Sony may be developing a new “phone an expert” feature for players to get help from other players when they are stuck in games, if a newly filed patent is any indication.
The idea of phoning an “expert” is not necessarily new; Nintendo tried it all the way back in 1987 with “Nintendo Game Play Counselors.” The counselors were armed with literal binders full of game guides and were reachable by a phone number that was printed in Nintendo Power magazines. Of course, games were much simpler back then, and Sony’s new patent has the potential to be much more involved than a tips hotline.
Sony’s new patent that it filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization describes a new feature where players stuck in games can get help from another “expert” player. This feature would stream a player’s gameplay to a server where it is matched against similar gameplay. If the player then decides to ask for help, this feature would then pull up gameplay from players who got past that same sequence. If any of those players are opted in to help and are available online, it would connect them to communicate either through audio or text chat via console or the PlayStation app on mobile phones.
Players trying to help could even get more involved by utilizing the already in place PlayStation Share Play feature and actually take control of the player in need’s game. Additionally, there is an option where players can choose to opt in or out of spoilers, meaning they won’t be shown certain things later in the game that will presumably be labeled by each game’s developer. There are already spoiler filtering elements on PlayStation; developers on PS4 and PS5 can choose to have the recording of certain gameplay segments blocked from the consoles’ built-in gameplay recording features.
The filing of this patent does not guarantee that this feature will ever be added to the PS5 or future PlayStation consoles, as countless patents are filed by companies like Sony every year that never come to fruition. Still, it is an interesting insight into what the future of PlayStation could hold. The number of patents Sony has filed in recent years regarding game help, like Sony’s patent for interactable clips of other players’ save files does paint a picture that the company is very interested in the area.
Sony knows it’s in its best interest financially to make games as easy and accessible to as many people as possible. That extends to accessibility options, which Sony has filed a patent regarding the creation of global accessibility tools that developers can utilize without having to spend the time money and resources on creating their own.
Source: WIPO