According to the US patent office, Nintendo has officially secured a patent for "A video gameand game system incorporating a game character's sanity level that is affected by occurrences in the game such as encountering a game creature or gruesome situation."

You read that right: from here on in, according to US law, only Nintendo characters
are allowed to go insane, at least in a way that alters their perception of reality (ie bleeding walls, sinks running red with blood, etc).


Why should gamers care? Because it could ruin their options. This technique, or something very close to it, is a pretty big part of a lot of horror titles, and if only Nintendo can use it, many other non-Nintendo games either won't be made
or will be crippled because they can't include said feature. What's next, a patent on blowing stuff up?