I’m traveling today, and can only offer a brief intro for the following 4 new patents. Please click the links for details. GameChat safety patent 1: Server-side filtering of communications based on user age www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1801/PU/JP-...

Hate to pour cold water on the dev acquisition talk, but that slide was presenting things *already* happened. • Very precise number of “a” video company acquisition (Dynamo) • In contrast, acquisition of “developers” being plural (Next Level, SRD, Shiver) • All others are done or in progress 1/

Duskbloods will be jointly published by FromSoftware (Kadokawa subsidiary) and Nintendo. My guess is that the former will handle the domestic market, and the latter overseas. Source: ssl4.eir-parts.net/doc/9468/ir_...

[New lore?] Before creating Pokémon Red and Green, Tajiri jokingly said to Miyamoto: “To surpass Nintendo’s Mario, we’d have to sell two copies of [same] game to each customer.” I’m sure that it was just a joke. Let’s be normal. Note: Unofficial translation www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2025/...

Nintendo explained why they updated Animal Crossing. Furukawa: With dev costs and time increasing, it’s harder to maintain the pace of new releases. Since NS2 is BC, we’d recommend NS1 games to first-time buyers. Balancing new releases and evergreens engagement will sustain NS2’s momentum. 1/

Updated KPIs in today’s Management Policy Briefing (img 1) compared to past data: • Annual Playing Users stopped declining and stayed flat (img 2) • Nintendo Accounts +34M YoY (img 3; indicating Switch user churn and/or mobile user growth) • NSO Members stayed flat too (img 4) 1/

In case some are wondering why I had no patent posts for a week: There were only some patent continuations/divisions that aren’t new, and one Mario Party patent that I didn’t find interesting enough to write. But if you’re hungry for it … patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/de...

Here’s a good visualization of how massive the Switch 2 launch is. The chart below shows Nintendo’s consolidated financial results since FY2018-03. Net sales (left axis, gray): highest since NS1 launch Net income (right axis, navy): higher than NS1 years 1-3 Source: www.nikkei.com/article/DGKK...

During today’s conference, Furukawa stated that Nintendo wants “as many people as possible” to get a Switch 2 during the year-end shopping season, aiming to sell above the forecast (19M units). Since the company has expanded capacity post NS2 launch, “production won’t be a bottleneck”. 1/

Nintendo’s KPI of Annual Playing Users is conspicuously absent from today’s financial disclosure. Since last quarterly report showed the first ever drop of APU post Switch launch (from 129M to 128M), it reasons that the number probably declined further and Nintendo chose not to publicize it. 1/

Top ten trending items for Japanese teen girls in H1 2025 include: #1 Pokémon TCG Pocket, 31.4% #2 Tamagotchi (due to “Heisei era girls” retro trend), 28.6% #7 Nintendo Switch 2, 12.5% Source: Mynavi, survey of 618 13-19 y/o girls cm-marketinglab.mynavi.jp/column/2025k...

Remember all the breathless reporting of Nintendo “banning” RTA in Japan (speedrunning event) from using Nintendo games? That was demonstrably untrue. RTA in Japan just unveiled their Winter 2025 lineup, and 30 selected entries are Nintendo games: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... 1/

Alps Alpine (アルプスアルパイン), supplier of HD Rumble actuators and analog sticks, revised up their financial forecast for the FY ending 2026-03 (img 1). One of the reasons for the revision is “an increase in sales”, including “growing demand for game consoles” (img 2). 1/

The person who won a copy of Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road seven years ago just received a letter from Level 5 with a download QR code. He was in elementary school when he won, and now is in high school. Better late than never! Source: X account GOTTbatotai54

It appears that one of those in-development* TOSE projects w/ added Switch 2 support may be Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake: www.tose.co.jp/en/news/2025... * As of 2025-08-31

Macronix’s (旺宏; NS1 Game Card supplier) Q3 financial report indicates that the company is still unable to produce NS2 Game Cards. www.mxic.com.tw/en-us/about/... • Their 2025Q3 ROM shipment was barely higher than 2024Q3 (img 1). Without Pokémon Z-A, the number probably would’ve cratered. 1/

