Nintendo's efforts to attract casual players without totally isolating its core base may be seeing a new tool soon, thanks to a patent filed by Shigeru Miyamoto and reported by Kotaku. The patent describes a form of video walkthroughs built into games, that a player can use to see firsthand how to tackle a tough obstacle or puzzle. It lets players jump in and out of gameplay at any time to watch the walkthroughs, but doesn't overwrite the player's save data.

The patent lists three types of help offered to the player. The first, "Game," is quite simply playing the game, with optional video hints that pop up in the corner of the screen. "Digest" is the aforementioned video walkthrough, wherein a player can press a button to jump into the action using preloaded saves downloaded from a network. But, players can't save the game using the Digest mode, so they'll need to accomplish the feats on their own to continue as normal. Finally, "Scene" allows players to skip to particular parts of a game, similar to a scene selection option of a DVD movie.

Video walkthroughs are nothing new; after all, we've used them in the MyCheats SuperGuides. But implementing them into gameplay and allowing the player to hop in and out could be a wise step towards making both the casual and core players happy. A game's challenge level wouldn't have to be toned down for the fear of losing casual players, and more experience gamers could simply play with the hints off. Of course, this technology seems like it would be more beneficial to games with complex puzzles, rather than ones that rely on fast reflexes and skill. As with all patents, it's impossible to tell if Nintendo is currently implementing this into games, or has any plans to do so, but it's an intriguing idea in any case.

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