Nintendo patents “Attestation Program” in order to fight cheaters

Cheaters beware!

19 May 2022
by rawmeatcowboy 2
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While we often say that Nintendo’s patents may never get implemented in games, this one in particular seems like something Nintendo would want to include in all of their online-enabled games going forward.

Nintendo is always out to make sure people are playing legitimate copies of their games for numerous reasons, cheaters included. That’s why it’s no surprise to see Nintendo file a patent related to hunting down players who are using modified versions of their software.

In particular, this patent is for attestation programs that employ “code reuse” techniques, which would certainly hunt down a healthy amount of players who are running games with nefarious bits of code/programs attached to them. If this kind of software is detected, it’ll be shut down on the spot. Thanks to regular checks while the software is in use, this approach should be able to spot issues as they arise.

We don’t know when Nintendo will implement this patent, but hopefully we see it put to good use in Splatoon 3 and all Nintendo titles going forward.

[OpAttack]

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Comments (2)

sligeach_eire

2y ago

Seems to me this is about catching people playing pirate copies of Nintendo's games as much as it is about preventing cheating. And it would make sense that it's easier to catch these people when they go online with illegal copies that have standout cheats enabled. I don't know, does Nintendo brick the Switch systems or just kick them off online? I thought I've heard before of Nintendo bricking systems when they detect illegal copies of games. I'm guessing it would be far harder for Nintendo to catch pirates who stay offline.

I think each copy of a Nintendo Switch game cartridge has a unique serial code license and Nintendo can detect if it's been duplicated, but they'd probably need to be connected online for Nintendo to detect it. I presume digital copies work the same way. I've never pirated any games or hacked a system, so maybe I'm wrong. It's just little bits of information I think I've read before.

clark2k

2y ago

Please, Nintendo, make them pay if they mess with my Mario Striker's online!
I've been waiting since the Game Cube version for a proper online play!