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Nintendo just filed a new patent that outlines its plans for a new, personalized rating system for the eShop. This is different from the previous rating system used on the 3Ds eShop where players could rate games they had downloaded on a score of 1-5 stars and see the average score given by other players. Rather, this system would create a “computer system” that takes your “gameplay data” and the data of others to then generate game recommendations.
The system would “generate an average external rating for video games based on external data such as, user reviews, critic reviews, ownership data, etc.” All this together would be used to estimate what the actual players perspective is on a game. The system would rate games based on what it concludes you would think of them.
I guess I don’t need to write game reviews anymore! Nintendo can calculate my review score for me before I even play the game!
In all seriousness, a system to recommend games to players makes sense. The eShop is dense with games, and most probably don’t appeal to any one gamer. Creating a way for users to more easily discover games they would actually find enjoyable is beneficial for both Nintendo and customers. However, it is unknown how this system would impact the sales of games. Might some indie gems seep through the cracks and receive less attention than they would have otherwise? Some of the most fun games I have played have been through sheer luck or putting faith in a game I would have otherwise thought uninteresting.
There are other reasons for concern. Those of us who feel protective over our data might also be seeing this patent in a darker, more ominous light. Nintendo recently added in an update that automatically turns on data sharing with Google Analytics which you have to manually turn off. This patent is just another feature that also uses player data to increase profits and decrease privacy. And it is unlikely this one will be something we can turn off.
We have to keep in mind that this is, so far as we known, only a a patent and does not mean that the actual feature will ever reach fruition.
How do you feel about this patent? Are you excited to live in a time where computers will soon be recommending your next video game? Or do you have some reservations about what this patent could mean going forward?
Source: MUO
