Nintendo Patents Massively … Single-Player Game?

Nintendo has always been somewhat quirky about its online gaming presence. The DS had the potential to offer a stellar online gaming service on a handheld device, but those darn Friend Codes made playing games like Mario Kart DS (a true gem) and Pokemon with friends somewhat of a pain. The Wii didn’t offer many titles that could be played online. And the 3DS has yet to show off its full potential as online gaming device.

Now, Nintendo has filed a patent for a “massively single-player online game.” Yeah, I know, that’s pretty weird! According to GameSpot UK, Nintendo’s patent application states, “Those who want to play games that are more dynamic, not based on AI and not pre-scripted like mulitplayer games, however, don’t want to ‘deal’ with other people, appreciate the privacy it provides.”

In other words, this is an online game for people who aren’t very social. Apparently, gamers can alter an environment, and when a new player comes in, he or she will see the altered world without having to directly interact with those players who originally changed things up in the surroundings. Oh, massively single-player online game! Now I get it!

In addition to the aforementioned (wacky) IP, Nintendo’s patent application also mentioned “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.” That’s pretty strange considering the fact that the Big N said it won’t be developing 3D games for its next console. Of course, even though the company had originally stated that its next platform wouldn’t be 3D, it later clarified that the Wii U would be compatible with 3D TVs, most likely for developers to make 3D games if they so choose to.

So where does Nintendo’s massively single-player online game with possible 3D functionality fit into all of this? We’ll have to wait and see.