Fungi Forums
Video Games => Video Game Chat => Topic started by: Negative_Zero on July 23, 2008, 08:42:04 AM
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It was already known that Nintendo was on the hook for $21 million in a patent suit over the company's controllers. A Texas judge last week denied the game maker's request for a new trial, and Bloomberg is reporting that the judge will issue a ban to halt sales of the controllers tomorrow.
However, if the ban were to be issued, it would not take effect until after a Nintendo appeal on the original ruling was resolved. Nintendo could also avoid the ban by posting a bond or putting royalties into an escrow account, according to Bloomberg.
The original suit sought to have Nintendo's Wii Classic Controller, Wii Nunchuk, GameCube controller, and GameCube WaveBird all deemed in violation of an Anascape patent for a "six degrees of freedom" interface device. A jury found that all of those products, with the exception of the Wii Nunchuk, infringed on Anascape's patent.
Microsoft was also named as a defendant in the suit, but settled out of court before it went to trial. Sony has licensed the patent for use in its own products since 2004.
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Just goes to show how America's justice system is more broken than Super Sonic in Brawl. >_<
"I'll sue yah, I'll take all your money. I'll sue yah, if you even look at me funny! I'll sue sue, yes I'm gonna sue. Sue sue, yah that's what I'm gonna do! I'm gonna sue sue, yes I'm gonna sue. Sue sue, yah that's what I'm gonna do! UH! UH! UH! UH!"
I'll Sue Ya - Weird Al
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I heard from my brother that Texas is full of "patent [derogatory name]s" (or more accurately, patent trolls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_troll).) Whenever they think of something, they immediately go and patent it and sue anyone who then happens to have the same idea.
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So, if you own a banned controller, FBI agents bust down your door and blow your head off?
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Just goes to show how America's justice system is more broken than Super Sonic in Brawl. >_< much smarter Sony is than Nintendo or Microsoft.
Fixed.
So, if you own a banned controller, FBI agents bust down your door and blow your head off?
Nope. They'll bust down your door, flash their badges shouting "FBI!" and then blow your head off. That way they can say they gave you a warning.
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Gee I wonder what I call my(Canada) FBI, I think its CIA, oh well nobodys going ta take away my wavebird controller
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I heard from my brother that Texas is full of "patent [derogatory name]s" (or more accurately, patent trolls (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_troll).) Whenever they think of something, they immediately go and patent it and sue anyone who then happens to have the same idea.
I've never heard of that one. Oh well. That's just another thing everyone else will make fun of us for.
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You mean aside from living in a desert full of hillbillies where everyone wears ten-gallon hats and says "yeehaw"?
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I heard about it this morning from a friend.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3168949
Only one word is needed to describe this: ridiculous.
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I'm so sad. My poor, poor, awesome classic controller. Good thing I bought a new GCN controller a month ago. Hope I don't get sued for "harboring illegal patent infringed objects".
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I keep wondering whether the court knows of any obvious prior art, whether the company suing has any applications of their patent (any practical/tangible examples) to show it's been more than an idea, why they took so gosh-darn long to bring it up if the controllers are in your face if you ever go outside and look for it, why there are certain controllers that also "infringe" but somehow get off the hook (one article brought up that the third-party controllers don't appear to be banned)... and so on. Another article suggested that it'd cost less to settle (what Sony and Microsoft did) than fight this.
Regardless whether there's any merit to it, it just makes me mad because I don't get the impression that the company suing is actually doing ANYTHING with their patent, or even actively looking out for anything infringing on it. They can't be if they're waiting years, waiting to find some company who makes a bajillion dollars off of it, before suing them. And to threaten to ban a game controller, of all things... well, ok, in perspective, there was that patent war which meant rumble couldn't be put into a controller by... Sony or Microsoft, one of those two. But rumble's been around on N64 and GameCube, why... how did Nintendo get off the hook there? Did they settle? Money and time wasted to put in a controller feature that by now is a no-brainer, we knew it was going to come eventually.
That's all I see this as. Countless infringing-patent suits, usually for patents that are only vaguely related and, again, years and multiple prior art examples later.
There's just no good that comes from it. Isn't this very likely to hurt the stock value / reputation of the company suing? Plus, it's impossible these days to create anything without infringing on a patent. It has to happen, you have to build upon someone else's ideas. I'll shoot myself if there's a lawsuit because someone used the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus without permission.
What I'd rather ponder on is whether the infringing-patent suits has yet reached the ridiculous level of Jack Thompson trying to ban anything by Rockstar. Thompson's a distant memory now, but we remember there was eventually a time when April Fools stories were indistinguishable from the real thing when it came to that man.
If and when I get a Wii, I'd LOVE to explain to someone "Oh, the reason you can't get a Classic controller? Some company you never heard of banned them."
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Sadly, It all boils down to the fact that some people care only about money - not actually making things that will be benificial or enjoyable to other people.
IMO, people who make frivilous lawsuits should be prosecuted or reprimanded themselves for wasting people's time. That would make things a lot better - although it will probably never happen. >_>
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That does happen, actually. It happened recently to the RIAA.
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Why has it not been brought up almost 7 years if they were going to bring it up at all?
