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Eternal Darkness' infamous sanity system patent has expired - so can anyone now copy it?
(www.eurogamer.net)
this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2025
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Nintendo patents almost every mechanic they deem noteworthy, even if they amount to a bunch of gimmicky minigames or interactions. The sanity system, as it currently exists, is very rudimentary and overstays its welcome quickly, I'd argue making something substantially better was always on the table, and that alone would've bypassed the patent, so long is not literally the same code or instructions I guess.