We’re approaching the three-month anniversary of The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and fans are still thinking and talking about the game to this day. It’s not hard to see why, as the game was yet another home run by Nintendo and is up for Game of the Year. What really amazed people was that the game didn’t try to overhaul the story or do certain other things to make it “feel bigger,” like other sequels have done. Instead, they built upon what the game’s predecessor did and added new mechanics to give players more options for handling things.
The key ones were the Ultrahand and Fuse abilities. Through these abilities, Link could move objects with his hands and fuse them with other objects to make almost anything he wanted or desired. You could make special weapons, shields, vehicles, and more based on what you had with you and how big your imagination was.
Nintendo apparently loved these ideas, and others within the game, so much that, according to Automation-Media, they filed 31 patents to try and lock down the game ideas they came up with. Yes, you can file patents for video game mechanics just like you would with new gaming technology. Nintendo has a history of trying to file patents for almost everything they come up with. They don’t always get what they want as some of the patents have been labeled “too general,” and yet, with these ones, they might have a case to get them.
After all, can you think of another video game that uses the mechanics of Tears of the Kingdom like Nintendo did? Probably not. So if Nintendo does get the patent, they’re entitled to certain things should other developers try to “mimic their idea.”
Focusing back on the game, the Ultrahand and Fuse combo was so popular that social media was filled with people posting their creations and showing how wild you could get. People were making everything from mech suits to bomber planes, fully armored vehicles, and more! It really helped make the realm of Hyrule feel like something you could traverse in whatever way you wanted and that no idea was too crazy to try.
That’s why, even though we’re only three months past its launch, fans wonder how Nintendo will top what they did here. After all, this isn’t just something you top willy-nilly. But given Nintendo’s history, they’ll likely think of something big.
