Nintendo Trademarks Eternal Darkness

The Gamecube may have been more famous for its brilliant Resident Evil 4 (which was an exclusive for a time), but it also featured another console-exclusive masterpiece of highly-intense, supremely innovative psychological horror.

I am talking of course about the mind-bending, trickery-infused Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, the highlight of the now-defunct Silicon Knights output, which Nintendo famously published. Fans have been demanding a sequel for years, and I can’t blame them – it would be a superb way for Nintendo to provide some adult-oriented thrills for their current generation of consoles.

Sadly, Silicon Knights were effectively destroyed when they lost a huge legal battle with Epic Games, and although an Eternal Darkness 2 was planned, it has been in limbo since the devastating court decision last year. The company that formed out of the ashes of Silicon Knights – Precursor games – are attempting to crowd-fund an Eternal Darkness project, but we have learned this week via Siliconera that Nintendo have registered a trademark for the Eternal Darkness name in the States, including “downloadable electronic game programs” and “downloadable electronic game software,” as part of the deal.

Could this mean an HD remake or downloadable release of some sort? We certainly hope so. The game would work equally well on the 3DS or Wii U, and still has the power to shock and scare, even today.