🍪 Nintendo’s Patents Collapse, Microsoft Brags Numbers, and Heart Machine Bleeds Before Launch
Hello there, inventors, dreamers, and late-night rebuilders. Today the industry feels like it’s running on equal parts ego and exhaustion. Nintendo’s patents crumble under their own ambition. Microsoft flexes numbers like a kid with a new calculator. And a studio that made heartbreak look beautiful now lives it for real.
🧾 Nintendo’s Catch-and-Fail
Nintendo just got told “no” by the Japan Patent Office. Their attempt to patent the creature-capture mechanic — yes, the very concept that makes Pokémon, well, Pokémon — was rejected.
The Office said the idea isn’t new. Third-party claims pointed out that games like ARK: Survival Evolved, Monster Hunter 4, Craftopia, and even Pokémon Go already did it. The official term used was that the claim “lacked an inventive step,” which is bureaucratese for you didn’t invent this, buddy.
It’s not final, but it’s embarrassing — especially after Nintendo filed the patent right before suing Palworld developer Pocketpair for “multiple infringements.” If this rejection sticks, it won’t kill the lawsuit, but it will take a bite out of Nintendo’s argument that it owns the very idea of catching things.
🦊 Kiki: Patenting “catching something in a game”? That’s like trying to trademark breathing because you inhaled first.
🍪 Chip hides behind a Poké Ball, trembling at the sound of prior art.
💼 Microsoft’s Quarter of Records and Repetition
Satya Nadella spent half his earnings call preaching about AI and Copilot — again — but between the buzzwords, there was actual news: 155 million monthly active users, a record for Xbox’s Content and Services revenue, and a good debut for the Xbox Ally handheld.
PC gaming’s up. Hardware’s down 29%. But they called it a “record quarter” anyway. Because in Microsoft math, the vibes are the metric.
🦊 Kiki: Every Xbox report sounds like someone bragging about their step count while ignoring the heart monitor. But hey — revenue’s revenue.
🍪 Chip curls up next to an Xbox Ally box, glowing faintly in green denial.
💔 Heart Machine’s Hearts Break Again
Just days before Possessor(s) launches, Heart Machine reportedly laid off more staff — the second round this month. Developers shared the news themselves on Bluesky: short posts, long sighs.
One wrote, “My time at Heart Machine has sadly come to an end. I’d been working on Breaker since 2020.” Another said they’re finishing Possessor(s) before looking for a new job — that’s the kind of loyalty studios can’t buy, and shouldn’t burn.
It’s not clear how many people remain, but it’s hard not to feel the poetic tragedy: a studio named Heart Machine losing its heart right before launch.
🦊 Kiki: Shipping a game while watching your team vanish? That’s not a dev cycle — that’s a survival horror.
🍪 Chip drifts beside an empty monitor box labeled “Fragile.”
⚖️ Nintendo vs. The Streamer Who “Runs the Streets”
In Colorado, Nintendo won a $17,500 judgment against streamer Jesse Keighin, who was caught streaming unreleased Nintendo games — and then bragged about it. He told them he had “a thousand burner channels” and “can do this all day.”
The judge sided with Nintendo on the fines but rejected two big requests: destroying “circumvention devices” (unclear, since the guy used online emulators) and banning unnamed “third parties.” Basically, the court said: be specific, or stop trying to sue the entire internet.
🦊 Kiki: “You might run a corporation, I run the streets.” Sounds cool until the streets send you a $17,500 invoice.
🍪 Chip hides behind a stack of cease-and-desist letters, peeking out nervously.
Stay grounded — patents expire, profits fade, but people remember integrity.
Keep questioning — creativity doesn’t need permission slips.
And remember — even a glitch can spark the next masterpiece.
— Leo
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