Watch out N-Gage, Nintendo's right on your tail

With Nintendo's staunch resistance to anything outside the narrow focus of gaming -- though it looks like they're loosening up on that standard quite a bit with the Wii -- it's quite surprising they ever even gave a phone a second thought, but even more surprising they have a patent for just such a device dated November 2001. For some reason, it took the USPTO until June 2006 to issue this thing, so there's no telling if Nintendo still has any interest in its "Electronic apparatus having game and telephone functions," but that doesn't mean we can't ogle the mockup screenshots all the same. Peep 'em after the break.

[Thanks, Steve P]

[Matt @ Feb 6th 2007 4:28PM]

wiifone?

[Matt B @ Feb 6th 2007 4:29PM]

nPhone?

[Matt B @ Feb 6th 2007 4:30PM]

The Pii!!

:P

[Yayaja @ Feb 6th 2007 4:30PM]

Captain Awesome?

[Enzo @ Feb 6th 2007 4:35PM]

Smaller size DS clamshell, outershell has a small screen and a numeric keypad. Good to go.

[Chris @ Feb 6th 2007 5:18PM]

Sounds like the V and enV...probably would get hit with Intellectual Property suits and, even worse, the phone would be a flop due to its gigantic size.

[brandon @ Feb 6th 2007 4:45PM]

Yeah, I love me some Metoroid.

[TVGenius @ Feb 6th 2007 4:47PM]

I, for one, can't wait to play Metoroid 2.

[Reginald @ Feb 6th 2007 5:06PM]

I can't wait to play "End" It sounds kind of anticlimactic though.


Anyone notice that the date Fri, Feb 25 only occurred in 1998 and 2005? Do you think this was random or they anticipated this to be released in 2005? Or am I just thinking too much about this?

[andy @ Feb 6th 2007 5:00PM]

Hey, those last couple of pics are screen captures - that's what they look like after getting processed by the USPTO. So it looks like this is already in beta as of the time of filing.

Doesn't mean it'll come out, but that's very interesting.


up up down down left right left right B A send

[Silverfish @ Feb 6th 2007 8:45PM]

I think they're more... uh... mockups. For illustrative purposes only. Which is grand, because they're decidedly underwhelming (although it would have been killer in 2001.) I wonder what the current internal status of this project is - given that they've already worked a fairly robust wireless solution into their last hand-held. Because they've already taken baby-steps in the direction of radio and wireless, I'd actually favor the chances of a console company making a decent phone over the efforts of a phone manufacturer producing a gaming system (N-gage, I'm looking at you...)

[andy @ Feb 6th 2007 5:04PM]

Hey, would you guys mind putting pat no.'s in your posts from now on? Sometimes I'd like to see the claims.

Either that, or link it by putting in the number here:
www.pat2pdf.org

[Ayle @ Feb 6th 2007 5:06PM]

The best best for Nintendo if they ever make a phome would be a htc universal-like ....

[andrew632 @ Feb 6th 2007 8:39PM]

uh...you mean '96 and '04? It's every 4 years minus one Leap Year every millenia (thus the exclusion of '00).

[Matt @ Feb 6th 2007 5:07PM]

omg! there's an in incoming call! Hopefully one will be able to ignore the in incoming calls and keep playing metoroid 2.

[some person @ Feb 6th 2007 5:17PM]

No Nintendo! Bad! Built a cell phone like the DS and allow DS(/GB/A) gaming capability (via some VC-like shop (GB/A games) (which should be able to use VC cards (credits, whatever, I don't own a Wii yet :( )))

[andy @ Feb 6th 2007 5:19PM]

http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat7069044.pdf

It's pat no. 7069044.


Apparently, it's a dual processor phone; one processor for games and one for phone operations. It has a shared memory for entering an interrupt in the game so that you can attend to the phone functions.

It must be a kind of automatic pause function for the gaming processor.

[angelsvairwaves1 @ Feb 6th 2007 5:25PM]

sweet dude check out that huge hi res screen

[Bazza @ Feb 6th 2007 5:42PM]

http://www.allaboutsymbian.com/features/item/Nokias_Next_Gen_Gaming_Platform_on_target_to_win.php

[Jonathan Cleary @ Feb 6th 2007 6:22PM]

I worry about the monthly Phii...

[Steve Paratore @ Feb 6th 2007 6:33PM]

Thanks guys, I thought youd appreciate the tip.

[GWX @ Feb 6th 2007 7:03PM]

http://web.archive.org/web/20051217234634/seriousgamer007.blogspot.com/2005/10/nintendo-to-develop-cell-phone.html

There we go.

[Jake Paul @ Feb 6th 2007 7:14PM]

Mario-Mobile, Phontento, The Phone-Chuck, Super Ringtendo, oh my the possibilities!!!!!!!!

[au1397 @ Feb 6th 2007 8:25PM]

Hmm maybe it could be a slider... Dpad, A and B and a screen and a keypad slides out

[Silverfish @ Feb 6th 2007 8:52PM]

The 25th, not the 29th.

[andy @ Feb 7th 2007 9:19AM]

silverfish re mockups


Well, considering that you're not allowed to use shading in USPTO figures unless they are screen captures or photographs, I doubt that they're just 'mock-ups'.

I didn't say that it was a photo of a mobile device, but it has to be at least a capture of an emulator window for the UI to be allowable as a FIG in a US pat.

[Randavance @ Feb 6th 2007 11:11PM]

I read the title and got excited. Oh Engadget, why do you tease me so.

[Austin @ Feb 6th 2007 11:12PM]

Looks like a Skype type phone that interfaces with the Wii's internet connection via Bluetooth?? I would buy that.

[dan @ Feb 7th 2007 11:09AM]

Fôntendo?

[just.Rob @ Feb 7th 2007 11:14AM]

Very yes!!

[Sean DL @ Feb 7th 2007 2:03PM]

I said this last year..The next Game Boy will be a Cell Phone.


With the Virtual Console in place, Nintendo is in a good place to do it now more then ever.

[mean2u @ Feb 7th 2007 5:29PM]

N-Gage failed, dunno why Ninty would even think about this.

[GWX @ Feb 8th 2007 7:51AM]

"Seriousgamer007" may have been correct all along?
He mnetined that Ninend oIS going to release this "Cell Phone Game Boy" oh his blog now defunct..that is the adrees doesnt work but you can see the archive here: www.archive.org Then type the address into the WAY BACK MACHINE: http://www.seriousgamer007.blogspot.com
AND Get reading. Trust me the Cell PhONE GAME BOY STORY IS THERE!
iF yOU ALL CANT FIND IT i WILL LOOK AND POST A DIRECT LINK.
This patent may be old and took the office so long to actually issue ,aybe becasue it is still in effect!
You never know?
Anyway, I never owned a cell phone. I am do not like them. So I definetly wouldn't buy this even it stamped Nintendo!

[angelsvairwaves1 @ Feb 8th 2007 10:07PM]

wow what a sweet gaming device. i cant wait to play awesome games on that huge high resolution screen......


sarcasm