times.
04:41 The patent eventually expired in 2015, opening up the door to include minigames in loading
04:44 screens to developers everywhere once more.
04:49 You may vaguely remember that Crazy Taxi was rather helpful with a big green arrow that
04:53 points you in the direction of your destination.
04:56 Using this arrow as a guide, you try to take your customers to their location in the requested
04:59 time.
05:00 Sega filed a patent for this directional arrow feature in 1998.
05:04 As of 2018, it has now officially expired, but before it did expire, Sega did sue another
05:10 game over a green arrow.
05:12 How dare they?
05:13 It was Simpsons Road Rage that ran afoul of Sega for this infringement back in 2003.
05:21 Eternal Darkness from developers Silicon Knights and Nintendo released on the GameCube back
05:25 in 2002.
05:27 Described as a psychological horror, the adventure included a sanity system which featured a
05:31 meter bar.
05:32 The meter depletes if your character stumbles upon an enemy or sees a gruesome situation.
05:37 When this happens in game, various effects occur on screen and around the environment
05:41 to show the character is being affected by these encounters.
05:44 Prior to the game's release, Nintendo filed a patent for a video game and game system
05:48 incorporating a game character's sanity level that is affected by occurrences in the
05:52 game.
05:53 This patent expired in November 2021, so get ready for more sanity systems to start popping
05:57 up folks.
06:00 Nintendo pioneered the design of the D-pad back in the 80s and it was such a good design
06:04 that it continued to form a part of Nintendo's consoles and handhelds throughout the years.
06:09 Given its great design, it's not so surprising to learn that Nintendo patented its trademark
06:13 multi-directional switch.
06:15 While the patent expired in 2005, it is interesting to consider how this patent might have influenced
06:20 the design of button layouts for other controllers for consoles such as the PlayStation and Xbox
06:25 when it was still active.
06:28 Midway Amusement Games took out a now expired patent with a rather interesting title back
06:33 in 2000.
06:35 It was called "Unlocking Sequence in Video Games" and it was essentially a way to sell
06:39 peripherals by locking game content that could only be accessed by using a particular controller.
06:44 "A video game system and method is provided which the enabled content of a video game
06:48 depends upon the type of video game controller coupled to the video game console," the abstract
06:53 reads.
06:54 "If you were to use a specific controller that's a matching type to the game you're
06:58 playing, it would unlock extra features or secrets, in-game, that are not otherwise available.
07:03 Additional pay-for content is nothing new in the world of video games, but just imagine
07:07 having to buy a controller just to get your hand on more features and secrets."
07:11 How annoying.
07:12 So what's your favourite video game patent and is there any out there that you've heard
07:15 about?
07:16 Let us know in the comments below.
07:18 (electronic music)
07:21 (cat meows)
