So rumors are flying that Nintendo is already hard at work on the DS 2, and it might even be revealed at E3 in June. But can we add to those rumors that it might also feature built-in rumble functionality, too? Maybe! A patent filing by Nintendo has been dug up that describes how a “game apparatus” with an “LCD and a touch pad” would initiate a rumble feature depending on what’s happening in the game, which would then be felt by the player through the stylus (Broke My Controller, via Kotaku).

This filing is actually an addendum to a patent filed by Nintendo in 2005, and describes this rumble feature through the example of attacking a character in a game. “In a case that the enemy character exists at a depth of a game screen, little damage is applied to the enemy character, and a weak vibration is applied to the game apparatus,” the filing confusingly explains. “Conversely, in a case that the enemy character exists at a front of the game screen, much damage is applied to the character, and a strong vibration is applied to the game apparatus. In either case, the vibrations are transmitted to the fingers or hands of the player via the stick.” (Don’t even think about it.)

So in other words, strong attacks mean more rumble, weak attacks less. But could this actually be a new feature planned for the heavily-rumored-but-still-unannounced DS 2? Or, as can often be the case with patents, simply an idea or prototype Nintendo filed to have it protected but may never actually use?

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