Nintendo's Playstation Settlement Bombshell (or not...updated)

Magamo writes "Console Talk has the story on a settlement between Sony and Nintendo over the rights to the "PlayStation" name, which was originally a joint owned copywrite, given to a CD and Cartridge based system to play SNES games. The settlement is for 10% of Sony's proceeds, past and present on the "PlayStation" name, currently amounting to approximately $2.3 billion. Nintendo is allowing Sony to pay it off in installments over the next 20 years. Nintendo currently plans on using the money to create a new game studio comprised of members of some of the biggest in the japanese industry, in order to create titles exclusively for the GameCube. Hmm, my guess is that Sony's next console will be shying away from the PlayStation moniker..." CD: It seems that I might have fallen for a hoax. Doh!

Comments

Not copyright

[0x0d0a]

joint owned copyright

I think it should be "trademark"...

Re:Not copyright

[Drakonian]

"Copywrite" was even more wrong!

Re:Not copyright

[Anonymous Coward]

actually, the correct spelling is "traydmarc"

Re:Not copyright

[Anonymous Coward]

your .sig is an evil reverse psychology ploy to deprive people who answer to you from karma, hence limiting the number of people who openly disagree with you.

Well, guess what? you're WRONG!@#!@

Now, of course, watch somebody mod this +1:funny just to prove me wrong.

Re:Not copyright

[Drakonian]

Interesting point AC, I never thought of it that way. Actually the first time I did use this sig, someone responded "We'll see." and got modded to funny. So there you go.

Well, damn

[wcbarksdale]

Maybe we won't see the PlayStation 5 after all.

Re:Well, damn

[brandorf]

Considering that "Playstation 2" is a pretty long name, and The Playstation and Playsion have always has the abbreviations "PSX" and "PS2" respectively, I woud not be suprised if the next console is simply called the PS3.

Re:Well, damn

[kingOFgEEEks]

I've been wondering if Sony changed the name from Playstation to PSX, and subsequently PS1 and PS2 due to this issue? Just think about it: Sony knew that Nintendo had joint ownership of the name, so they began phasing it out. The name was too recognizable to drop completely, so Sony just slowly started shrinking the Playstation word in the title of anything, with the intention of not actually calling the console that name anymore. Any opinions? If this is redundant, i'm sorry.

Re:Well, damn

[packeteer]

Sure you will... this is the most obvious hoax i have ever seen posted to slashdot. Consolenews is FULL of spoof articles. Dont you think we would be reading this from the wall street journal if it was a $2.3 billion settlement? Don't you think Sony would fight this untill the end of time? it would be so tied up in the legal process we would never see the end...

Its a funny reas as are most of the spoof articles but i thought people KNEW it was a hoax at first.

Re:Well, damn

[elveu]

that seems quite prabable. as far as i could tell the rerelesce of the playstation was just PS1. also to my knowledge that's why they called hte original the PSX rather then just the PS. though this is just my interpritation of it.

Re:Well, damn

[Drakonite]

I believe the Playstation was originally planned to be called the PSX for a while, but then it was decided to call it the Playstation but various media still called it the PSX so the abbreviation stuck.

Re:Well, damn

[ipX420]

Hehe I definately won't want a PS5 if it's a rebranded Alesis AirFX, like the grim reaper is showing those unsuspecting kiddies..

Re:Well, damn

[Anonymous Coward]

I always figured that the US media picked up on the "PSX" codename because the name "Playstation" sounded silly enough at the time to be improbable.

Re:Well, damn

[cicatrix1]

I don't think it's a name chage so much as an abbreviation. If you look at all the games they still say 'Playstation' and 'Playstation 2'.

Re:Well, damn

[Anonymous Coward]

dont listen to him, he uses mandrake.

and its UMOUNT dammit!

Re:Well, damn

[Nexx]

I've been wondering if Sony changed the name from Playstation to PSX

No, the PSX moniker came about because the popular Japanese abbreviation for the PSX (puresute) sort of implied "play and throw away"(1). It had *nothing* to do with Nintendo and everything to do with Sony's brand image. Subsequently, they pushed "PSX" in the US as well, because ultimately Sony K.K. in Japan outranks Sony of America, Inc.

(1) The moniker PSX didn't stick in Japan. Not all marketdroid schemes work. *grin*

Re:Well, damn

[NevermindPhreak]

reminds me of kentucky fried chic-... er, KFC...

Re:Well, damn

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought the PSX name was for the blue development boxes? I seem to remember an article about that dinosaur demo running on the PSX development consoles.

Re:Well, damn

[Anonymous Coward]

Jesus christ man, buy a dictionary (that's dikshunry to you.)

Re:Well, damn

[Anonymous Coward]

PSX is from Playstation X. I think this was the original "codename" for the box. Also, i think this is the internal technical term..?

Regards

Re:Well, damn

[SScorpio]

The original project's name was Playstation X. This was abbreviated to PSX. After the official change to Playstation, the X became unneccessary; however, the media still used it and it stuck.

Re:Well, damn

[Anonymous Coward]

thanks a lot - you just caused The Onion to be slashdotted.

Re:Well, damn

[dotgod]

According to the latest GamePro, the "CD-only version of Sony's own system [was] internally named 'Play Station X' (which is why you sometimes see the abbreviation 'PSX' for original PlayStation stuff)." So basically, that's all there is to the PSX name. As far as PS1 and PS2, I'd imagine it's just so you can tell the original playstation apart from the revamped one and from the PS2.

Re:Well, damn

[kaustik]

I participated in a focus group for playstation and deamcast a good six months before they were released. One of the questions they asked us was what we thought of the name "playstation." They mentioned that the name "psx" was also being considered. It was the opinion of the entire group that "psx" carried a more serious image than "playstation." Oh well.

Re:Well, damn

[KenCrandall]

This is EXACTLY what my first thoughts were when I read the article. I'd put good money on the PS3 moniker.

(Mod the parent up!)

Cheers,
Ken

Re:Well, damn

[Durrik]

According to the latest GamePro, the "CD-only version of Sony's own system [was] internally named 'Play Station X' (which is why you sometimes see the abbreviation 'PSX' for original PlayStation stuff)." So basically, that's all there is to the PSX name. As far as PS1 and PS2, I'd imagine it's just so you can tell the original playstation apart from the revamped one and from the PS2.

You won't believe how often X makes it into marketing names because sometimes marketing people have no idea on names. You'd think they would, but they don't.

