Support NeoGAF

[neptunes]

Minigames during loading screens, didn't know that. :lol

I just read about it an article in Gamedeveloper magazine about the hardware challenges of developing for the psp with EA's Team Fusion. (They believe Ridge Racers was comprised of PSOne code).

 

[dark10x]

I guess they missed that patent when designing the Test Drive game with pong during the loading screens.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

I always thought Halo 2 Matchmaking could have used something like this.

 

[Link1110]

What Namco games have that? Only game I know of with something like that is Willy Beamish for Sega CD with its little "move the green thing" game when you press start.

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Most software patents don't amount to shit though.

 

[Fuzzy]

I knew but only because this was posted here months ago.

 

[BuG]

What Namco games have that? Only game I know of with something like that is Willy Beamish for Sega CD with its little "move the green thing" game when you press start.

The bonus disc containing a 60FPS Ridge Racer which came with Ridge Racer Type 4 has one level of Galaga in the initial loading screen, and if you kill all the enemies you get the white car or something.

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

The bonus disc containing a 60FPS Ridge Racer which came with Ridge Racer Type 4 has one level of Galaga in the initial loading screen, and if you kill all the enemies you get the white car or something.

More recently Tekken 5 and RR PSP have had old Namco arcade games during their initial loading.

 

[Stinkles]

It's meaningless. There is a TON of prior art.

Ask any c64 or Spectrum developer...

 

[teruterubozu]

Yes, I believe Namco tried to sue Konami at one point for a playable loading section in some Pawapuro game a couple of years back. Another interesting patent that used to be a point of contention was displaying button combos during the practice mode of a fighting game. Sega had the rights to that with Virtua Fighter and tried to keep Namco from using it in Tekken. IIRC

 

[Die Squirrel Die]

Yes, I believe Namco tried to sue Konami at one point for a playable loading section in some Pawapuro game a couple of years back. Another interesting patent that used to be a point of contention was displaying button combos during the practice mode of a fighting game. Sega had the rights to that with Virtua Fighter and tried to keep Namco from using it in Tekken. IIRC

Is that why both Tekken and Soul Calibur have yet to do the sensible thing and copy VF4's Command Training set-up. It gets really tedious having to constantly duck in and out of the menus in the Namco fighters to see the next set of moves to learn.

 

[Sp3eD]

Is that why both Tekken and Soul Calibur have yet to do the sensible thing and copy VF4's Command Training set-up. It gets really tedious having to constantly duck in and out of the menus in the Namco fighters to see the next set of moves to learn.

I think it was more in line with the when you press buttons the commands would come out on the bottom of the screen. I believe Tekken 2 had this, while every other one after didn't.

Funny thing is DOA games have this.... I wonder if Sega just says Namco can't do it :lol

 

[teruterubozu]

Is that why both Tekken and Soul Calibur have yet to do the sensible thing and copy VF4's Command Training set-up. It gets really tedious having to constantly duck in and out of the menus in the Namco fighters to see the next set of moves to learn.

Apparently that is the case. IIRC though, the Japanese versions of Tekken PS1 games have the button combo displays during Training mode. Sega's button combo display patent was only for the U.S. apparently...

I'm not sure about today though.


Yes, I think it was the earlier PS1 games...

 

[Legal Step]

I guess EA will have to buy NamcoBandai now...they always wanted a piece of the Japanese market.

 

[Tea Master]

That's awesome, they should put that patent to use.

 

[teruterubozu]

I think it was more in line with the when you press buttons the commands would come out on the bottom of the screen. I believe Tekken 2 had this, while every other one after didn't.

Funny thing is DOA games have this.... I wonder if Sega just says Namco can't do it :lol

Yeah that is weird, but wasn't the first DOA game running off Sega hardware in the arcades and a Saturn exclusive in Japan? Thus maybe they cut Tecmo some slack.

 

[raYne]

http://forum.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=50022&highlight=minigame+loading
Yeah, I did.

 

[teruterubozu]

I believe this is the "loading" patent by Namco:

United States Patent 5,718,632
Hayashi February 17, 1998
Recording medium, method of loading games program code means, and games machine

Abstract

A recording medium, a method of loading games program code, and a games machine is provided. The recording medium has a program code relating to an auxiliary game and a program code relating to a main game. The size of the auxiliary game program code is small compared to the size of the main-game program code, and the relationship between the auxiliary game program code and the main-game program code is such that the auxiliary game program code is loaded first, before the main game program code. Unnecessary wastage of time can be prevented by first loading the smaller, auxiliary game program code into the games machine, before the main-game program code is loaded, then loading the main-game program code while the auxiliary game is running.
Inventors: Hayashi; Yoichi (Kawasaki, JP)
Assignee: Namco Ltd. (Tokyo, JP)
Appl. No.: 563208
Filed: November 27, 1995

And this is the fighting game "key display" patent by Sega:

US Patent #5,649,861
Game device for displaying game input operations on the display
Inventors:
Okano; Tetsu (Tokyo, JP); Kagawa; Tadashi (Tokyo, JP).
Assignee:
Sega Enterprises, Ltd. (Tokyo, JP).
Appl. No.:
294,811
Filed:
Aug. 25, 1994
Effective as of:
Jul. 22, 1997

A game device comprises operational input means 30, 40 for inputting
operational signals supplied by operation of game players, game control means
10 for controlling a game, based on the operational signals of the operational
input means 30, 40, and game display means 20 for displaying the game
controlled by the game control means 10, the operational signals of the
operational input means 40 being displayed by the game display means 20. The
game player can confirm game operations they made. As a result, the game
player can relatively readily see their game operations they made without
stress given to them.

Of course, all this can be found at http://patents.uspto.gov/

 

[DDayton]

You know, it seems like one could get around that Namco patent by claiming that once the main game code was loaded for startup, future loading is merely data access... not the program loading, as such.

 

[Rlan]

I remember the terrible Fantastic Four game on PSX had a little racing game built into the loading screen. Who made that?