HappySqurriel on 08 April 2011
A lot of companies (like Nintendo) do a lot of "pure research" in a field, and patent most of what they create from this research. There are multiple reasons for this but one of the key ones is protection from patent trolls. Nintendo's next system will likely have dozens of new features in it, some of which are very practical and others that are not, and Nintendo want to be protected from someone claiming that their patent for "videogame system with coloured lights" entitles them to millions of dollars from the sale of their console.