Capcom did NOT “blame” MH Wilds’ sales to the price of PS5. That Tsujimoto interviewed was given in May, before the sales began to sag. He was patting themselves on the back for selling 10M copies *despite* the PS5 ownership cost. Source: xtrend.nikkei.com/atcl/content... 1/

Nintendo Korea announced preorder bonuses for Metroid Prime 4: wide mouse pad (practical!), 500pcs jigsaw puzzle, and wall scroll. Unknown availability in other regions. www.nintendo.com/kr/news/arti...

Capcom’s video game sales in fiscal H1 (Apr-Sep): • Highest-ever total sales unit and catalog sales unit • New titles : Catalog titles = 4.2% : 95.8% • Overseas : Japan = 90.2% : 9.8% • Digital : Physical = 94% : 6%

Mario runs fast, 260 km/h to be exact Img 1: N700S Series Shinkansen Img 2: 800 Series Shinkansen www.jrkyushu.co.jp/train/mario/

Since the new Sayonara Wild Hearts, and Lorelei & The Laser Eyes will be “Nintendo Switch 2 Edition”, we can be certain that an upgrade pack will be available to NS1 version owners. The Binding of Isaac is not an NS2E, so it must be a standalone NS2 game. There will be no NS1 upgrade pack. 1/

The complete version of The Binding of Isaac is $51 on Steam. The NS2 physical is $19 more ($70). The early access version of Pastry Panic (a.k.a. Turn the Line) is $14 on Steam. If the full release doubles the price to $28, the NS2 physical is $22 more ($50). Hades II physical is $20 more too. 1/

Honcam (弘德隆) is developing an Arcade Dock + Stick for Switch 2 (NS1 compatible). It’s now on a Japanese crowdfunding site, and has a placeholder page on Amazon US. ETA is Jan 2026. www.honcam.com/nintendo/min...

Kenzo Tsujimoto spoke to Nikkei Business both as the Chairman of CESA and President of Capcom. I’ll share only a few points below. Click to read the full article: www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZ... • Marketing of RE Requiem will be based on “multifaceted analysis” of the series’s past data 1/

One additional detail revealed in patent JP2025163172 (see last post): Traditional mouse doesn’t know if it is grounded. Joy-Con 2 on the other hand needs the data. This is achieved by tracking the “image clarity” detected by its mouse sensor. When it’s clear, the Joy-Con must be close to a surface.

When in mouse mode, the player may lift up the Joy-Con momentarily before putting it back down (e.g., playing Drag x Drive). The grounding impact can jerk the cursor and result in undesirable movements in game. ipforce.jp/patent-jp-P_... 1/

Switch 2 GameChat is facilitated by two types of servers: • Management servers identify and connect users to form chat groups • Transmission servers receive and relay video streams within a chat group More about GameChat patents in my last post.

A patent trio for GameChat have been published by JPO today. I’ll touch on only a few key points in the thread below. Please refer to the source docs for more info. www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1801/PU/JP-... www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1801/PU/JP-... www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1801/PU/JP-... 1/

A trademark application for “POKKÉN TOURNAMENT” was filed in Argentina a few days ago (10-21). That’s the 19th territory within 4 months. Not sure why Nintendo is doing this for a 10 year old game.

Saw people sharing *full pages* of Nintendo Dream magazine on social media. Far be it from me to tell people what to do, but knowing that 25% of game journalists left media in past 2 years, it’d be nice if we can share content more judiciously.

In the recent financial results briefing, TOSE (トーセ, Japan’s largest contract developer) talked about their Switch 2 business: • Many new contracts of multi-platform releases including NS2 • Same for projects currently in negotiation • Some titles already under development also added NS2 support 1/

Two new Switch 2 commercials, featuring gameplay videos of Metroid Prime 4. Source: 知任CHS weibo.com/tv/show/1034...

