The Processor - We blog opinions on the latest trends in technology, games, geeky gadget things we find and random internet crap that may be of interest to your eyeballs.

Nintendo has obviously been considering quite a number of different input methods for it’s little white box recently, including a bike and even an inflatable, vibrating horse.

The latest, which has surfaced in the online database of the European Patent Office, takes the form of “a foam, sponge, or plastic” American football with a handy notch for the Wii remote. According to the filing:

“The ball can be an accessory that comprises a model of a football that is provided with a depression which snugly accepts and retains the handheld controller. The handheld controller may sense motion, position and/or orientation of the ball model and provide inputs wirelessly or via wires to a video game system. The video game system may process such inputs to provide a simulated sports action game play on a video display.”

Obviously this deluge of cheap plastic won’t necessarily all make it to market, but if it does, I think Nintendo could well be open to accusations of having lost the plot. Doubtless some will sell, but do people really want yet another gimmicky peripheral cluttering up their living room every time they buy a new game? I thought the appeal of the Wii remote was supposed to be that it could mimic any activity all on its own.

Nintendo need to concentrate on their strengths, namely, making great games. Sure Wii sports is fun, but traditional controllers are far from obsolete. If I sit down for a few games of Pro Ev, I don’t want to jog on the spot and flail around like I’ve lost control of my limbs while the game makes vague approximations of my movements, I want precise control over the actions on screen. Admittedly, the Wii is marketed to casual gamers, but it’s still a games console. If you want the real deal, go do it.

Of course, Nintendo could just be filing these patents to prevent evil, profiteering 3rd party firms from making cheap knock offs. We can but hope.

Yesterday was awash with news from the Gamescom trade show in Cologne. In amongst the major announcements, The Processor noticed Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli’s claims that we should not expect games to look much better than they currently do until the next crop of consoles in 2012.

Cevat Yerli addresses delegates

This is crap. The PS3 in particular still has a whole load of untapped potential. Many developers have not even fully exploited dual-core architecture, let alone it’s sophisticated multicore processor. There is still plenty of processing power left in the current generation of machines. Total data on disc is also a major factor. The amount of data a game can draw on is limited by the disc format, and while multi-platform games can only take advantage of around 5Gb of storage (because, in common with most PCs, the Xbox 360 does not have a Blu-Ray drive), PS3 exclusives can make use of a whopping 25Gb. I think there is a whole load of leverage until 2012, but it will take some clever programming to fully exploit it.

Comical impression of what said inflatable 'horse' may look like

Never a blog title I thought I would write. However, Nintendo appear to have filed a patent for an inflatable horse riding peripheral. Nintendo states that: “It would be desirable to provide an inexpensive, convenient way to realistically simulate, in the home, riding on horseback or on other animals.” Why yes Nintendo, that would be desirable! The comic potential in this is immense. Suggestions for games titles on a postcard please.