And someone's made renders of what they could have looked like.
We're big Nintendo fans here at Creative Bloq, so we were fascinated to see renders showing what could have been had the gaming giant developed some its many unused patents. From modified Joy-Cons to novel Wii controllers, there are ideas we wish had reached development.
Like many tech companies, Nintendo files hundreds of patents for design concepts that never see the light of day. Now someone has gone to the trouble of sifting through them and creating realistic 3D renders of what some of the most interesting ideas could have looked like (see our roundup of the best Nintendo Switch deals if you're hunting for a bargain on a product that did reach market).
Nintendo's idea for a playable Game Boy phone case, as envisioned by Guide Strats (Image credit: Guide Strats)
The digital strategy guide libraryGuide Strats has taken the details of various Nintendo patents filed over the years and developed 3D renders based on them. The include such intriguing ideas as a playable Game Boy Smartphone Case and Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons with hinges.
Nintendo has a patent for a Wii football controller (Image credit: Guide Strats)
However, two of the wildest unused Nintendo design concepts are, perhaps inevitably, connected to the Wii. The Wii was groundbreaking for several reasons. While it may have lacked the raw power of competitors' offerings, it excelled as a local multiplayer system and it changed our whole concept of gaming. Part of the fun were the motion controls, and the fact that many games couldn't be played with a normal controller. An it seems that Nintendo had even wilder ideas that didn't come to fruition.
These include an American football controller. Yes; that's a real, actual physical American football fitted with a motion sensor. It would simulate throwing, dodging and running (all on the spot and without actually letting go of the ball-cum-controller, of course).
Nintendo's space hopper horseback riding peripheral (Image credit: Guide Strats)
Even wilder, Nintendo had an idea for an inflatable horseback riding peripheral. Looking a little like a space hopper, it would have been an inflatable cushion with sensors to track movement. One hand controller would simulate reins and another a riding crop as an "inexpensive, convenient way to realistically simulate, in the home, riding on horseback or on other animals,” according to Nintendo's patent.
Note "or on other animals". It seems Nintendo wasn't limiting its idea to horses. The patent listed bulls, camels, elephants, dolphins and even fantasy creatures like dragons and griffons. Nintendo, why did this not get made?
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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
