http://edition.cnn.com/2005/BUSINESS/03/27/japan.sonysuit.reut/
… among many others. However, they won’t actually stop sales until after the appeal, assuming they lose and fail to agree with Immersion on a settlement.
I wonder if Sony expected that ruling. If anything, they should be able to afford to pay.
Will PS2 prices go up to cover the costs of the settlement?
So, Immersion says Sony ripped off their idea for vibrating controllers? Hasn’t the PS2, which came out in 2000, always had vibrating controllers? Has the case been going on this long? And have all other vibrating controllers out prior to 2000 used Immersion’s idea?
Immersion has been around since at least the mid-90’s. All the PC joysticks and wheels that supported force feedback used Immersion technology, with the exception of Microsoft, which apparently figured out a way to do it without violating Immersion’s patents (or maybe they just paid them off, I don’t know).
I believe Microsoft just licensed the technology, if you can call an unbalanced motor that.
Microsoft was sued by Immersion, but they settled for $26 million out of court by licensing the technology.
Sounds like Sony should be prepared to ante up, then.
Ah. So did the case just take this long then?
Originally filed in Feb 2002.
It doesn’t appear to be a case of vibrating controllers, but a specific technology that allows the controllers to vibrate at a specific time. Nintendo wasn’t mentioned, and only 47 PS2 games were. Most PS2 games use Dual Shock vibration, so I can’t be vibration in general.
There are two patents that Immersion claims Sony violated.
The first covers tactile feedback, which (As I understand it), is the feedback that is generated to feel like some sort of physical object. So, not just rumbling generically when something happens, but rumbling when your car tire hits gravel, and then really rumbling hard when it goes off the road.
The second covers using a sound device to generate the force commands. (I have a feeling this is the one Sony lost on.) Developers can use notes that are above normal hearing and the forcefeedback process converts that into feedback.
K
Immersion provides tactile / force feedback tech in a number of different fields, from games to cell phones to the medical profession. They had even demoed something they did for BMW a few years back, where the volume knob on your car radio would have different rumbles so you could scroll through settings without taking your eyes off the road. Neat stuff.
They’ve been doing this for a long time, so I’d expect they’d have their own R&D team, a number of patents, and lawyers charged with vigorously defending those patents. If it holds up, this would obviously be a gi-normous win for them.
It might even make them profitable.
I keep reading about the “47 Games”, but can’t seem to find an actual list of which ones they are. Does anyone know where I might be able to get the list?
Well, in case anyone is still interested, these appear to be the games…
A Bug’s Life
Amplitude
Ape Escape
Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Bloody Roar 2
Cool Boarders 3
Cool Boarders 4
Cool Boarders 2001
Crash Bash
Crash Team Racing
Drakan: The Ancients’ Gate
Emperor’s New Groove
Extermination
FantaVision
Final Fantasy X
Formula One 2001
The Getaway
Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo 2
Gran Turismo 3
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto 3
Grind Session
ICO
Jak & Daxter
Kinetica
Kingdom Hearts
Legend of the Dragoon
The Mark of Kri
Medal of Honor Frontline
Medievil 2
Metal Gear Solid 2
Monster’s, Inc.
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus
SOCOM Navy Seals
Speed Punks
Spyro: Ripto’s Rage
Spyro: Year of the Dragon
Stuart Little 2
Syphon Filter 2
Syphon Filter 3
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
Twisted Metal: Black
Twisted Metal 4
Twisted Metal: Small Brawl
Treasure Planet
War of the Monsters