Chinese customs data since 2022-01 demonstrates that their game console exports are shifting away from the US to the rest of the world. Source: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Next game…

The December issue of Nintendo Dream magazine includes three Metroid Prime 4 character arts that (I think) were unreleased until now: Abevax, Lamorn, and “mobile weapon” ATM these aren’t on ND’s website. You may purchase the paper/digital magazine on Amazon Japan (search for ニンテンドードリーム 12月号).

Nintendo filed an application in Japan to register the design of a Joy-Con 2 Charging Grip without, well, a grip (imgs 1-2). They are unlikely to commercialize it themselves, but might license the design to Hori (img 3, for NS1) or other accessory makers. www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/c1801/DE/JP-...

A rare piece of Nintendo history just surfaced at a Hard Off used goods store. It is a DSi LL with a TV tuner (DSテレビ). The “Ishinomaki City” (石巻市) engraving on the tuner indicates that they were donated by Nintendo to the municipality after the devastating Tohoku earthquake in 2011. 1/

Yes, NOA filed a Virtual Console trademark application on Apr 21 (img 1), but the reports are greatly exaggerated. NOA holds two “VirtualConsole” trademarks already in effect since 2006. This new filing is a Section 66(a) application to extend VC’s international registration to the US (img 2). 1/

Overlaps there are, but they are not the same.

ChongDianTou compared the teardowns of Switch 1 charger (img 1) and Switch 2 charger (img 2), and concluded: • Gen-1 mainly uses traditional TO-220 packages, occupying considerable space. • Gen-2 introduced compact surface-mount packages, allowing higher efficiency and better heat dissipation. 1/

This is the circuit board of NDK Box Black, part of the Switch 2 devkit BEE-056. The board’s model number is BEE-RBX-MAIN-01. Source: X account traiver_ 1/

Nothing against Mike, but I do not think it means what you think it means. This patent, published on Jul 10 in Japan, is in fact about utilizing GameShare to stream secondary UI to a client device. Yes, it could be used for DS emulation, but I suspect that Nintendo has a bigger plan for the tech. 1/

According to Bloomberg Japan, Nintendo plans to produce up to 25 million units of Switch 2 by FY2026-03. Bloomberg estimates that 20M+ units could be sold this FY, and the remainder would be the inventory for next year. www.bloomberg.co.jp/news/article... 1/

Nintendo responded to Sankei Shimbun’s inquiry about the recent hacking claim: 「個人情報の流出は確認できず、開発やビジネス情報の漏洩（ろうえい）もない」 “No leakage of personal information has been confirmed, and no breach of development or business information either.” www.sankei.com/article/2025... 1/

As I mentioned previously, content is the second largest export of Japan, and the government is pretty much obligated to respond to gen AI’s rampant IP theft. More info here: ninpatentswatch.wordpress.com/2025/10/14/c...

A Chinese repair shop decapsulated a Game Card 2 IC and Game Card 1 IC to compare the dies (img 1; GC1 on top, GC2 below). • GC2’s memory area is larger than GC1’s (img 2) • GC2’s controller is smaller but has more contacts (img 3) 1/

Still seeing some confusion regarding different formats of Switch 2 games, hopefully this may help: **Cheatsheet to Understand NS2 Game Types** 1⃣️ Is the game available for NS1? 🚫 No 🚫 • NS2 exclusive app • Game Card 2, Game-Key Card, or digital • Not backward compatible ✅ Yes ✅ (go to step 2)

ChongDianTou did a comprehensive teardown of Switch 2 charger NGN-001, including Type G and Type A versions. Aside from the plug, logo location (img 1), and a time-delay fuse (img 2), they are identical (img 3). One interesting detail: The Weltrend WT6633P controller supports Quick Charge 5. 1/

Square Enix Asia for some reason released an *official* platform comparison video for Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. Watch it here and switch to 4K: weibo.com/6048193311/5...

Nintendo Museum’s AR Hanafuda game (img 1) requires projection calibration regularly. However, the busy graphics and background make calibration difficult. Two solutions: 1. Comparing the game board image taken by an overhead camera to the reference game board image (img 2) 1/