Does Nintendo Patent Portend Portable Wii?

In March 2004 Nintendo filed a new US patent application excitingly titled "Game System and Game Information Storage Medium Used for Same", for what looks to be a small hand-held device. That application has just been published (or laid open, as our patent law brethren would say). The patent discloses motion-sensing technology, such that moving the device will have an impact on game play (i.e., in the same way that the wiimote control is used for Nintendo's Wii console).

Nintendo will not comment on whether this patent application reveals the nature of Nintendo's next hand-held game system, or whether it's just something they're experimenting with.

See the patent application at the USPTO site.

Coverage at GameSpot