16th March 2006, 4:03 AM
Sony Forced To Pull PS2 Off The Market?
Immersion wins Dual Shock patent case.
by James Cranston
March 15, 2006 - The Latest reports indicate that Sony has lost a patent case against Immersion technologies, for it's dual shock Playstation 2 controller. Below is the article from Bit-Tech:
Immersion last year sued Sony for infringing on its patents. Immersion claims that it owns the technology that powers the rumble in Sony's Dual Shock controllers. It also sued Microsoft for its rumble features in the Xbox, but the boys from Redmond settled out of court.
Sony fought on, and lost a case last year. However, it's been allowed to continue selling the PS2 pending appeal. If the latest reports are verified, it's lost that appeal today.
This means that Sony not only has to pony up and awful lot of cash to Immersion Technologies, but it has to stop infringing on the patent - that means stop selling kit which includes Dual Shock technology, and that means pulling the PS2 off the shelf.
Commentators are wondering if this case is the reason for the PS3 controller redesign that we've seen - it's possible the horrendous boomerang monstrosity doesn't infringe on patents.
Interestingly, Immersion is owned in part by Nintendo. The next-generation battle just took another twist...
If these reports are true, then pulling the PS2 off the market is a huge blow against Sony. With PS2 currently being Sony's strongseller in the home console markets, the company with lose a HUGE proportion of its profits, as well as having to pay a large sum to Immersion. Also there had been rumours of Sony developing a Revmote style controller for use with outcoming PS2 titles. I guess losing the patent won't stop Sony from retailing the device (if it existed), but if the PS2 is already off the market...
To finish up, the long awaited fanboy boasting, seeing as Immersion is partly owned by Nintendo... NINTENDOWNED!
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Funny.
This probably means that the PS2 will be repackaged with that boomerang thing which will also be the PS3 controller which is based off a third party PS1 controller. Sony is the only company I know of that can turn the word innovate in to a four-letter explanative. Way to work the patent office, Ken. I hope all the zeros in the check equal your litteral penis length.
Immersion wins Dual Shock patent case.
by James Cranston
March 15, 2006 - The Latest reports indicate that Sony has lost a patent case against Immersion technologies, for it's dual shock Playstation 2 controller. Below is the article from Bit-Tech:
Immersion last year sued Sony for infringing on its patents. Immersion claims that it owns the technology that powers the rumble in Sony's Dual Shock controllers. It also sued Microsoft for its rumble features in the Xbox, but the boys from Redmond settled out of court.
Sony fought on, and lost a case last year. However, it's been allowed to continue selling the PS2 pending appeal. If the latest reports are verified, it's lost that appeal today.
This means that Sony not only has to pony up and awful lot of cash to Immersion Technologies, but it has to stop infringing on the patent - that means stop selling kit which includes Dual Shock technology, and that means pulling the PS2 off the shelf.
Commentators are wondering if this case is the reason for the PS3 controller redesign that we've seen - it's possible the horrendous boomerang monstrosity doesn't infringe on patents.
Interestingly, Immersion is owned in part by Nintendo. The next-generation battle just took another twist...
If these reports are true, then pulling the PS2 off the market is a huge blow against Sony. With PS2 currently being Sony's strongseller in the home console markets, the company with lose a HUGE proportion of its profits, as well as having to pay a large sum to Immersion. Also there had been rumours of Sony developing a Revmote style controller for use with outcoming PS2 titles. I guess losing the patent won't stop Sony from retailing the device (if it existed), but if the PS2 is already off the market...
To finish up, the long awaited fanboy boasting, seeing as Immersion is partly owned by Nintendo... NINTENDOWNED!
----
Funny.
This probably means that the PS2 will be repackaged with that boomerang thing which will also be the PS3 controller which is based off a third party PS1 controller. Sony is the only company I know of that can turn the word innovate in to a four-letter explanative. Way to work the patent office, Ken. I hope all the zeros in the check equal your litteral penis length.