Loading screens are probably one of the pet peeves gamers have with games. There is nothing worse than having to wait for a loading screen, whether that be when entering a building, a dungeon or loading a new level. However up until now, developers weren’t allowed to add mini-games for us to play during loading screen due to Namco who filed a patent way back in 1995 to protect its use of auxillary mini-games while loading.

This meant that no one other than Namco could create and use mini-games for players to play while they waited for a game to load. The patent, as noted by PCGamer, was filed on November 27, 1995 and lasted for 20 years, meaning that it has now expired. As a result, developers will now be able to create mini-games for us to play during loading screens, if they wish.

Of-course, having mini-games to play during loading won’t solve the annoyance of regular and lengthy loading times but at least they would make the time pass a little quicker.

GameSpot have created a very informative video on the issue below which I fully suggest you watch.