On August 15, 2006, the U.S. Patent Office issued U.S. Pat. No. 8,267,786 to Nintendo Co., Ltd. The patent concerns a “game controller and game system” that would go on to become the Nintendo Wii.
According to the language in the patent, the system would work such that “one of the first control unit and the second control unit [transmit] … operation data … to a computer at a predetermined timing.” The first control unit? The Wii remote. The second? The Nunchuk. The computer? The Wii itself. This is video game history in patent form.
Illustrative Claim:
1. A game controller for transmitting operation data to a computer executing a game program, the game controller comprising: a first control unit;
a second control unit;
a communications unit that exchanges data between the first control unit and the second control unit, the first control unit including a first operation data generation section comprising an inertial sensor that generates first operation data indicative of a posture or attitude of a first control unit body included in the first control unit;
the second control unit including a second operation data generation section comprising an inertial sensor that generates second operation data indicative of a posture or attitude of a second control unit body included in the second control unit and a third operation data generation section comprising an imaging information calculation section that detects illuminated markers and that generates third operation data indicative of positions of the illuminated markers relative to the second control unit body;
and one of the first control unit and the second control unit further including a transmission section for transmitting the first operation data, the second operation data and the third operation data to the computer at a predetermined timing.
