In specific industries, there’s an “unspoken rule” that most follow or else pay the price. They have to patent or copyright the ideas they think they can profit from. Why? Because if they don’t, someone else might “take’ the idea for themselves and run with it. This action happens more than you think across various business and entertainment mediums, and it’s a battlefield most want to avoid like the plague. In the gaming space, we’ve seen plenty of people sue one another over patent infringement. Even big companies like Nintendo aren’t immune from such acts being put on them.
But, in a fascinating piece of gaming history, it was The Big N’s restraint in filing a patent that may have saved the industry as a whole. Because according to one insider, they had the ability to patent the jump mechanic in video games but didn’t due to the wisdom of Shigeru Miyamoto.
Now, it needs to be noted that the insider corrected part of their statement by noting how Nintendo didn’t “invent the jump mechanic,” as a few games on Atari had the mechanic in the 70s. But they were the ones to make it the most popular via the Super Mario Bros games on the arcade and early consoles.
On the one hand, you can again appreciate Shigeru Miyamoto for “saving the day” through his wisdom. But, on the other hand, can you imagine what the video game industry would be like without the jump mechanic?
Let’s put it to you this way. Picture some of your favorite video games and ask yourself, “Do they have a jump mechanic?” Of course, some of them won’t, but a vast majority do. After all, jumping is essential to grab things in the air, try and climb up something, avoid obstacles, etc.
Even in fighting games, jumping is used to bound over opponents or avoid their attacks. If developers had to pay a licensing fee to use the jump mechanic in video games, Nintendo would not only be richer to an extent, but many developers would’ve had to find a way “around” using jumping in their titles so that they could avoid the fee.
Some would’ve found workarounds, but others wouldn’t have been so lucky.
As a result, we should be grateful that Miyamoto saw the truth in not patenting it, and the gaming industry owes him and The Big N a thank-you for not making game development harder.
Source: Twitter
