You'll Now Be Able To Play Mini-Games During Loading Times

What a strange thing to patent. Namco really used it so well for those 20 years to...........

Now that's an interesting patent! I loved playing Galaxian and Galaga while RIdge Racer loaded. It was the first time I'd played them and they've gone on to be some of my favourite games of all time; Galaga in particular.

This is literally old news. Like, this was already known for about half a year.
But I hope developers will include such things for a bit of entertainment during long loading times (like GTA V, or Xenoblade X).

"Vomits its data" was really the best way you could have phrased that? Otherwise, this is awesome news.

I'm surprised that the patent was still valid until now. It may have been very innovative at the time, but these days playing something during loading has become the standard and the norm.

You could probably finish a VC game by the time Lego City Undercover loads up.

@Kaze_Memaryu There isn't for Xenoblade X but there isn't long load times either provided you download all 4 data packs!

Instead filling up the loading times with other stuff, they should work on reducing the loading times. Most long loading times are bad programming/optimising.

I'd rather they put the effort into reducing load times rather than hiding them behind mini-games

finally !!!

I've always wandered why more games haven't offered little mini-games with loading screens. Imagine how many hours of loading times would have been improved if more titles had been allowed to do this.

Sounds like a scheme by some diabolical mastermind.

Don't know why that was a thing in the past 20 years in the first place but...okay?! Finally we'll get some variety on the loading screens besides staring at em!

Wait, is there a way to switch minigames in Splatoon? Are there different ones other than squid jump?

I wasn't aware of this patent but it was a wise move from Namco! I'd like to see less loading times across all consoles but if this expiring means developers can be more creative with loading screens then so be it.

@rishisquid I unlocked a music-based mini-game by completing some of the Inkling Amiibo challenges. I guess the other two Amiibo have a mini-game tied to them too.

Wow, I have thought why there aren't things like that in games nowadays. I'd have never thought it was patented. Glad it has expired as recent games like The Witcher 3 and Bloodborne have had me really disappointed in their loading times and screens. Staring at the word 'Bloodborne' for more than a minute? Who thought that was a good idea? Thankfully that was resolved months ago but this can only help the situation.

@Sligeach You beat me to that quote!

WarioWare microgames would be ideal for something like this. Reuse some old ones to add some flair to those loading screens!

I have wondered for years why they haven't put this into games - like let you do some tetris after dying in bloodborne or something. IDK.. Whatever - maybe a simple Super Mario Bros level... or Contra... this is HUGE!!

What minigames are in Battlefront?

Really dumb thing to patent lol, though I do remember the Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi games in the PS2 era having tons of different loading screen minigames. Then again, those were made by Bamco, so I guess it was fine.

What would be really cool is if you could play the original SMB in the loading menu of the next Mario game, but it saved once the loading was done, so that you could complete the entire game whilst waiting...
'chucks money at imaginary screen'

Wait a minute! If you can patent something as petty as a minigame loading screen, why doesn't Nintendo just patent GOOD QUALITY GAMES? That way, if any competitors make a good game, they'll be breaking the law. Boom, instant monopoly on videogames for Nintendo.

@Calllack At the time, the loading screen game was a novel idea that literally no one else in the industry thought of before Namco. Everyone else just showed a static image with loading or a if you were lucky you got an animation that looped.

I hope we don't see this return as a commonplace thing because it existed to hide a limitation of hardware. It took time to load the entire Ridge Racer game into memory (because you could remove the disc once it was loaded, and replace it with your own soundtrack).

Finally! I first thought it already had expired because of the mini games in Splatoon. But then a friend pointed out that the patent probably doesn't apply because it's on the second screen.
Another reason could be the fact that you can also access the minigames on the Plaza, not only while loading.

We should be able to play virtual console titles on the gamepad while we wait for a game to load

I haven't used the Amiibo Tap thing on the Wii U at all, but they could probably use those small sections of games during loading.

It would be nice to play some quick little game while waiting for a game to load instead of just sitting there, twiddling my thumbs. Also, such a strange thing to patent.

@shani And those are waiting times, but nothing has to load. You wait for people to join the lobby.

I found that itdidnt give you enough time to actually play. You would get about halfway through a level and Bam! Game gone. Still its a patent that Naamco probably should have kept. Maybe someone new will take it to the next level

"Vomits its data from the disc"............... someone does not like discs.

C64 had games you could play while you waited. Namco did not invent this GRRR >.< (I remember a music maker, painter (qix) and a battleships type affair.

@itzdanburton
Love this idea is hope nintendo does something similar with large scale games

I used to enjoy 'invade-a-load' games on the C64. Can't believe Namco were allowed to patent something like this because it seemed common in the late 80s.... Or maybe the C64 games I remember were Namco ones!

"...as the forthcoming Wii U outing vomits its data from disc to internal memory."
^This line = priceless. It demands fan art.

@chardir I'd rather they put the effort into nixing loading screens completely. I have several games that are more loading screens then game. -_-

"tackle a dungeon in Zelda as the forthcoming Wii U outing vomits its data from disc to internal memory"

That is the most beautiful thing ever written.

