While Nintendo has historically hesitated to fully
embrace online connectivity with its games and hardware, a
recently-published patent from the company outlines the concept of a
"Massively Single-Playing Online Game."

The patent, first filed in early 2010, says that in this type of game,
users playing a single player title could influence the characters and
world of another user playing the same single player title, reports Gamespot.

Based on the patent's description, this concept hopes to capture the
positive elements of online play without the need for human-to-human
interaction: "Those who want to play games that are more dynamic,
not-based on Al and not-pre-scripted like multiplayer games, however,
don't want to 'deal' with other people, appreciate the privacy it
provides," the patent says.

Elsewhere, the patent refers to the "a home video game system such as
the Nintendo Wii 3D video game system," a seemingly different console
than the company's previously announced Wii U system.

Despite Nintendo's patent, however, no other evidence suggests either
the "Massively Single-Playing Online Game" or the "Wii 3D" will ever
see an official release. Nintendo has previously filed a number of
patents that never saw the light of day, such as a mood lighting system for the Wii and even a blow-up horse saddle.