Nintendo is hardly known for its exploration of the online space. We don't know exactly how things will work on Wii U, but the Wii's online experience is largely inferior to what's been offered by Xbox Live for almost a decade. So any time there's word on Nintendo doing something new with online games, it raises an eyebrow.
A new, online game-related patent Nintendo applied for on February 2, 2010 was finally published last week, giving us some idea of the sort of ideas it's come up with. The patent is titled "Massively Single-Playing Online Game" and is described as, "A method and apparatus that allows a player to play a massively single-player online game without directly interacting with other players, while affecting and being affected by other players playing the online game."
When playing most MMOs, you inevitably encounter other players. You don't necessarily have to play with them, but the game encourages you to and actually running into them is usually unavoidable. The patent is for a "method for playing a massively multiplayer online game without requiring interaction with other player characters." Essentially, it opens the door for actions in your single-player game affecting another player's world without the two ever directly playing together.
It's a very Nintendo-centric idea, as it's always made safety a high priority. One example of what this could allow for is a player spreading gossip to an NPC, which it in turn shares with another player. It sounds like something that would be seen in a game such as Animal Crossing.
Another example of how this could work is the value of in-game items going up or down (or even becoming unavailable) depending upon real-world player demand. Obviously that opens the door for griefing, though if it were ever implemented, presumably there would be the option to opt out. The idea of only being able to interact with friends or those you "authorize" is specifically mentioned.
Yet another possibility is a user who explores the world and finds building materials and decides to construct a house. He or she moves on after doing so, and when the next player comes along to that same location, they see the house that was constructed as opposed to the building materials.
"A high degree of interactivity in real time in RPGs is attractive to many players," the patent states. "However, some players may not want social interaction while nevertheless enjoying the benefit of a very dynamic virtual world. For example, it would be beneficial to provide a method and a system that allows a single player to play a game without the player having to interact with other players playing the game at the same time. However, it would be desirable if the player's avatar's actions still affect the status of the game and the status of other avatars, like in the conventional multiplayer games, even though the game being played is a single-player game from the perspective of each participant of the game."
Alternatively, this could serve almost as a form of asynchronous multiplayer where players are able to have an impact on a friend's game without having to be online at the same time.
The implementation of this could come on a "home video game system such as the Nintendo Wii 3D video game system, a Nintendo DS or other 3D capable interactive computer graphics display systems." It's unclear what the Wii 3D system is; Nintendo has talked about playing around with a 3D-enabled Wii, but the relatively low penetration of 3D TVs and the overall lack of glasses-free 3D TV sets made it an unlikely hook for a Wii follow-up. For what it's worth, "Wii 3D" is also mentioned in several other patent applications.
And keep in mind that's what this is -- a patent. Strange Nintendo patents have surfaced in the past, and very often nothing ever becomes of them. Of course, the notion of a massively single-player online game (MSOG?) seems entirely possible (and is much more likely than sticking your Wiimote into a bicycle pedal), so don't rule it out as something we eventually see from Nintendo.
Source: GameSpot
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