I use to work for a company that named their products Form [number] or something like that. With the initials F1, F2 and so on through the generations. It wasn't a very imaginative name to begin with. There was the F3 on the market and the engineers started work on the new product to be called the F4. But before that product hit the market or even started marketing it there was a need for an upgraded F3. So the engineers had no idea what to call it, lots of humming and hawing went around the place. The drafters got fed up with not knowing what to title their diagrams and put it into the system as FX, fully intending to go back and fix it later when the marketing department came up with a name. They different, and that company still makes the FX, even though they make the F4, F5 and now the F6.

The PSX name probably came out for the same reason. Sometimes Marketers can't come up with names, and give up too easily and just use the internal names. Which are usually confusing and unsuitable for the mass market. I'm not saying coming up with a suitable name is easy, but that's what the marketing department gets payed for.

Re:Well, damn

[Anonymous Coward]

Accually the X is for Experimental - it was Sony's first step into the waters of the console and they treated it as such

Re:Well, damn

[Malor]

$ whois ps3.com

[major snippage]

Registrant:
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc (PS283-DOM)
1-1 Akasaka 7-chome, Minato-ku
Tokyo,107-0052
JAPAN

I'd say you had a good chance of being right. :-)

Re:Well, damn

[Nexx]

I was unaware that they considered "psx" as an official brand. Thank you.

Re:Well, damn

[Anonymous Coward]

psx came from the original lettering for the addon to the SNES that sony was making. the CD-X. it is kind of catchy if you think about it though.

Re:Well, damn

[Tomble]

Maybe we won't see the Playstation 5 after all.

Wow, that's a pretty impressive feature. I suppose the visible version the ghost held in the picture must have been an early prototype- or will they be like WindowsXP (or whichever version it was) and need to be registered first before the company will activate the effect?

It may be a factor that people often want these things to be less obtrusive, but surely this would just make you more likely to trip over it, or something like that.

Oh really?

[MrBlue VT]

I like how the story is down even before any comments. Somehow I don't trust my news from www.consoletalk.com.

Re:Oh really?

[dagg]

The funny part is that the site is absolutely fine. There just is no such story. Here are some more fake stories:

• Nintendo President chokes on Pokemon vitamin
• Sony purchases rights for "The Return of Pants and Trousers"
• Dewey Defeats Sony

Re:Oh really?

[Ron Bennett]

I've been reading Slashdot for years and I've never seen so many dupes and bogus stories as I have this past week or so here.

Something is very wrong when Fuckedcompany features more useful and reliable news than here ;)

Ron

Re:Oh really?

[archen]

The good news is that we'll probably get less dupes the more they start making stuff up.

Re:Oh really?

[Fig, formerly A.C.]

I wish I had mod points for you, I got busted for LOL@work when I read that comment. You'd have gotten "+1, Funny" from me.

Re:Oh really?

[SuperRob]

The story WAS posted at ConsoleTalk, and has since been removed. That's because they finally realized that this so-called "announcement" couldn't be verified with any of the companies involved, nor any legitimate news media.

Re:Oh really?

[Anonymous Coward]

The *really* funny part is that slashdot now appears to have killed consoletalk.

SUSPENDED ACCOUNT

This account has been suspended for either a violation in Liquid Web Inc.'s terms of service or an issue with payment.

First post!

[mr_tenor]

Sorry....

Hrm...

[marcushnk]

My guess is that they will have to drop any backward compatability with the older playstaion consoles when the produce the new model without the "playstation" name tag...

That'll cost em..

Re:Hrm...

[Dimensio]

I doubt that much. Only the name is copyrighted, and somehow I doubt that merely mentioning the name when discussing backwards compatability would qualify for royalty payments.

Re:Hrm...

[cortez]

They could always just say "Backward-compatible with all previous Sony systems" and not use the trademark...

Re:Hrm...

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you full of phlegm or musing?

Hrm - the sound one makes when clearing one's throat

Hmm - The sound one makes when pondering a thought.

Err..

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

That would be a trademark, not a copyright.

Re:Err..

[packeteer]

That article would be a joke... not a story.

WOW

[crumbz]

Considering that the PS2 has been responsible for SONY staying in the black for the past couple of years, this is huge. Even more for Nintendo. Given that the average age of the game player is increasing, methinks that Nintendo better start creating content (love that phrase) for adults pretty soon.

Re:WOW

[tumbaumba]

... Nintendo better start creating content (love that phrase) for adults pretty soon.

You are completely wrong. Considering that brain of average human stops developing at about 5 year old Nintendo is right on target.

ahh.....

[DenOfEarth]

am I ever glad I bought the cube...my friends who bought playstations are gonna be underwriting some games development for my system, and my friends who bought the xbox's are bored with now that they have finished Halo...

Re:ahh.....

[stratjakt]

And me, with all 3, think you and your friends are pathetic, piss-poor, wannabes!

Play the games, not the system.

Re:ahh.....

[Anonymous Coward]

And me, with all three

Can I touch you?

Re:ahh.....

[shamilton]

and my friends who bought the xbox's are bored with now that they have finished Halo...

Surely you mean, "were bored until they finished Halo"?

sh

Re:ahh.....

[Anonymous Coward]

I want to touch his eyes.

Re:ahh.....

[Anonymous Coward]

"and my friends who bought the xbox's are bored with now that they have finished Halo... "

Hitomi and Ayane will keep me warm at night:)

Re:ahh.....

[Anonymous Coward]

Surely you mean that they WERE bored with Halo, until they Down Loaded XBConnect! Once you get used to the controller Online kicks ass. http://www.XBConnet.com

Story seems to have disappeared

[Nos9]

Also not sure if Consoletalk is the most reliable site, given that its main news in XBox live Beta impressions. XBox live came out over a month ago.

I bet this is a faek story.

[joe630]

from news.google.com:

Your search - sony playstation nintendo trademark - did not match any documents.

Suggestions:
- Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
- Try different keywords.
- Try more general keywords.
- Try fewer keywords.
Also, you can browse today's headlines on the Google News homepage.

Re:I bet this is a faek story.

[Twirlip of the Mists]

from news.google.com: Your search - sony playstation nintendo trademark - did not match any documents.

That's bullshit. It does too match a story, "Nintendo's Playstation Settlement Bombshell," posted 5 minutes ago on Sl... dammit.

Re:I bet this is a faek story.

[Anonymous Coward]

>Suggestions:
>- Make sure all words are spelled correctly.

That is a good suggestion. Maybe you want to try it yourself next time?

YUO FAEKED ME OUT! JeffK waz hear!

Re:I bet this is a faek story.

[micheas]

Probably, since a google news search of sony playstation nintendo turned up this article from Dec. 4 calling it a rumor for the gullible. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?sect ion_name=pub&aid=998

Re:I bet this is a faek story.

