AfterDawn: News

Microsoft patents in-game guides, video help

Many gamers were enthusiastic with last month's announcement by Nintendo that upcoming Wii games would have an included autoplay system, an online help system for gamers struggling with certain chapters of the game.

According to Siliconera, Microsoft has patented their own in-game guide system, although details are still decently vague.



Microsoft director of games platform strategy Andre Vrignaud says the system will be very similar to that of GameFaqs, where gamers can pause the game if they get stuck, hop online and get help from user-submitted guides and tips. The XBL version will allow for screenshots, video clips and audio commentary as well, which is a pretty great innovation.

Developers will be able to add their own guides, but those will likely cost money as compared to user-submitted ones.



Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 24 Nov 2009 14:17

• Previous article

• RIM, Motorola sued over visual voicemail

• Next article

• Legal music sales in Sweden jump following piracy crackdown

• 16 comments

• ZippyDSM

  Didin't nintendo do that first?

  24.11.2009 15:56 #1

• IPRFenix

  I'm somewhat skeptical about how well the developer made guides will fair. Most of the time user made guides trump any of that paid-for crap. User made guides can be really detailed, informative, comprehensive. They can also be quick, simple, straight to the point. Paid-for guides tend to beat around the bush just for the sake of filling up pages, miss out on important information, are almost never updated and eventually become outdated. User made guides are often updated by the creator, a third party, or are replaced with a new user made guide.

  24.11.2009 16:15 #2

• DXR88

  if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.

  24.11.2009 18:48 #3

• SDF_GR

  ^+10
  I was never expecting to see this.

  24.11.2009 19:14 #4

• beanos66

  Originally posted by DXR88: if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.Nope, just to see what the unlockables are
  
  p.s.
  only need to use special abilities in Midnight Club: Los Angeles, another 87 times to get the Audi R8

  24.11.2009 20:10 #5

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:Originally posted by DXR88: if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.Nope, just to see what the unlockables are
  
  p.s.
  only need to use special abilities in Midnight Club: Los Angeles, another 87 times to get the Audi R8Most of which are in the game and are described....

  24.11.2009 20:11 #6

• KillerBug

  Quote:Quote:Originally posted by DXR88: if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.Nope, just to see what the unlockables are
  
  p.s.
  only need to use special abilities in Midnight Club: Los Angeles, another 87 times to get the Audi R8Most of which are in the game and are described....Yes, but not always. Ever try tracking down the last few pigeons in liberty city without a map? How about the last few flags in Assassin's Creed? It would take you forever without a guide.
  
  It would be nice if PS3 added a feature like readyboost...where you can use an fast USB drive as extra memory to run the web browser...then you wouldn't need any special stuff; people could just go to PSN/IGN/etc...

  24.11.2009 22:40 #7

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:Quote:Quote:Originally posted by DXR88: if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.Nope, just to see what the unlockables are
  
  p.s.
  only need to use special abilities in Midnight Club: Los Angeles, another 87 times to get the Audi R8Most of which are in the game and are described....Yes, but not always. Ever try tracking down the last few pigeons in liberty city without a map? How about the last few flags in Assassin's Creed? It would take you forever without a guide.
  
  It would be nice if PS3 added a feature like readyboost...where you can use an fast USB drive as extra memory to run the web browser...then you wouldn't need any special stuff; people could just go to PSN/IGN/etc... Well whats the point of a closed OS if they can;t make you go through it?

  24.11.2009 22:51 #8

• 82Eazy82

  Originally posted by DXR88: if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.Agreed.

  25.11.2009 01:04 #9

• KillerBug

  Originally posted by ZippyDSM: Well whats the point of a closed OS if they can;t make you go through it?By that logic, the web browser should not work at all...it should be locked down the the browsers inside PS home.
  
