August 14 3:22 P.M.
From the goofy Power Glove to the clever Balance Board to the mysterious Vitality Sensor, no one does weird controllers like Nintendo. But a bizarre European patent filing dug up by Siliconera reveals what might be their kookiest creation yet.
The Nintendo Wii Horseback Riding Saddle is an inflatable seat that players could use to simulate bouncing around on the back of a horse -- or any other mount for that matter, including "bulls, camels, elephants, burros, dolphins, whales, dragons, griffons, unicorns, and giant eagles." Uh, whales?
Regardless of what kind of beast you're sitting on, you'll hold the nunchuck like a set of reins while a built-in seat pocket holds the Wii remote. How would a game work? Pretty much how you'd think it would work. From the patent:
"For example, the Wii main unit can display the back of a horse’s head and background of a trail, a field, a battlefield or other environment the virtual horse is being ridden through (see Figure 1A). The image may change in response to detected motion of the user."
Since it's merely a patent filing, there's no word on when -- or even if -- the Horseback Riding Saddle will gallop to retail shelves. But for the sake of whaleriding enthusiasts the world over, here's hoping this one doesn't ride off into the sunset.
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Posted: 14 Aug 2009