[Dimensio]

Well, I'll check news sites tomorrow, but lots of them are going to be unreliable as they will likely be getting their information from the current news source.

Time will tell if this story is faek or rela.

Re:I bet this is a faek story.

[Student_Tech]

Also agreeing as:
Talking about the hisotry of the playstation, the super nintendo peice:
http://psx.ign.com/articles/060/060188p1.h tml

In June of 1991, at the Chicago CES (Consumer Electronics Show), Sony officially announced the Play Station (space intentional).

and the Playstation (whose names only show up as being Sony owned for the game systems) details:

On December 3, 1994, the PlayStation was finally released in Japan, one week after the Sega Saturn.

Not sure but to me as a consumer I probably wouldn't notice too much of a "Play Station"/"Playstation" difference in a name, but if that space is there I am not sure how the lawyers would take it. (IANAL)

Re:I bet this is a faek story.

[kesuki]

and hey 30 minutes ago The Highly reputable news organization The Inquirer also picked up this 'hot' lead.
I mean come one they've had such wonderful articles as:
Man walks up to Clawhammer, benchmarks it
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=4965
and
Man sells last breath on Ebay
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=4456
an d
Mad modder sticks a 1.2GHz Pentium III in his Commodore SX 64
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5959
and
Jeans to prevent mobile phones frying your nadgers
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=5389

Re:I bet this is a faek story.

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's not be too harsh on the gullable and instead call it, "A Lie from some asshole".

ummm..

[Thaelon]

Does anybody else find it "funny" that they waited until not only the Playstation was successful, but it's successor as well?

"I know guys, let's let Sony do all the work by making a system using this name that we own, then when it gets huge, sue them for it!"

Poor buisness ethics or cunning buisness strategy?

Re:ummm..

[stratjakt]

No, this suit's been going on since sony took the jointly developed CD player addon for SNES and spun it into their own console - and threatened to stop supplying Nintendo with the SNES' sound chips if they tried to stop it.

The PlayStation name was already being thrown around in the Nintendo world at that point. I remember reading magazines and waiting for the 'playstation' CD player for SNES to come out.

Sony technically announced their box as the "Playstation X" (Hence, PSX)

Well, there's more to it than that - but that's what it boils down to.

Re:ummm..

[Twirlip of the Mists]

Note to self: evidently "Informative" can also mean "moderately convincing lie."

Re:ummm..

[stratjakt]

I'm not lying.. The playstation name has been a bitching point for nintendo for years. This article is bullshit, but with a tiny kernel of some truth.

I distinctly remember an old Nintendo Power magazine, with a preview of the SNES (still the Super Famicom), and reading about the CD-Addon called "playstation".

Re:ummm..

[CoderDevo]

I distinctly remember an old Nintendo Power magazine, with a preview of the SNES (still the Super Famicom), and reading about the CD-Addon called "playstation".

Well that shouldn't be hard to verify. I can do that for you. That kind of information must be published on the web somewhere. Let's just take a looksee on Google for "SNES Playstation".

Ok, Google says, "Results 1 - 20 of about 487,000."

Yeah. Umm, I'll just keep, uh, looking through these links, yeah, and uh, I'll let you know when I find the um, proof for you. It may take a few weeks. Good thing I'm unemployed, I guess.

Re:ummm..

[CrayDrygu]

It may take a few weeks.

Geez. You seriously need to learn how to refine your searches. This took less than one minute:

• The Hank Files -- Playstation, the SNES CD-ROM
• Console Database has the full story, with pictures.

And there are many, many more sites out there in full agreement. My search terms, btw, were: snes playstation cd "add on"

Re:ummm..

[i64X]

Actually what you've posted is completely wrong. Nintendo screwed themselves over on the PlayStation deal. Nintendo wanted to make a CD addon to compete with the Mega CD in Japan (Sega CD in the US) around 1988, before SNES was even out in the US. Since they already had nice bonds with Sony for supplying them with the sound processors for the SNES, they decided it might be a good idea to look to Sony for a CD addon instead of going elsewhere.

Sony agreed to do the work if they could take part of the profit from sales of the unit (obviously), Nintendo said that was cool, so all went ahead. At the time Sony was developing the console, Sony ImageSoft started developing CD based games for it. The SNES CD drive games were to be loaded into caddies, like the older Macs used to use. When you bought a game, you wouldn't just get a CD like a 3DO game or a Sega CD game, but you'd get a caddy. Nintendo didn't want to do this to protect the CD, rather they wanted to embed a chip in the CD casing that the system would check to make sure the product was a licensed Nintendo game. Nintendo is completely anal about licensing for all of their games, and reviews each game to a great extent before it'll allow the game out for any of its systems -- it does this still today.

Nintendo also started talking to Sony about licensing fees for all of the games that Sony ImageSoft was developing for the CD console. Sony thought that since they were building the hardware, that Sony ImageSoft should be able to develop games freely. Nintendo diagreed. This is where all the fun started. In addition to that, Sony also wanted to release CD only medium... and do away with Nintendo's CD caddy idea. They wanted to embed code in the first sectors of the CD, and have the console check that, rather than a chip. They actually put this functionality into the unit, which both companies had dubbed, unofficially the PlayStation at the time.

The "PSX" coming from the development name of the PlayStation, as you stated "PlayStation X" is wrong. Some people say that "PSX" comes from the term "PlayStation eXperimental." This is another one of those internet farses spread about by 12 year olds. The actual acronym at time was PSe... which later evolved into all of those "UR NOT e" commercials where the "e" was red (e.g. you are not ready). The PSX acronym came from game magazines before the release of the actual Sony PlayStation and just stuck. Sony hates the acronym, and that's why they acciented so heavily on the "PS2" acronym to devoid the frequently questioned "X." If the PSX acronym was infact a Sony acronym, I'd have "PSX2" plastered on the top of my PS2, not "PS2." :)

Back to the point... what Sony had was a semi-functional unit that Nintendo wasn't sure if they wanted.

Nintendo, while still under contract with Sony, decided that they would instead give attention to Phillips Magnavox to come up with copy protection and to have a huge hand in continued development of the Sony console. Sony didn't like this at all, since Sony and Phillips-Magnavox are HUGE competitors in Japan. Nintendo, being a game company, didn't care about this too much, and obviously just wanted what was best for business.

Needless to say, the whole thing fell apart, and Sony scrapped the layout for the original PlayStation project. The actual console that they came out with 3-5 years later was completely different in design, both physically and internally of the original Nintendo/Sony PlayStation project.

Re:ummm..