I've read some articles and see the patents they claim to be infringing, but a couple seem to fit the description of basically any controller now:
#6,102,802 "Game Controller with Analog Pressure Sensor" -- The L & R buttons on the gamecube and classic controller? Triggers on Xbox
#6,208,271 "Remote Controller with Analog Button" -- Wouldn't that be like....any wireless controller with.... a button?
#6,343,991 "Game Control with Analog Pressure Sensor" -- Another way of saying the L & R buttons on GCN and Classic and triggers on Xbox.
#6,347,997 "Analog Controls Housed with Electronic Displays" -- Basically, having LEDs on the Wiimote and 360 controller...and having buttons?
#6,400,303 "Remote Controller with Analog Pressure Sensor" (A different patent) -- The Wavebird and Classic again... and Xbox controller.
#6,906,700 "3D Controller with Vibration -- Referring to any controller with rumble built in only.
I listed those because they're pretty stupid and a couple are virtually the same; I think they're just trying to find some extra money because they are ... well I can't say. But some of those... that's like suing every single car manufacture in the world for their rack & pinion designs (for steering) saying OH U CAN TURN THE WHEEL TO THE LEFT THATS MY PATENT, U CAN TURN TO THE RIGHT THATS MY PATENT TOO, AND ANYWHERE IN BETWEEN ITS ALL MINE I SUE YOU FOR ALL YOUR BASE.
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Well, it's not quite as bad as Australia's patent system (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1418165.stm).
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I have full faith that the American justice system will see to it that this injustice will be brought to.. justice. *cough*
And if that doesn't work, Nintendo will probably do what Sony and Microsoft did and chuck a wad of money at the prosecutor and call it a day.
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You mean aside from living in a desert full of hillbillies where everyone wears ten-gallon hats and says "yeehaw"?
Yeah, that too.
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This reminds me of how Nintendo patented the "sanity system" for Eternal Darkness.
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This doesn't affect this case, but maybe there is some hope for the system after all.
http://www.patentlyo.com/patent/2008/07/the-death-of-go.html
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Did Nintendo win?
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I guess not. Here's an update (http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20080725/NEWS01/807250341).
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That's not an update; it's just a rehash of the original story.
The original story, which already noted that Nintendo did not win.
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That does happen, actually. It happened recently to the RIAA.
Oh sure, it happens ocassionally - but there's still too many stupid lawsuits that are getting through and scoring big for the clients. >_>
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Let's sue him for sueing Nintendo and Microsoft!
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"By banning these controllers, you have impeded the Right to the Pursuit of Happiness for the members of a website called 'The Mushroom Kingdom.' For that, we will sue you."
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I wonder what would happen if every Nintendo fan sued Anascape...
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You need a real reason to sue someone, you know.
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/me sues Bird Person!
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And my mom wonders why I've lost faith in the legal system... 9_9 This is as stupid as the lady who sued McDonald's because she spilled McD's brand hot coffee on her lap.
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And my mom wonders why I've lost faith in the legal system... 9_9 This is as stupid as the lady who sued McDonald's because she spilled McD's brand hot coffee on her lap.
That happened? Oh dear....
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Not as bad for the two girls suing McDonald's for "making them fat," or the woman who sued the sperm-donor father of her two children for child support.
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I think the worst one is the guy that tried to sneak into a nightclub through the bathroom window because he didn't want to pay $50 to get in, fell down, chipped a tooth, and sued for his dental costs.
Or the prison inmate who sued himself. Said he violated his own civil rights by getting arrested, and since he was in prison, the prison would have to pay all his legal costs.
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Man, not these guys again--I swear, they've been popping up like Rick Astley on April Fool's Day. Even if they did invent... whatever it is they're talking about (apparently, every videogame controller innovation this side of the D-Pad and A Button), they sure weren't using it, because I'm pretty sure no one heard of these dips until they started getting PO'd about the three major videogame companies (what a coincidence, huh?) pilfering their goods. What is this, like Transformers or something? There's one entity (corporation, in this case) that invented almost every major technological innovation in human/videogame history? Well, the Classic Controller's kinda crap anyway... just pray y'all got as many GCN controllers as you want (then again, Nintendo has kind of been trying to distance themselves from the 'Cube anyway, so
Analrape Anascape probably just did them a huge favor).
You need a real reason to sue someone, you know.
*Muffled snort*
This is as stupid as the lady who sued McDonald's because she spilled McD's brand hot coffee on her lap.
FYI, it was determined a few years back that that suit was actually not as dumb as it sounds. The woman was in her seventies, the car wasn't even moving, the coffee was, like, 180 degrees, and she only sued after McDonalds gave her a measly compensation (for scalding her groin and inner thighs, mind you).
Now, the guy who sued a pizza joint because he ordered a pepperoni pizza and they gave him one with peppers... that's dumb.
Nope. They'll bust down your door, flash their badges shouting "FBI!" and then blow your head off. That way they can say they gave you a warning.
That was extremely hilarious. (written as such due to the growing aversion towards the use of the phrase "LOL")
Speakin' of which... would there really be some sort of recall on these things? Or can they just not make them anymore?
