Nintendo has filed a rather curious patent for a "massively single-player online game".

Companies frequently patent ideas and with many of them nothing comes from the patents but Nintendo filed a rather curious one in early 2010, which has just been discovered by Gamespot. The patent is for a "massively single-player online game", which seemingly attempts to provide the joy of a MMO game without actually interacting with other players online.

The patent explains some of the possible implementations of the idea, such as the player's actions impacting the characters and environments of other players who are playing the game. Essentially it seems to provide the features of a massively multi-player online game without actually interacting with other players online. The patent application itself claims the following:

"Those who want to play games that are more dynamic, not-based on Al and not-pre-scripted like multiplayer games, however, don't want to 'deal' with other people, appreciate the privacy it provides."

Some other usage examples offered by the patent include one player inhabiting a virtual world in which they find some materials and build a house and the next player who comes along the scene would find the house. Similarly a player could talk to a non-playable character who would then pass on the information to other players. Another idea involved an in-game economy affected by the demand for scarcely-available items.

However, the patent application did also note that players who had "friended" one another would be able to see each other in the environment, making the title more similar to MMO games.

To make the application even more of a curious mystery Nintendo said the idea could be implemented on "a home video game system such as the Nintendo Wii 3D video game system, a Nintendo DS or other 3D capable interactive computer graphics display systems." While the Nintendo 3DS is Nintendo's flagship 3D system the company has denied making a 3D home console and when the Wii U was announced in June it was strictly 2D.

As the application was filed in early 2010 and as many ideas are patented and never touched again there's a chance this will never see the light of day, such as Wii Light, but it's a curious idea. Let us know what you think of the patent and if you'd like to see it used in the comments section below.