[Anonvmous Coward]

Umm he's right. Sony originally called the SuperNES CD a 'Playstation'. Part of the falling out was that Sony wanted it to be a 'Sony Machine' that was compatible with Super NES games. Nintendo didn't want to lose their brand name.

I'd suggest you do a little more searching. It really isn't hard to find that info.

Re:ummm..

[Anonymous Coward]

No, the poster may well be a cretinous fucking wanker, but in this case he's more or less correct.

Maybe now he's had his ego massaged he'll crawl back into his stinking fetid troll-hole. We can but hope.

i knew

[Tekka]

I knew it started off as a joint consol ages ago, but I never knew nintendo wanted a piece when they went their different ways. I don't think they are going to have to worry about money for a long while :)

future for sony's brand

[nsda's_deviant]

obviouslly playstation is a huge huge brand for sony and its synanymous with sucess so it'll be interesting to see if Sony actually moves away from such a trusted brandname. I mean, if you were one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world and had one of the most valuable gaming idenities would you change it if it only cost you 10% of your revnue? Just think of the sheer cost of what itd take to rebrand a system... (ie Xbox's XXX Millions)

Re:future for sony's brand

[PyroMosh]

Yes, why pay XXX Millions, when you could pay...
(puts pinky finger to corner of mouth)
BILLIONS!?!?!

Besides, nobody's paying anyone anything. As others have pointed out, while there are elements of truth to the history behind the story, there is no settlement, and as far as I know, no suit.

Like Kelso said on That 70s Show...

[Anonymous Coward]

bbuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!

Re:Like Kelso said on That 70s Show...

[Anonymous Coward]

KHHHHHAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!

That was a fast kill..... /.

[Fallen Kell]

Warning: Failed opening 'StoryText/story146.html' for inclusion (include_path='') in /home/console2/public_html/News/FullStory.php on line 145

We killed their php already, story has been up 5 minutes.

Re:That was a fast kill..... /.

[mackstann]

"killed their php" ?

it failed to open a file, which means the file is gone or not readable. wtf is up with this story? i dont even think they realized it was a joke when they posted it, and the article is gone immediately? pretty lame.

Chances are....

[foniksonik]

That Sony will change the name to JUST PS2 and in the next revision PS3, not PlayStation at all. They've put way too much into branding PS2 to let it all go, but they also can't give Nintendo all their earnings.

So look for the new PS3 in 2003 - 04.

Re:Chances are....

[stratjakt]

>> but they also can't give Nintendo all their earnings.

No, just 10%.

Re:Chances are....

[Allison Geode]

they COULD rebrand to simply PS/2, but then they'll have to pay IBM off!

Sorry but

[jchawk]

I'm sorry but this is bullshit, something like this would be major news especially considering that Sony is a publicly traded company and would have been obligated to inform it's investors that it was being sued.

Sorry guys, no news here move along, it's bullshit.

Re:Sorry but

[SuperRob]

I can't beleive Slashdot was taken in by this hoax. This was concocted on an internet forum and has been spreading like wildfire. This ConsoleTalk story is an amalgamation of several popular "rumors" all concerning a major announcement to hit in the next few days, but This one is completely untrue.

Re:Sorry but

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't beleive Slashdot was taken in by this hoax.

You don't get out much do you? With a low UID I'd have thought you would have some understanding of the workings of Slashdot by now...

Re:Sorry but

[btellier]

Particularly since Penny Arcade just did a comic on it.

Re:Sorry but

[Anonymous Coward]

agreed. almost all gaming sites haven't mentioned squat about this MEGATON "news". I read it earlier, it also mentions funding some project to famous third parties (sega, namco, capcom, square-enix, etc.). Its obvious that whoever wrote this, gathered all rumors circulating around and mixed them all together. don't believe this one! this is just bullshit.

Re:Sorry but

[madprof]

UID means nothing.
You're right it is not the first time Slashdot has published a hoax but in previous cases they corrected themselves.

Management by Delay...

[Thalia]

This type of billion dollar settlement is a typical artifact of high-technology management
styles for conflicts. I doubt that anyone over
at Sony that caused this problem will take any
fallout from it.

More likely, this conflict slowly progressed where no product manager wanted to take the sales hit for moving away from the protected PlayStation brand. After all, the loss of brand recognition would be felt immediately in the sales figures that measure the success of a product manager and the current settlement is only felt long after those product managers have been promoted.

A good dictator could have fixed this problem before PlayStation was such an entrenched brand.

A one way street?

[telstar]

Why is it that Nintendo only gets to reap the benefits of the Playstation name? Can't Sony countersue for Nintendo to cover some of the liabilities associated with the Playstation name?

Re:A one way street?

[JebusIsLord]

this is the settlement they reached, so no countersueing will take place. my guess is nintendo wanted more like 50% since they are joint owners of the trademark.

Re:A one way street?

[Moofie]

Uh, like what? The company (foolishly!) took a name from another company and turned it into a successful product.

Where's the liability to countersue for?

Sure

[sprayNwipe]

Yep, this is definitely true. A major story like Nintendo getting 10% of past sales from the PlayStation brand would definitely be only reported on an unreputable site like ConsoleTalk, and not on, say, Yahoo News, CNN, or Reuters.

And as for no news from Nintendo and Sony about this? That's just because they're slow in getting the press release out. Right.

This isn't true. How about doing some small amount of research next time before publishing the article.

This is related to the "Megaton" announcement from Nintendo coming soon. Some sites say it's Capcom being bought by Nintendo, some sites say it's Sony paying Nintendo money for the PS brand, some sites have equally ridiculous stories. All sites are rumours and aren't true (so far), as no announcement has been made.

Re:Sure

[stratjakt]

The 'megaton' rumor that Nintendo is buying Capcom and Sega is because some assclown 'game' reporter posted a teaser pic of Sonic, MegaMan, and Mario together.

The 'megaton' announcement is probably some lame marketing hype for Smash Bros Melee 2 (or the like), with Megaman and Sonic as playable characters. Much more believable, IMO.

Anyhow.

Slashdot. News for Nerds. Made up Shit.

Re:Sure

[inode_buddha]

One interesting thing though; even if it were completely true and was all over the mainstream news, it reminds me very much of the OS/2 vs Windows case. Specifically, it's amazing how fragile "joint" projects are when proprietary interests start to smell some real $$$.

Re:Sure

[Ko5mo]

I suppose they might as well put slashdot as the source of the news.

Re:Sure

[6Yankee]

How about doing some small amount of research next time before publishing the article.

Awww, c'mon... don't be so hard on 'em. At least they only published it once... so far...

Re:Sure

[krist0]

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=sony+ninte ndo

look for slashdot....

heh, that'll teach google to trust slashdot.

