Sony patents new game cartridge design

[midian182]

Why it matters: Production of the PlayStation Vita and its cartridges are scheduled to end next year, but Sony maintains it isn’t ready to give up on portable gaming altogether. With the discovery of a new patent for a game cartridge, we might have an idea of what it’s got in store.

First reported by Techtastic, Sony’s "electronic game cartridge" appeared on the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) this month.

While a successor to the PS Vita might be the most obvious reason why Sony patented a cartridge design, the Nintendo Switch, which has proved incredibly popular, could be a big influence here.

The connection at the bottom of the cartridge looks as if it’s used to communicate with a console, and there’s also a circular hole that could be used to remove it or carry it around.

Back in May, Sony gaming division’s John (Tsuyoshi) Kodera said that "Rather than separating portable gaming from consoles, it's necessary to continue thinking of [portable gaming] as one method to deliver more gaming experiences."

While it’s important to remember that many patents never turn into actual products, evidence points to Sony’s cartridge being part of the company’s bigger plans. We’ll just have to wait and see whether that’s a PS Vita 2, a PlayStation 5 with some Switch-style functionality, or something else entirely.

We've also seen new PS5 rumors hit the web. Leaked photos of the PS5 were made public this week and the console is said to feature a Ryzen 8-core CPU, a custom GPU based on AMD’s upcoming Navi architecture, and cost $500. No mention of it using cartridges, though.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/77590-sony-patents-new-game-cartridge-design.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Sounds like the boys in legal are just trying to justify their jobs ......

 

[toooooot]

Someone tell them about that SD like card Sony created once. Expensive! Proprietary! Dead...

 

[Godel]

How does this warrant a patent anyway? Surely some kind of industrial design registration would be more appropriate.

I'd have thought obviousness and prior art would have prevented it from getting a patent.

 

[psycros]

How does this warrant a patent anyway? Surely some kind of industrial design registration would be more appropriate.

I'd have thought obviousness and prior art would have prevented it from getting a patent.

You'd certainly think so. Perhaps its not just a "cartridge". I notice that the pictures at the top of the article don't match the ones on the web clip. I've long wondered why they haven't come up with a mobile console that slots into a home console "base" letting you easily play your mobile games on a big screen, back up your portable's data to the home console, etc. The Wii U was getting close to this with its Vita-like controllers but ultimately we got the Switch instead, with all its limitations. For that matter, where's my PC with a universal socket that I can just slide my phone into for instant syncing and shared capabilities?

 

[Ravey]

I wonder if it's a security key for adding an additional layer of security to your device? So you would need both a password and this physical key before you can use your system.

 

[ForgottenLegion]

I wonder if their next handheld will have a proprietary memory format or have they learnt their lesson from the Vita?.....

XD what am I saying? This is Sony after all. They love creating doomed formats.