Nintendo last summer filed for an “Invitation system for on-line video games” patent, which was issued just a few days ago. Patent No. 20070123353 describes a system where one user can send an online game invitation to another friend that they see logged into the server. So let’s say you’re playing Mario Kart Wii, and your friend is playing Pokémon Battle Revolution, and you’re both logged in online. You could, based on this patent, invite the other to play Mario Kart Wii online with you. Or, you could’ve just been playing the same game but separately, and this invitation system could let you play together.

Now let’s think about this. In order for such an invitation system to work, wouldn’t you need to be constantly logged in online in order for a friend to see you? Also, if you’re able to see which friends are online and what they’re playing, wouldn’t you need to have some sort of buddy list? Nintendo constantly files patents they use, patents they don’t use, and patents they will use in 1235832 years. Could this be a future feature for the Wii, or is Nintendo simply planning ahead.