Re:Sure

[LafinJack]

Yep, this is definitely true...

This isn't true...

Make up your mind, man! :)

Re:Sure

[Guppy06]

"This is related to the "Megaton" announcement from Nintendo coming soon. Some sites say it's Capcom being bought by Nintendo, some sites say it's Sony paying Nintendo money for the PS brand, some sites have equally ridiculous stories"

Except that Nintendo buying Capcom is somewhat believable. At the very least, it's a hell of a lot more believable than the Square/Enix merger...

Re:Sure

[Jace of Fuse!]

Nintendo buying Capcom, or at least signing an exclusivity deal with them in the future is more likely than Nintendo going after the Playstation name nearly ten years after the joint project with Sony and Nintendo fell through.

The "Megaton" annoucement will likely be either news of a large online gaming service similar to XBox live (possible), a huge line-up of first and third party titles to include names that nobody would expect (very possible), or a new version of the Gameboy (most likely).

Or, it could be the unveiling of a game called "Megaton". hah.

Re:Sure

[Guppy06]

"or a new version of the Gameboy (most likely)."

Damn them! Do they have any idea how long it took me to figure out what color Game Boy Advance to get?!?

Speaking of which, though, it seems to be about time for them to release a re-designed N64.

And releasing a new Game Boy now seems... premature. Pokemon Ruby and Saphire have yet to be released in Japan.

Re:Sure

[Jace of Fuse!]

And releasing a new Game Boy now seems... premature. Pokemon Ruby and Saphire have yet to be released in Japan.

Not really, if you think about it. For one thing, Gameboy systems have so far been backward compatible. Also keep in mind that the step up from the Gameboy Pocket to Gameboy color wasn't that long, and the Gameboy Advance has been highly criticised for it's lack of a backlit screen.

Since it's now been shown that lighting can be installed in the Gameboy Advanced aftermarket without effecting battery life, Nintendo has run out of reasons not to light the system themselves.

Likewise, the system has also taken fire for being a platform for the reincarnation of classic SNES titles, yet it only has 2 face buttons. It would be reasonable to guess that Nintendo would release an update to the Advance that contains some form of backlighting and the extra buttons.

This is all speculation of course, but it all does make sense. Still, supposing it's spot on, I'd hardly consider any of this "Megaton" news.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Shift in devlopment.. was Re:WOW

[MrLint]

I totally agree on a shift of scope on the part of nintendo. I just finishe mario sunshine, and while my gf and myself enjoy playing animal crossing, I would really like to see something above the 'kiddie' market. Im not sure where i read it but i saw a blurbabout the head nintendo game guy focuses on kids games and they were gonan try to coax him to making more mature stuff.

call for a /. news editor

[carpe_noctem]

copywrite? COPYWRITE?

Re:call for a /. news editor

[Anonymous Coward]

Mayhaps slashdot didn't correct it, because it was quoted text? Don't worry, it's never very obvious that it's quoted, they kinda hide it between those ahem.. quotation marks.. and they make sure it blends in with everything else by italicizing it... ;)

Re:call for a /. news editor

[sharkey]

copywrite? COPYWRITE?

Looks like a /. editor already had a go at it. What are you asking?

WTF?

[Frozen-Solid]

I am in total disbalief that an upstanding bullshit free site such as slashdot as posted this article. For one, Nintendo has never had ANY stake in the playstation name. Nintendo and Sony's partnership on the then dubbed "SNES CD" ended without the project going anywhere. Because of Sega CDs flop, Nintendo pulled out extremely early in the process and left Sony to develope it alone. AFTER Nintendo left the partnership is when Sony took up the PlayStation name. Check out Copyright.gov if you dont believe me. 3. Registration Number: VA-759-813 Title: PlayStation. Description: Computer graphic. Claimant: acSony Computer Entertainment, Inc. Created: 1994 Published: 10May94 Registered: 2Apr96 Title on © Application: PS device. Special Codes: 5/S The official copyright database says NOTHING ABOUT NINTENDO. There is no way in hell that Nintendo could POSSIBLY win this suit, and there's no way in hell they are dumb enough to pursue it. I have lost much faith in my beloved slashdot for posting such total unofficial rumored bullshit.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't let the door hit your ass on your way out

Re:WTF?

[Frozen-Solid]

Slight correction, the source I got my information on was a bit wrong (NextGen Magazine) and in Steven Kent's Book he says that Nintendo dropped Sony becuase they found out the PlayStation was being developed alongside the SNES CD and saw Sony as a threat. That is where Phillips/Nintendo partnership came in and how Phillips got 3 shitty zelda games. Nintendo pulled out of hte PHILLIPS partnership thanks to Sega CD's flopping. Thanks to StrikerObi at Planetgamecube for pointing that tidbit out to me. I was close enough ;) Either way PlayStation was NEVER a part of NINTENDO and SONY registered it officially, therefore THEY still own the copyright.

Re:WTF?

[stratjakt]

Well, the story is fake, but, IIRC the history was more like this:

- Nintendo and Sony to jointly develop CD Addon for SNES

- Nintendo reannounces its partnership with Phillips - citing 'superior' technology. Though it was probably just a better (cheaper) deal.

- Sony gets pissed. Sony produces many of the proprietary chips inside the SNES, like the audio unit for one.

- Sony shows up at industry trade show with a new console, called Playstation. It has a cartridge slot, which plays SNES games. It has a cd-drive which playes SNES CD games (which never existed). SNES liscencing was Nintendo's, but the tech was Sony's. Sony has Nintendo by the balls.

- Nintendo does some kissing ass, and eventually winds up in some screwy 3-way partnership thing with Sony and Nintendo to jointly develop the 'Playstation', Phillips to be involved in production somehow.

- As you said, Nintendo sees Sega CD and TurboGrafx CD, watches them bomb, drops out, vows to only produce cartridges.

- Sony produces new console, Playstation X (the PSX we all know), Nintendo partners up with SGI for N64

There is a kernel of truth. There is some litigation as to the contract Nintendo had with Sony. Sony may have the trademark, but there's a contract saying that "Playstation" was to be produced for Nintendo. AFAIK, it's still in the hands of the lawyers, and will likely stay there forever.

Re:WTF?

[ender81b]

I have lost much faith in my beloved slashdot for posting such total unofficial rumored bullshit.

You must be new here... welcome to slashdot where nobody is quite sure exactly what the editors do.

Re:WTF?

[Frozen-Solid]

Actually I've been coming for about a year, never done the forums thing until recently. However because of my affiliation with the subject matter, and already being pissed off about the overdone coverage of this rumor and the "megaton" rumor (which is also total bullshit). The video game world is filled with this crap, the very reason I ignore 99.9% of rumors until they happen. Oh well, enough ranting for one day...

