Nintendo registers 'DSScan' equipment trademark

[Doctor Setebos]

According to Siliconera (by way of Tiny Cartridge) we learn that Nintendo has registered a trademark in Japan for 'DSScan' under the category of 'game equipment'. Eric at Tiny Cartridge talks about the prevalence and usefulness of QR barcodes in Japan.

For those of you unfamiliar with the pixelated “Quick Response” patches, it’s a popular barcode system in Japan often attached to commercial products and other objects.

People scan the small squares with their mobile phone cameras and are able to access encoded data — nutritional information for food, directions from Google Maps, contact details on a business card, or even the developer’s site from a Nintendo DS game box.

He goes on to expound luminously on the implications of such technology being linked to a device that everyone on Earth will potentially own (given that the DSi becomes as popular as the DS has). Could we exchange friend codes using nothing more than a scan of an image? Engage in a real-world scavenger hunt? The possibilities are endless, but only if there proves to actually be technology behind the ambiguous name.

[Mike Kelehan]

Originally Posted by Doctor Setebos

Could we exchange friend codes using nothing more than a scan of an image?

I feel like scanning it, transferring it from the SD card to my computer, and uploading it would be a lot more work than 1254-8654-8659-8945.

I do like your real-world scavenger hunt idea.

[Doctor Setebos]

Originally Posted by Mike Kelehan

I feel like scanning it, transferring it from the SD card to my computer, and uploading it would be a lot more work than 1254-8654-8659-8945.

I do like your real-world scavenger hunt idea.

I think what he's hinting at (they're Eric's ideas, not mine) is that the software could read a barcode that has your friend code embedded in it. The software would then interpret the code and add the information directly to the DSi, thus negating the need to tap the code in manually.

[mister slim]

Originally Posted by Doctor Setebos

I think what he's hinting at (they're Eric's ideas, not mine) is that the software could read a barcode that has your friend code embedded in it. The software would then interpret the code and add the information directly to the DSi, thus negating the need to tap the code in manually.

Or if the scan function was built into the DS, if you have the ability to automatically convert friend codes into barcodes you can just hold up the DSi camera to a PC screen and automatically add that person.

[Mike Kelehan]

Originally Posted by Doctor Setebos

I think what he's hinting at (they're Eric's ideas, not mine) is that the software could read a barcode that has your friend code embedded in it. The software would then interpret the code and add the information directly to the DSi, thus negating the need to tap the code in manually.

You never have to enter your own code, only your friends' codes, and if you're in close proximity to your friend, you can usually add them to your list by just playing a local game with them.