Like many here, I'd rather the energy was spent on eliminating load times. Surely with care and effort nowadays, as Nintendo show so often, load tines are unnecessary.

@Damo I'm well aware of the expiration, but this was already a big discussion point ever since the Splatoon lobby minigames were revealed (which was around the Testfire), maybe even earlier, even though, as mentioned in the article, it wasn't a patent violation due to not being tied to loading times.
But even then, that patent expiration date is about 6 days in the past, regardless.

Not if the WiiU vomits when it vomits.

@Sligeach Hope your listening, TT. How about making use of this expired patent?

@Nintenjoe64 Yeah, I'm surprised the patent was granted for exactly the same reason. Myabe it was claimed to be a "console" specific thing.

I remember a number of games on C64 and Amstrad CPC that had mini-games while loading.

@rishisquid The Amiibo Chalanges unlock another mini game for each Amiibo you have.

How very interesting, I didn't know that! The ones I clearly remember, are the rapid-pushing ones in a Dragonball Z game on wii. Making Goku eat faster or Vegeta doing faster push-ups. It was probably namco too, haha...

I can't help but think about the massive disservice Bandai Namco have done to mankind by keeping this to themselves. Certainly not very good for their public image, surely?
I'm looking forward to seeing what every dev can do with this newfound freedom.

@zitpig https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invade-a-Load
It seems that Namco patented a system for invade a load from cd.

During loading times for Skyrim, I had 70's Kung Fu films playing on YouTube. It didn't take too many loading screens to finish one film.

@Grumblevolcano Thing with Xenoblade X is, if you add up all of the data packs together, it's about 15GB. If the digital download for the whole game (which already has the data packs included) is around 22-23GB, then why the heck do you need to download so much for the physical copy?

@Damo That's the spirit!

50 years from now: "Back in my day, we didn't HAVE minigames on the loading screens (unless we had Namco games, and we DIDN'T)! We just looked at a status bar or Donkey Kong riding on a barrel and we LIKED IT!"

I've started playing Drsgon Age Inquisition on my PS3. I can get all the housework done while the maps are loading up.

@EverythingAmiibo
Lol

@Nintenjoe64
Hmmmm. still seems like prior art to me - the system hadn't changed, only the media format...

@Damo

Oh yeah. I forgot about that.

And this is why software patents are such a horrible idea. I get why you need to have copyright laws for the actual IP, but to be able to patent an arguably gimicky part of a game and stifle creativity for 20 freaking years... that's just nuts. What if Nintendo had patented the side-scrolling platformer in 1985? Or the concept of collecting 100 of something to earn an extra life? Or what if they had patented console games that let you edit and create your own content when they released Excitebike? Think of all of the great games that would have been unrecognizable or missing entirely.

The software industry has always thrived on sharing new concepts and ideas. Software patents poison that environment by stifling competition and creativity.

@Ras I sincerely hope that whatever media or technology we are using in 50 years to store our game content, it doesn't take long enough to read for "loading screens" to even be a thing.

@zitpig You're forgetting that patents are granted by a branch of the government. Imagine how much your average government employee knew about the video game scene when this patent was applied for...

@Damo Yes please do that. For example, I'm still wondering why you haven't posted the sales figures for the first month of the NX's launch. Everyone's dying to know.

And while you're at it, rename your 'Rumour' tag 'Facts from the Future'.

Wait... So Namco patented that great idea of giving us something to do during loading screens and that's why I spent 27 years mostly staring at revolving dragon statues?.. I hope now that the patent dropped developers will put it to good use, because I always wondered why so few games had interesting loading screens.

so many years wasted not been able to do this while waiting for long load screen times..

This is LITERALLY old news now that I've finished reading the article.

Resident Evil 5 put history facts when it was loading. I always liked that

Wow... Imagine if this WASNT patented.... Imagine how much it could have evolved? Imagine playing a mini game while the game loaded and depending on how well you did it would boost your experience or give you one-time use items when it finished loading... Hmmm this could be good!

Imagine a game where the game itself and the loading screen were so blurred you could scarcely tell which was which. I'd dig that.

@MagicalDreamer OOOHHHH I'm sensing some Metal Gear Solid (PS1) and Eternal Darkness type stuff with"HIDEO" errors and psychological things. Could be cool definitely.
This is no doubt going to open up some artistic doors for design and gameplay. Looking forward to the coming years for sure.

@Nintenjoe64 Agreed. It does seem like a strange patent to grant in the first place considering there was prior art in the 80s, albeit in a different format (I think the Namco patent specifically mentioned optical media) - still seems like a fine line to walk tough.

(on a side note, Invade-a-load was used on Mastertronic's cassette-based games in the UK, nothing to do with Namco)

@Damo No Ridge Racer wasn't bad, but a lot of games from that era were (and I agree it might have been a perception thing). The worse seemed to be the PC ports, but then the PC versions themselves sometimes punished you low end systems.

Some of the ideas above are great - and that is why the patent system, as it is now, should be scrapped. It stifles creativity rather than protecting the orginal creator's ideas and works. The recent patent lawsuits have showed the system is terribly broken.

An incredibly stupid patent. Glad it's expired!