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

You must be new here... welcome to slashdot where nobody is quite sure exactly what the editors do.

We do know what they don't do; namely, edit ;)

Re:WTF?

[cicatrix1]

I am in total disbalief that an upstanding bullshit free site such as slashdot as posted this article.

disbalief? Oh, I see you are a part of the same Hooked on Phonics program -- the one that gets its graduates jobs at news sites -- as the slashdot editors.

Re:WTF?

[Stephen VanDahm]

"I am in total disbalief that an upstanding bullshit free site such as slashdot...."

Upstanding and bullshit free? You must be new here....

Just kidding,

Steve

Re:WTF?

[madprof]

Some useful information on http://www.scee.com/corporate/sonyhistory.jhtml

Athough this only works in IE, not Mozila. Grrr.

Re:WTF?

[Frozen-Solid]

1) This is a bullitan board system. Our spealing and grammar is supposed to sucks. 2) It was fuggin midnight when I wrote that, I was tired and just got back from a long shift at work. 3) Yes, I am Hooked on Phonics. In fact I think it was Cris D. that found the program for me along with that book by that one guy titled "How to ignore the facts and post bullshit news"

Re:WTF?

[EvilBudMan]

I don't know wheter the story is true or not but Nintendo and Sony are in Japan not the US.

Re:WTF?

[Frozen-Solid]

Well sorry I couldnt find a Japanese copyright/trademark database, but Sony and Nintendo would have filed with Japan at the same time as the US with the same information. Sony and Nintendo both have divisions in the US. Regardless SONY still owns both and Nintendo has absolutly no claim in it. Let's just drop the topic because it is completely stupid and pointless. It's fake and that is all that matters.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

1) No, you're just a lazy bitch.
2) So what's your excuse this time?
3) Pathetic. If you want to insult people, at least learn how to do it.

Re:WTF?

[Guppy06]

"I am in total disbalief that an upstanding bullshit free site such as slashdot as posted this article."

Now now, this is only one article. Hold your complaints until it's posted for the second or third time.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Holy shit!

This is the first time I've ever seen a page render fine in Opera, but not Mozilla.

Granted, it's the Beta of version 7... 6.05 messes it up as well.

Does anyone else hate how other browsers are forced to slowly become compliant with MS Aiee simply because web designers are too lazy/stupid to design their sites properly? It's not even HARD to make a site work in Moz, Opera, and Aiee.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

The blanket term for what is not done at Slashdot is "journalism".

Communication is also not a priority, given the editors aggressive anti-grammar-and-spelling stance.

Re:WTF?

[Anonymous Coward]

Upstanding and bullshit free? You must be new here....

Honesty...

Just kidding, ...but please don't mod me down for it!

This simply cannot be true

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's why:

I would expect Sony's stock price to have plummeted and investors would be made aware (no evidence on Yahoo Biz).

I would expect that Sony's website would mention this issue (here's the press release site for the Playstation http://us.playstation.com/news/PressReleases/ and Sony's official press release site) Note the lack of this story.

Google turns up no results either.

Don't post stories like this without checking them.

Re:This simply cannot be true

[btellier]

Wasn't it one of the editors that said that only 5% of /. readers actually read the comments? Imagine the 95% of us that are going to go into work tommorow and drop this bomb on our coworkers, only to have them ask us to quote our source. "Uh, Slashdot quoting some fanboy site." "Riiiight."

Re:This simply cannot be true

[PyroMosh]

Connecting your comment to the parent comment, imagine this effecting Sony and Nintendo's stock prices! Sure it's BS, but just a few people believing it couldn't effect the two companies' stocks.

I think we know..

[Shrug]

I think we know how Nintendo plans on stay in business......

Not _that_ bad for Sony

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's keep in mind that Sony is the one who has to fork out the settlement, not just the gaming division. The good thing about being a big fuckoff conglomerate is that you have enough collective resources to take a hit like this every once in a while. Also, keep in mind this is 2.3 billion over 20 years -- that's about 11 million a year, a bearable dent in Sony's multi billion dollar annual profits. Although I'm not denying the fact that they don't probably like this; 11 million is still a lot of money, especially since they've been taking a lot of other losses recently.

nintendo will write games...

[EnderWiggnz]

and sony will make the platform.

nintendo designed games on the playstation??? ouch.

Ouch!

[Wheaty18]

That's a lot of clams.

Sony, you've been owned, have a nice day!

Re:Ouch!

[Anonymous Coward]

No no... Slashdot has been owned. You stupid fuck.

BS meter off the charts.

[nobodyman]

What's next, news items ripped from The Onion?

Supposing this story is true, why the hell is *consoletalk* the only rag picking it up?

Re:BS meter off the charts.

[telstar]

Why not? They've got the Playstation 5 on the way.

Funny thing is..

[Inoshiro]

Even though I'm an adult, I still find the same things fun.

It's not like I suddenly stopped finding Metroid fun. Metroid will always be fun. To actually say something that implies you stop enjoying certain things once you get past a set age, well.... I call bullshit.

Re:Funny thing is..

[o0o]

I'd have to agree.. Sex, eating, breathing.. They're all still just as fun now at 30-something as they were when I was a pre-teen.. Well.. Sex is more fun actually, but that's besides the point..

Re:Funny thing is..

[Bendebecker]

Yeah, I still liking playing with my blocks and my rattle...

Re:Funny thing is..

[Anonymous Coward]

my mom's breasts still taste really good, and I'm 37.

Re:Funny thing is..

[JonKatzIsAnIdiot]

How about things like:
-wetting yourself
-watching Barney (for some of you) or Mr. Dressup (for the others)
-eating dirt
-drooling
-picking your nose

Ummm ... never mind

Re:Funny thing is..

[nomadic]

Sure, I like to play fun, "kids" games too.

But I, like a lot of the people here, want to occasionally play a game that someone tried to push the envelope with. Game design should be an art, too, and that means grown up storylines occasionally.

Fun is not synonymous with enjoyable. 2001: A Space Odyssey is not a "fun" movie, but I get more enjoyment out of it than any comedy or mindless action film. The latter may be a good way to kill two hours, but you stop thinking about it soon after you see it. A great movie stays with you for a lot longer.

Anyone who's finished Shenmue knows that sizeable chunks of the game aren't very fun. But the lulls make the action scenes more worthwhile.

Look at Ico. The genius of the game wasn't in the gameplay; it was in the characters' movements, the music, the storyline, the atmosphere. I think most children would miss a lot of the beauty, simply because they haven't developed emotionally enough to catch the more subtle touches.

