Nintendo recently made clear that we'd have no more announcements about games or specs for its new Switch console until 2017 - but also hinted that they "haven’t shown everything" to the Wall Street Journal.
A series of patents filed by the company prior to the Switch's formal reveal last week (catalogued by Polygon and NeoGAF) could point to what we haven't been shown yet.
While patents can - and often have - been published that do not reflect the final product, previous Nintendo filings have suggested that the console would feature a controller with a screen, would ditch optical discs for cartridges and would include detachable controllers - all of which turned out to be true.
One patent document makes mention of familiar features that have so far been left undiscussed - a touch panel, outer camera, rumble pack, accelerometer and microphone - but also extend to slightly more out-there suggestions.
Multiple filings include mention of a set of features housed in the side of the controller - presumably underneath where the Joy-Con controllers would sit - that include an infrared camera, a distance-measuring sensor, and even a miniature projector.
The uses for that set of slightly left-field equipment seem to be based primarily in adding support for gesture controls - the patent's descriptions show the device potentially being able to recognise Rock, Paper, Scissors gestures, respond to actions like rotating a crank or flicking, or control characters' on-screen positioning by moving one's hand closer and further from the console:
Patent diagram showing how gesture control could be used to control a Mario Kart-like game.
The projector mentioned also fits into that wider idea of gesture control - one set of diagrams shows a baseball being projected onto a player's hand, which can be "thrown" into the controller for an onscreen character to hit back out again, where the player can catch it:
Patent diagram showing projector and gesture controls in use.
A counter-point to this speculation is the inclusion of an outer camera on the upper-back of the proposed controller - something which can't be seen in the Nintendo Switch reveal trailer.
Perhaps the biggest point of contention would be that the Switch's primary promise - of being able to play identical games at home or on the move - would be compromised by features that require you to hold the base processing unit, meaning it couldn't be in its TV docking station.
However, some have pointed out that Nintendo also recently patented the idea of modular controllers, meaning some of these features could presumably be added to new variants of the Joy-Con detachable remotes, and perhaps made easier to use by sliding them into the Joy-Con grip unit.
If you want to dive into the patents yourself, the majority of what's discussed in this article can be found here, here, and here.
The Nintendo Switch is due for release in March 2017, whatever it turns out to be.
Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and in the course of researching this article, he found out Nintendo has re-filed its patent for villager swapping in the original Animal Crossing. What a nostalgic little thrill. Follow him on Twitter..
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