A new Nintendo patent has emerged that hints at interesting new functionality that could be used for the Switch 2… or even the original Switch.
As reported by ClawsomeGamer, the patent shows that a Switch could interact with multiple phones or tablets, to use them as alternate screens, or even as game controllers. As ClawsomeGamer suggests, the possibilities for this technology are potentially endless.
The way the technology is described, the Switch will generate a QR code, that can display on the Switch screen, or output on another screen if the Switch is docked. You can then have your phone or tablet read said QR code, and that will connect that phone or tablet with your Switch, to play said game.
The patent also gives some specific examples of games that can be played. It illustrates people checking in their phones to play a game of roulette, and another screen shows that you can generate QR codes to make edits to the teams playing. This sounds like a system that allows players to keep the phones or tablets they own to keep playing.
But it also describes the ‘potentially endless’ possibilities. So it could enable second screen gaming, as we had it on the Wii U, or the DS or 3DS. It could also allow multiple gamers to play with multiple screens, so you can use them as game controllers, or multiple displays. It even promises the prospect of playing with multiple players locally and online at the same time.
Based on what’s in the patent, it looks like Nintendo is planning to use this technology for their casual multiplayer games. We can certainly see future Mario Party, or (Hylia forbid) 1-2-Switch games use this for multiplayer. We think Ubisoft could take an interest in this for their Just Dance franchise. For those who don’t remember, Ubisoft already came up with a system to let you use your smartphone as a handheld motion controller for Just Dance.
There are more exciting possibilities third parties could use, but it would make one wonder, would they even make use of them? But it could certainly be used, for example, for Call of Duty players to play a local game, even with teams, of possibly 2 to 4 players. And when we go there, we could look at every online multiplayer game, and wonder if there could be a Nintendo Switch version of that game with local multiplayer.
There are tons of games published on Nintendo platforms before that could also be ported with this functionality to the Switch, of course. We can talk Nintendoland, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles with the multiple screens multiplayer reenabled, Art Academy, Scribblenauts, etc.
And there are other gameplay possibilities that third party developers could explore too, if they wanted. For example, developers never took advantage of Nintendo’s second screen platforms to make use of those screens to play RTS and MOBA games like StarCraft and League of Legends. Fighting game developers can have spectators watch local games with extra real time data on those multiple screens.
If we had mentioned that this is possible on the Switch, that’s only because some of this functionality already exists on the Switch. You can generate a QR on the Switch to sing onto your Nintendo account on your phone, or to create a connection to transfer your pictures and videos outside your Switch. And as we mentioned, Ubisoft already has a system so you can play Just Dance on the Switch using your phone.
As always, just because a patent exists, doesn’t mean that it will be used. With the seven years that the Switch was on the market, Nintendo unfortunately did not find an opportunity to try this technology. Maybe it took them that long to refine it, but if they decide game developers – and worse, gamers – aren’t interested, then they may not go forward with attempting this innovation again. Which would certainly be a shame, but it may be one of those ‘lessons’ Nintendo learned from the Wii U and 3DS when they entered the Switch era.