It's not like I suddenly stopped finding Metroid fun. Metroid will always be fun. To actually say something that implies you stop enjoying certain things once you get past a set age, well.... I call bullshit.

I'm not sure if I could have appreciated games like Ico or Shenmue as much if I played it as a child. In the same way, things I enjoyed as a kid (like FPSes) I don't enjoy the same way anymore. Like any other red-blooded American boy, violence thrilled me; now it just depresses me. When I was younger I liked numeric-based CRPGs (Might and Magic, Bard's Tale, etc), but now I wouldn't even start a game with endless, menu-driven combat like that. Life's too short.

So what's so awful about the idea that tastes change as you grow older?

Re:Funny thing is..

[Fig, formerly A.C.]

So what's so awful about the idea that tastes change as you grow older?

What's so awful about the idea that tastes don't have to change as you get older?

Ico and Shenmue might have sophisticated adult eyecandy, but when I play a game I want it to be FUN, just like when I was a kid. Kids care more about having a good time than appreciating art, and I think that the supposed "kids games" follow the same trend. Mario Kart 64 is still the best multiplayer combat racing game to date from a gameplay point of view, and it is certainly considered a kids game by the masses.

I'm not saying I dislike all adult games, or games that push the envelope, but disliking (or liking) a game because of the visuals instead of the gameplay is absurd. If a kids game plays well, I will play it.

Somebody just got duped by a fanboy

[nukem1999]

This is all pure speculation related to an upcoming "megaton" announcement Nintendo is supposed to make in the near future. The speculation ranges from this story to Nintendo buying Campcom and Sega. It's all been a contest to see who can get their page linked the most with the most outrageous story, and it looks like this site won.

As for the actual announcement, please don't post any more news on it until you see it on nintendo.com

Re:Somebody just got duped by a fanboy

[fluxrad]

...Nintendo buying Campcom and Sega

Campcom? Must be a company founded by Counter-Strike players.

No mention on either site...

[Acaila]

There is no mention of this "settlement" on either the playstation or nintendo sites.

In the words of Kent Brockman: "Do we have a source on this?"

Re:No mention on either site...

[btellier]

-- Kent Brockman's breaking news story, ``Brother from the Same Planet''

Brockman: This just in. A fistfight is in progress in downtown Springfield. Early reports indicate, and this is very preliminary, that one of the fighters is a giant lizard. [inset of Godzilla] Do we have a source on this? ... Uh huh. A bunch of drunken frat boys. ... All right, I could use some names. I. P. Freeley.

Compliments of www.snpp.com

Re:No mention on either site...

[Anonymous Coward]

"'A bunch of drunken frat-boys'?"

45 y.o. italian plumber named mario sues Nintendo

[paughsw]

In other news, a 45 year old italian plumber named mario, sues nintendo, for defamation of character, and slander.

Not slashdotted

[fluxrad]

The highest "story id" consoletalk has in their news section is 145.

Gee, wonder why 146 doesn't work. Could it be because this story is bullshit?

Click the fucking links before you post the stories chris.

Re:Not slashdotted

[Frozen-Solid]

The site took the article down for fear of the slashdot effect killing their bandwidth limit. It was working at the time of the post.

Re:Not slashdotted

[iapetus]

More likely that the site took the article down in a desperate attempt to conceal the fact that they'd been posting blatantly false 'news' stories. I find it hard to believe that anyone who knows *anything* about the console market would believe this for a minute.

Re:Not slashdotted

[Frozen-Solid]

You don't chat much do you. There are so many stupid people that believe that crap it's not even funny.

lmao!

[VoidEngineer]

wcbarksdale, thank you for posting that link... that's the funniest thing I've read all week, and I wouldn't have known about it if you hadn't posted it.

Re:lmao!

[Enzondio]

It's offtopic, but here's some more geeky Onion fun:

Christian Right Lobbies To Overturn Second Law Of Thermodynamics

Video-Game Character Wondering Why Heartless God Always Chooses 'Continue'

Also, The Onion Techbeat Archives

Gullible

[StrikerObi]

gullible
adj 1: naive and easily deceived or tricked; "at that early age she
had been gullible and in love" [syn: fleeceable, green]
2: easily tricked because of being too trusting; "gullible
tourists taken in by the shell game"

Re:Gullible

[iapetus]

That used to be the definition, but recently they pulled the word from the dictionary entirely. Perhaps Slashdot ought to do a story on that...

Slashdot top story on News.Google.Com

[Trillian_1138]

Doing a search for 'Nintendo Sony'on News.Google.com to see what I could pull up, I was ammused to see that Slashdot's own posting of this story was in fact the only reference to its existence.

While there were certaintly other stories pulled up containing the words 'sony' and 'nintendo' in them, Slashdot's was the most recent news story on the subject (posted, at the time i did the search, 19 minutes ago).

If for no other reason, it's interesting Slashdot is one of the sites Google News searchs.

-Trillian

Re:Slashdot top story on News.Google.Com

[back@slash]

It would be even more funny if this would have propelled the story to be displayed on the google news front page.

However I suppose google's AI code would look for corresponding sources before alerting it's readers to something major like this.

Machine 1 ChrisD 0

Re:Slashdot top story on News.Google.Com

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a strong feeling google won't be indexing slashdot anymore. :)

Re:Slashdot top story on News.Google.Com

[cribcage]

Trillian:

> If for no other reason, it's interesting
> Slashdot is one of the sites Google News searchs.

Yes. Slashdot bills itself as a news site, and it is looked upon as a news site.

Begging the question, as several have already asked: If this story had been posted 11 hours later (mid-morning), and it had caused -- even temporarily -- repercussions for Sony's stock value...what exactly would Slashdot's liability be?

(Or, to ask another way: How soon thereafter would Sony OWN Slashdot?)

crib

Re:Slashdot top story on News.Google.Com

[Anonymous Coward]

Searched the web for nintendo playstation. Results 1 - 10 of about 2,240,000. Search took 0.07 seconds.

Playstation - New & Classic Video Games on eBay
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Playstation - Find Your Favorite Video Games at Wal-Mart
www.walmart.com Always Low Prices - Brands You Trust - Save at Wal-Mart! Sponsored Link

Categories: World > Français > Jeux > Jeux vidéo > Consoles Regional > Europe > ... > Games > Console Games > Dreamcast

Sponsored Links
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Interest:

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Sony PS2, only $199.94 at Walmart!
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Interest:

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Amazon.com affiliate.
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Interest:

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News: Nintendo's Playstation Settlement Bombshell - Slashdot - 2 hours ago
New! Try Google News: Search news for nintendo playstation or browse the latest headlines

Re:Slashdot top story on News.Google.Com

[Tellarin]

> (Or, to ask another way: How soon thereafter would Sony OWN Slashdot?)

what do you mean own? like "all your base are belong to us"?

or "S0ny 0wn3d u!"?

