Nintendo updates a patent that potentially hints at things to come...

Nintendo has recently updated a filed patent for a handheld device. The patent has now been updated to include full motion controls with a diagram of a Gameboy being used as a placeholder to demonstrate how this would work. Below a full description taken from the patents alterations can be found.

"A game system includes a housing to be held by a player. The housing incorporates an XY-axis acceleration sensor to detect an acceleration in an X-axis and Y-axis direction and a Z-axis contact switch to detect an acceleration in a Z-axis direction. These sensor and switch detect at least one of an amount (e.g. tilt amount, movement amount, impact amount or the like) and a direction (e.g. tilt direction, movement direction, impact direction or the like) of a change applied to the housing. A simulation program provides simulation such that a state of a game space is changed related to at least one of the amount and direction of the change applied to the housing."

Many people will of course be aware that such patents get filed all the time just to protect ideas and experiments that are being researched and tried out. Often this happens with very little intention of ever releasing the product. The chances of such a handheld hitting the market are pretty slim. Tilting would not really fit well with a portable system, making play in some situations (i.e travelling via automobile) near on impossible for it to work as a main control scheme. When coupled with the success of the touch centric DS it seems even less likely.