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To continue the faith in the legal system sidenote, I haven't heard the outcome of any of the crazy lawsuits you're talking about except the coffee lawsuit which really wasn't a stupid one.
If we counted lawsuits that were dismissed, I don't think you'd get much worse than Kiss, the band, formed in 1972—with oldest member Peter Criss born in 1945—suing Hershey's for stealing their name for a candy that was introduced with that name in 1907.
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I can't believe Hershey thinks they can get away with going back in time and stealing KISS's name. If there's one thing I hate, it's RCI (retrograde copyright infringment).
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Especially when they use pink DeLoreans already patented by Doc
Brown Kirby.
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The government is more screwed up in America then people would like to believe. And this is also one of the most socially and intellectually dumbed down countrys on the Earth. I am pretty embarrased to live in modern USA. But if I lived here back in the 1700's or 1800's I would be very proud because thats when people had some brains and morals.
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He's serious
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Seriously.
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Serious like a heHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG
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Post of the yrewty juasdsafk,/m
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The government is more screwed up in America then people would like to believe. And this is also one of the most socially and intellectually dumbed down countrys on the Earth. I am pretty embarrased to live in modern USA. But if I lived here back in the 1700's or 1800's I would be very proud because thats when people had some brains and morals.
QFT and +1.
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Well, in any case, the Virtual Console's probably going to go a little downhill...
Also, how the hell do the Wavebird and VC Controller have "six degrees of freedom"? As I understand it, these guys were suing over some sort of rumble or tilt technology, which neither of those controllers possess.
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They clearly contain some sort of untapped well of unharnessed energy.
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Oh, look, some new (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=auBjZ2akiatY&refer=home) jackals are trying their luck at winning the Nintendo Lottery!
This whole thing seriously is starting to give me a conflicting-religions vibe. All these people suing Nintendo over stealing their tech... only one of them can be right.
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This makes me angry. And you won't like me when I'm angry.
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Graphical interface software used on the television? Meaning something with graphics that appears on the tv? That could be anything!
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Well, there was that one game by that Wacky "Warp" company that had no graphics... it was an interactive e-book, or something.
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Interactive fiction mayhaps?
Also, I disagree with Suffix's edit. "jack***" isn't a swear word.
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I thought the auto-censor was for editing. I've got mine turned off (but I know other people have theirs turned on) so I didn't think there'd be a problem.
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I think the worst one is the guy that tried to sneak into a nightclub through the bathroom window because he didn't want to pay $50 to get in, fell down, chipped a tooth, and sued for his dental costs.
Or the prison inmate who sued himself. Said he violated his own civil rights by getting arrested, and since he was in prison, the prison would have to pay all his legal costs.
You forgot about the robber who sued the house owner for sexual assault charges.
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Yeah, "jack***" is by no measure profanity, and Suffix has a thing against individually optional censorship, preferring an iron fist government ruling.
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I agree with MEGAߥTE. If you don't mind swearing, you can turn off the censors for yourself. Manual re-censoring is just silly.
If the censor didn't catch it and it isn't a deliberate dodge, then either it's fine to say or the censor needs to be updated.
If the censor doesn't get it and it isn't a deliberate dodge, then the rules don't prohibit it. Manual censorship is a waste of time for all parties.
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I personally am bothered by the censors being there as much as the real words. It's the thought that counts. There's no option that can help me there, though.
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I like censors because I think swearing is pretty pointless and stupid. I don't swear and when other people are talking to me and are swearing constantly I just think to myself *man what a loser*. Not that anyone here is losers that swear though, I only know you guys as far as this forum. It's actually nice to be different from other people and not filling in with the crowd while knowing that your being clean while doing it.
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I like censors because I think swearing is pretty pointless and stupid. I don't swear and when other people are talking to me and are swearing constantly I just think to myself *man what a loser*. Not that anyone here is losers that swear though, I only know you guys as far as this forum. It's actually nice to be different from other people and not filling in with the crowd while knowing that your being clean while doing it.
I go by the extreme provocation rule when it comes to swearing.
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Calm down, calm down. Sometimes I forget whether to use a G or PG mindset; personally, I would prefer people not refer to others as anything related to Equus asinus.
And EM, if you think this is an iron fist sort of control, you haven't seen anything. I will continue to carry out my job regardless of the automatic censor.
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Did I say I think this is an iron fist sort of control?
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Do I get killed by FBI agents that flashed their badges because I own a Wavebird?
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Do I get killed by FBI agents that flashed their badges because I own a Wavebird?
No, worse. XD
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I like how your post is left so open-ended.
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No, worse. XD
Yeah, they'll force you to play current Sonic games.
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They'll make us play ET for the Atari 2600.
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NO!
The horror... The horror...
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And then Incredible Crash Dummies for the SNES.
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Holy crud, CrossEyed. My dad actually had that game. Neither of us could beat the first level. XD
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If its that bad, why doesnt nintendo buy the patents?
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Why do you keep bumping threads that are no longer relevent?
Does that get you off, or something, bud?
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I'd bump that.
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*looks at chucknorris's member title* I was a victim of ID:10 Tango once. Took me a while to realize.