Nintendo patent points to tactile force-feedback stylus?

While there is a rumble cart for the DS, it isn’t really an accessory that a lot of developers embrace. It’s not exactly the best peripheral either. How in the world could you add more depth to the rumble experience on a platform like the DS? How about some tactile feedback that’s centered on the stylus? Nintendo may be working on that very idea, according to a recently filed patent. If this seems oddly familiar, keep in mind that Nintendo had a patent slightly similar to this a few months back.

A game apparatus includes an LCD, and a touch panel is placed on a top surface of the LCD. A player instructs an enemy character displayed on the LCD by use of a stick to attack the enemy character. For example, in a case that the enemy character exists at a depth of a game screen, little damage is applied to the enemy character, and a weak vibration is applied to the game apparatus. Conversely, in a case that the enemy character exists at a front of the game screen, much damage is applied to the character, and a strong vibration is applied to the game apparatus. In either case, the vibrations are transmitted to the fingers or hands of the payer via the stick.

Sounds pretty interesting, don’t you think? Is this going to be a patent that Nintendo actually uses, or will it be another filing that gets tucked away for years and years? Thanks to 8bitJay for the heads up.

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