Microsoft's 5,000th Patent

Microsoft today announced that the company has reached a new milestone by landing its 5,000th patent in the U.S. Patent no. 6,999,083 apparently covers technology that not only enables gamers to play against one another online, but also allows them to watch online game sessions as spectators from anywhere in the world.

"The patent, which covers technologies that will be featured in Xbox 360 games, brings new innovation to online gaming by allowing consumers to tune into a video game much as they would a sporting event broadcast," said Microsoft. Indeed, this feature is already present in Project Gotham Racing 3 via the Gotham TV option. Tecmo's Dead or Alive 4 also lets players view online matches while waiting to engage in fights online.

The technology is more specifically described as, "A system for generating a spectator experience in real time from a game or event, such as highlights, instant replays, and unique views of the action within a game to enhance the experience for spectators rather than players. Using viewing controls, a spectator can control one or more virtual cameras to select desired viewpoints or an automated camera control to frame the action and perform specific cuts to best convey the story and action. The game and in turn the spectator experience may vary as a function of participant interactions and other contributions to the game based on real-time spectator activity."

The patent also refers to: "A portal such as a Web site to access spectator-related services such as schedules and information on multiple games and events as well as the number of spectators and participants in each. The portal allows the spectator to find the most popular games to watch, preview the action, and then connect to the desired game or event."

"The 5,000th patent is a marker of the progress we have made in the past few years -- building a high-quality, innovative and industry-recognized portfolio," commented Brad Smith, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary for Microsoft. "Through patents, we are able to license our technologies widely to others in the industry, increasing the availability of our innovations and getting beneficial solutions in the hands of customers."

Microsoft Research software engineer Steven Drucker explained that the idea of creating a technology to enable others to watch games came to him when he watched others play at a Gameworks facility in the late '90s. "I suddenly realized that it would be really cool if people could watch really good games players online and from a different point of view, as though they are watching the game play in the theater," he said.

When Drucker explained the idea to his boss Curtis Wong, senior program manager with the Next Media Research Group in Microsoft Research, Wong was genuinely excited and saw further possibilities as well. "As we talked it through, I got more and more excited," said Wong. "We saw there were all sorts of fantastic applications for the idea. We were especially excited about the educational possibilities. We had a vision of creating massive online games that would allow school children to compete on teams 'terraforming' different parts of a planet."

He added, "I have a vision of really large numbers of people watching tournaments online. The top players could become as famous as sports stars, even endorsing products. This could really help gaming move into the mainstream."

To date MS has obtained over 7,000 patents worldwide. The software giant aims to file roughly 3,000 patents each year.