Sony has filed a new patent, looking to introduce innovative gameplay features. One of the new patents will look to add an auto-play feature, which will basically task the game itself to complete portions of the gameplay in your place. There’s another patent from Sony, looking into ways to incorporate a “slow mode” feature in its upcoming games.
First, the auto-play feature (patent spotted by Exputer) has been filed as a patent called “Method and System for Auto-Playing Portions of a Video Game”, which will add an option to handle the “anticipated grinding content (AGC).” This would be particularly useful for grinding sequences in a game which requires a lot of game time to achieve a particular milestone or obtain a certain reward.
As per the patent, the auto-play feature will try to simulate the gameplay based on the user’s style of play, and then run through a game’s tough areas. If it is done right, it can save gamers a lot of time (if they wish to save it), especially in MMORPG mobile and PC titles where the missions and objectives are exhaustingly long.
Sony’s ‘slow mode’ patent for accessibility in video games
Sony has filed another patent (via Exputer), and this one is aimed more towards accessibility in video games. The patent will add a slow mode to the future games, and there have already been a use of such sort of accessibility feature in PS titles such as Rachet and Clank: Rift Apart and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Dubbed “User Accessibility System and Method”, this patent is likely to build upon the concept, as it will look to reduce gameplay speed so as to make it more accessible for those who would require a slightly longer time to adapt to the fast pace of some of the games or their specific sequences. Moreover, this slow mode can also be applied to slowing down in-game time, which means that the “gameplay evolves more slowly whilst still maintaining audio and a good frame rate”, as written on the patent.
