Xbox 360 games could soon include a new system to give you tips and guides submitted by other gamers when you get stuck according to a Microsoft patent. Will Microsoft’s system for cheats, prosper?
A patent for an Xbox 360 hint system submitted by Andre Vrignaud, Microsoft’s Director of Games Platform Strategy, revealed the plan to help gamers through tricky spots. If you find yourself stuck the game will pull up a list of hints and tips from a database.
Developers would be able to create guides to include in games but the interesting part is that users would also be able to submit their own handy hints.
The Wiki-style Xbox 360 hint system would allow players to capture screenshots and short video clips as well as adding annotations and audio commentary.
To ensure that hints and tips from the game’s producers get the most attention, the system would give them a star rating and weight them higher than user-created content.
The patent suggests the service could be included as part of Xbox Live but doesn’t mention whether it would be free or just available to Xbox Live Gold Members.
The question is: how popular would the Xbox 360 hint system be? Games like Halo 3: ODST or Modern Warfare 2 are likely to get lots of hints, tips and guides but less well known titles could end up with sparse support.