RIP super soaker water pistols
this post was submitted on 20 May 2026
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Work around the patent by making them only moderately soaking
3d sound. Look it up.
patents should not exist
The original idea behind them had some merit: in exchange for showing everyone else exactly how to do a cool new thing, you got to temporarily be the only one to profit from it. They've devolved into parenting general ideas (see the shopping cart patent) and fucking over anyone who finds a way to make the idea work, though.
The key is "temporarily" though. Even in the 18th century and prior when technology evolved at the pace of a snail on sedatives that meant 5, maybe 10, at most 15 years.
Then in the 90s the world's international cartel of IP rights got together and decided they should make it 20 years everywhere, just so corporations can monopolize anything they make for the entire the duration of its usefulness. With the speed of progress today I'd be surprised if most aren't obsolete before they become available to the general public. 3D printing is only a thing now because Stratasys was hoarding the FDM patent since the fucking 90s.
Shit needs to go back down to 5 years again.
I'd say patents should be limited to physical goods. Game mechanics should never have been allowed.
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~~company~~ Nintendo
And Namco (minigames in loading screens, started in Ridge Racer), Warner Bros (Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor), SEGA (GPS arrows from Crazy Taxi)...
I know "Nintendo bad" is a popular narrative but they're far from the only one.
The Namco one ran out in 2015, right on time for SSDs. Though I guess we could still use them for shader compilation 😴
The biggest annoyance is that patents doesn't prevent usage... Just require permission... they could ask anything or nothing, it just would need to be acceptable. And well here we are.
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company Nintendo
We from Nintendo would appreciate it if you stopped inventing things immediately. Innovation is a protected activity.
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When everything had long loading times (and we still have them from time to time) there was a genius idea : minigames on the loading screen to pass the time.
ONE company did this, patented the concept and till then no one is allowed to do that.
Which company?
It was Namco, and the patent expired in 2015.
So did long loading screens
Tfw you can't read the loading screen gameplay tips because your computer is too fast
Yes !!
Shame Ubisoft didn’t do this for climbing a tower to reveal the surrounding area in the map tbh
I'm actually sick of this one. Way too many games do it. Even goddamn final fantasy 7 remake 2 did a shitty version of it
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Nothing mentioned in the post but I am 99% sure Anon is talking about Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor/Shadow of War.
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The Nemesis system in the LOTR games is a perfect example
Isn't that basically the only example? How many other cases do you ever hear people talk about? Obviously there are others, I see others given in this post, but you never really hear about them.
When games had long load times, there was a company that patented putting short and quick to load mini games on screen instead of loading screens you just stared at.
And nobody pateneted the loading screen slideshow with game tips? Im shocked
Unironically it was likely done too many times before someone thought of patenting it.
Did that stop Nintendo lately?
Dragon ball fighting games did the little cloud thing
I thought there was one on games during loading screens or something as well. And maybe the crazy taxi arrow?
Didn't Warframe do basically a nemesis system with Kuva Liches, Sisters of Parvos and Technocyte Codas?
Recurring boss that you need to find the weakness of via trial and error, can be killed for super nice loot or turned into a minion?
Taunts you and acts as a personal nemesis with a generated personality and looks?
How does that work?
Generally speaking, most game mechanics are not copyright-able, not patentable. Game mechanics themselves tend to be treated as base components, as in, like a drum beat or a bass line. It’s rare cases where those are distinct, usually in context (see Vanilla Ice & Under Pressure). Because a beat or bass line can be so basic as a component, it’s considered part of the arrangement and not the composition itself. Video game mechanics can likewise be in this configuration.
For instance, summoning heroes (Nintendo loss) is a mechanic / part of the composition of that game, but the larger video game is a particular arrangement. Specific characters (pikachu) can very much be copyrighted individually, but games themselves are typically less liable for patents / copyright, and so on.
Also, for good measure, since it’s a massive benefit to the freedom of expression. Video games would be a depressing medium if people could capitalize on mechanics like patent trolls.
To be clear, some technologies used in association with video games can be patented, but that’s when a patentable technology is combined with a game, which is much less common in the medium.
Counterpoint: Summoning characters by throwing an item and having the character appear at the position of the item has been patented by Nintendo, as has using a summoned character as a hang glider.
Japanese patent law is pretty terrible.
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What about that arrow in Simpsons driving game? Didn't they get in trouble for using what Sega patented in Crazy Taxi?
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Still salty about that "Sanity System" bullshit patent by ...surprise surprise...nintendo.
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Is the nemesis system finally back on the free market?
That should never have been allowed to be patented. Its way too generalized
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