Metroid Database.com

The Kyoto Report, an independent blog covering "indepth analysis and historical background" of Nintendo, recently discovered two fascinating patents featuring Metroid artwork! While the post describes these as being Metroid Dread Patents (as also reported below), they are in fact Metroid Zero Mission patents!

The first patent (US Pat. 11046707) describes the gameplay for the Mother Brain fight from Metroid Zero Mission. Essentially, it patents the idea of an enemy that moves from a state where it can be damaged to an invincible state when the player's character enters a state where it is being constantly damaged (i.e. falling in the lava/acid). When the enemy changes states, it changes its graphical appearance. The enemy becomes invincible when this occurs so that the player can "focus his energy on escaping from the state of being continuously damaged" and not become frustrated. The diagram shows a stylized Mother Brain fighting Samus.

The second patent (US Pat. 11047818) describes gameplay for the battle with Mirror Samus and the Chozo Guardian. In this case, the enemy can switch between a state of vulnerability and a state of invincibility. When the player's character shoots the enemy while it is vulnerable, the enemy takes damage. However, if the enemy is invincible, the player will instead take damage. The enemy changes its graphical appearance when it changes between these two states. The patent becomes a little specific for the Chozo Guardian fight by describing the enemy as a "mirror object" of the player's character. This method provides greater feedback to the player to let him or her know a hit has been scored and ensures the player is "making the most use of the shot." The diagram shows a stylized version of the Chozo sigil from the Chozo Guardian fight, but instead of a Zero Suit Samus, displays the Power Suit instead.

These patents are fascinating because they illustrate the gameplay innovations that Metroid Zero Mission implemented. While the gameplay seems rather simple and obvious, the implementation is quite original, and so Mr. Sakamoto and his team filed patents to protect these innovations. It is also humorous that even in the US Patent Office allowed 'Engrish' phrases such as "to fully experience the original fun of shooting the target without having to feel restless or get obsessed unnecessarily" or "making the bullet shot with effort meaningless". It is also hilarious that it takes about 3000 words to describe something that can be understood in less than 500.

These patents were filed by Yoshio Sakamoto and Katsuya Yamano, a long-time collaborator with Mr. Sakamoto, working on the series since Super Metroid, and served as a programmer on Metroid Zero Mission. In case you're interested, Yoshio Sakamoto has filed two other patents for the Japan-only Game Boy trading card game "Trade & Battle: Card Hero". A search for "Nintendo Co." on Google Patents pulls up over 100 hits, making it a gold mine for those willing to dig through it all.

Note that while the patents were filed in the US in 2005, the original Japanese file date was in the early days of February 2004, right before the US release on February 9. Because the US file date was in 2005, this caused some people to believe these were Metroid Dread patents. However, while these aren't as potentially big news as we once thought, we're glad to see that Samus has finally achieved immortality through the US Patent Office!

Thanks to James Pierce from the forum for pointing this out.

Until next time...
Captain Commando