  

  [DFI M2RS] [Athlon 9950] [ATI 3870HD] [Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1600] [6GB Corsair DDR2] [4x Seagate ST31500341AS + 3ware 9690SA = 4.5TB RAID5] [2x Seagate 750GB + 2x Seagate 500GB + Adaptec 1430SA = 750GB RAID1 + 500GB RAID1] [Intel Gigabit NIC (PCI)] [LG 20X Lightscribe DVDR] [Coolmax 1200w Power Supply] [Logitech G15(first edition)] [Logitech G5(Second Edition)] [320GB Hitachi Boot] [320GB Hitachi Temp/Swap] [Modified and overgrown 4U Rackmount case] [22" & 24" screens mounted overhead] [Perfect Chair 085] [Logitech 5.1 Audio] [Windows 7 RC1]

  25.11.2009 05:19 #10

• emugamer

  Quote:Quote:Quote:Originally posted by DXR88: if you need a guide to play the games they churn out these days,God help us all.Nope, just to see what the unlockables are
  
  p.s.
  only need to use special abilities in Midnight Club: Los Angeles, another 87 times to get the Audi R8Most of which are in the game and are described....Yes, but not always. Ever try tracking down the last few pigeons in liberty city without a map? How about the last few flags in Assassin's Creed? It would take you forever without a guide.
  
  It would be nice if PS3 added a feature like readyboost...where you can use an fast USB drive as extra memory to run the web browser...then you wouldn't need any special stuff; people could just go to PSN/IGN/etc...+10
  How about the last shard in inFamous....or the last treasure in Uncharted. Thank goodness for youtube video walkthroughs. I don't need a guide to beat the game. I need one to find the hidden crap.

  25.11.2009 07:59 #11

• scum101

  I am very puzzled by the actions of the US patent office these days.. surely the words "similar to xxxx method" proves pre-existing technology that is essentially the same?
  That is usually enough to get a patent thrown out, or used to be when we lived in the real world, not the US fantasy island we are currently exposed to.

  25.11.2009 08:06 #12

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by scum101: I am very puzzled by the actions of the US patent office these days.. surely the words "similar to xxxx method" proves pre-existing technology that is essentially the same?
  That is usually enough to get a patent thrown out, or used to be when we lived in the real world, not the US fantasy island we are currently exposed to.Same reason why monodies exist and are unchallenged the revenue the government gets from them is to sweet to turn down because of fair play and laws...and junk......

  25.11.2009 11:17 #13

• KillerBug

  The original goal of the patent office was to promote the development of new ideas by protecting the rights to those ideas, and thus making the development a good investment.
  
  The current goal of the patent office is to protect corporate interests while stealing from the creators.
  
  If you are a big corporation who does not patent an idea, and someone comes along and starts making the same thing, you can take them to court and either force them to stop making it, or to give you royalties.
  
  If you are an individual or the owner of a small business, and you have a rock-solid patent, and some corporation starts making the same thing, you can bring them to court, but you will loose. This has been shown time and again...microsoft even seems to take pride in their ability to crush a company who steals from them, while at the same time crushing those who they stole the same code from.
  
  The patent office is just another part of the US government...and the US government's goal is to go against the will and well being of the people whenever possible.

  26.11.2009 03:54 #14

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by KillerBug: The original goal of the patent office was to promote the development of new ideas by protecting the rights to those ideas, and thus making the development a good investment.
  
  The current goal of the patent office is to protect corporate interests while stealing from the creators.
  
  If you are a big corporation who does not patent an idea, and someone comes along and starts making the same thing, you can take them to court and either force them to stop making it, or to give you royalties.
  
  If you are an individual or the owner of a small business, and you have a rock-solid patent, and some corporation starts making the same thing, you can bring them to court, but you will loose. This has been shown time and again...microsoft even seems to take pride in their ability to crush a company who steals from them, while at the same time crushing those who they stole the same code from.
  
  The patent office is just another part of the US government...and the US government's goal is to go against the will and well being of the people whenever possible.Government was founded to rid the world of chaos...if you have enough money you can make legitimate chaos....

  26.11.2009 05:56 #15

• vontratt

  People seem to be overreacting to this. Many games already included their own guide system in one way or another. Chillax.
  

  26.11.2009 10:26 #16