Nintendo Patents Wii Remote Touchscreen Accessory

Nintendo has patented designs for a touchpad accessory for Wii Remotes. The peripheral sits at the bottom of the controller, allowing for touch-sensitive input using the magic of infrared LEDs and mirrors.

The documents, published by Siliconera, suggest potential interaction with Nintendo's upcoming Wii U console. The new console's single tablet controller is bound to be fought amongst family members in multiplayer games, so this patent could be a way for those holding a Wii Remote to gain some of the features of the Wii U's tablet.

Nintendo explains in the documents that the accessory could be used as an "in-game drawing pad or to add a mouse pointer interface to a video game." Quite why the latter would be possible when the Wii Remote has been used as a pointer for years is confusing, but hey. I'm sure Nintendo knows what it's doing.