Re:Slashdot top story on News.Google.Com

[PinkStainlessTail]

Yes. Slashdot bills itself as a news site, and it is looked upon as a news site.
So's the Drudge Report. *Shrug*

Re:Slashdot top story on News.Google.Com

[joshsisk]

It was on the front page when I saw it... Well, the Inquirer's story which was basically a link to this story was, anyway.

IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[xxblackice]

MARIO owns YOU!!@#

Re:In SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

...In duped stories, Soviet Russia YOU!

Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

...story checks YOU!

Re:In SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

In duped Russia, stories Soviet YOU!

Re:IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[ChaoticLimbs]

Propaganda checks YOU!

In Soviet Russia...

[cdf12345]

Lawsuits settle you!

Mario: "It is a complete...

[Anonymous Coward]

...stereotyping of me and my profession. Plumbers rarely venture into pipes to fight mushrooms and turtles, especially fire-breathing ones at that. People now ask me all the time what it was like to drop the drawbridge from under the 20-foot tall hammer-throwing snapper turtle. I can't stress it enough that we of the plumber's profession take out jobs, and out butt-cracks seriously. They both need to be properly polished and shown to all the right people."

Re:Mario: "It is a complete...

[EnderWiggnz]

thats one of the funniest things i've read here in a while...

How the shit did this get here?

[rosewood]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?sect ion_name=pub&aid=998

uh? This is an old rumor. Fuck, its damn near ready for snopes. chrisd: Dont just post cause it looks cool, check it out first.

Damn!

[The Bungi]

This company's monopolistic and predatory practices cannot be allowed to continue!!! They represent everything that is bad today in the world of technology!! They... uh... oh, this is Nintendo??

Well, I really like their games.

Re:Damn!

[Anonymous Coward]

This company's monopolistic and predatory practices cannot be allowed to continue!!! They represent everything that is bad today in the world of technology!! They... uh... oh, this is Nintendo??
Well, I really like their games.

Uhhh... you were around in the 80's right?
sound's like the big N to me.

goooone!

[snillfisk]

the article is gone. removed from the site. move along for more interesting news at theonion.com!

RatBot news coverage

[quintessent]

When asked about the 2.3 billion dollar fiasco, a spokesman for Sony had this to say:

"Oops."

Re:RatBot news coverage

[SkreamNet]

I think you misheard him. What he really said was "I am the dethroned emperor of Japan. I have 40 million dollars I need to funnel out of the country. Please give me your account information and I will transfer it to you, then you can give me 30 million back. You dumb gullible fuck"

chrisd, come on down!

[Anonymous Coward]

You're the next contestant on You Have Been Trolled!

US Patent and Trademark Office

[minesweeper]

After doing a search on PlayStation, here are some of the results:

• PlayStation
  • (REGISTRANT) KABUSHIKI KAISHA SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT CORPORATION JAPAN 1-22 AKASAKA 8-CHOME, MINATO-KU TOKYO 107 JAPAN

• PlayStation
  • (REGISTRANT) Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment CORPORATION JAPAN l-l Akasaka 7-chome Minato-ku, Tokyo JAPAN

BS

[Anonymous Coward]

This story is confirmed as 100% BS not true at all. Once again, /. editors are really careful when posting stuff.

In other news, I sued Microsoft over the use of the "Windows" name because I came up with it and sent Bill the idea by snailmail. They have agreed to pay me 10% of all past and future profit!

Any Lawyers In /. ???

[SoVi3t]

Would Nintendo continue to get money from PS2 games (PLAYSTATION 2) and consoles and such? Will PS2 have to change it's name? Even more importantly, how will this affect the release of PS3 (I guess it will be called something different now : P)? They may need to bump it out early, to gain the much needed cash, and also to get rid of the (possible) Nintendo money earning Playstation 2... Paying them off for 20 years makes it so they can EASILY afford to keep making consoles, and risky games (that may or may not pay off), for a hell of a long time....given that the average lifespan for a console is 5 years, that lets em make em until at LEAST another 4 consoles, plus they're getting a huge new studio of talented developers....damn, i wonder how much the Big N's stocks went up (just the rumours alone would have skyrocketed the fuckers....shit, 2 billion in profit helps stocks rather nicely!)

Bullshit(TM)

[AnonymousCowheard]

Well I don't think(TM) I will support(TM) Nintendo(TM) in the future(TM) by purchasing any of their consoles(TM) or games(TM). Nintendo(TM), as well as many other companies(TM), should be ashamed(TM) of profiting(TM) from applicable language(TM) or combinations of root(TM) words in any language(TM) to make dispute(TM) their own profit loss(TM) and use such immoral logic(TM) as leverage(TM) to steal(TM) money(TM) from other(TM) companies(TM). In an ideal(TM) world(TM), a company(TM) should(TM) be able(TM) to name(TM) their system(TM) anything they want(TM) and their skill(TM) or talent(TM) is what determines the lifetime(TM) and demand(TM) of their product(TM). When will a company(TM) name their console foo(TM)-bar(TM) 2600.1(TM) or will they be sued(TM) also?

This is a sad(TM) world(TM) with blatently immoral(TM) contractual laws(TM) of "COMMERCE" that any good-natured(TM) bunch(TM) of people(TM) wanting to put food(TM) on their tables(TM) should not need to deal(TM) with. I do believe(TM) this(TM) is all British(TM) Law(TM) running amuck(TM).

And to think(TM) our own names(TM) are considered intellectual(TM) property(TM), yet we are all named after the same(TM) people(TM) over and over again(TM) that only in-breeding-naming-conventions(TM) of the Ozark(TM) Mountains(TM) determined the future(TM) of our children(TM) to be addressable. For example(TM), how many(TM) Billy-Bob's, Billy-Joe's, Billy-Jane's, and Billy-Pat's do you think there are and how far will it continue(TM)?

Re:Bullshit(TM)

[Anonymous Coward]

Jesus, I can't believe you went through writing all those fucking (TM)'s for a bullshit rumor article.

Text from the article..

[Anonymous Coward]

After searching the Internet, I came up with the text of the original article:

(Tokyo)- In an announcement early this morning, Nintendo and Sony executives announced that they had come to a legal agreement over the rights to the name 'Playstation'. The name, which was originaly given to a joint-venture CD rom based add-on for the Super Nintendo, was technically, a joint-owned copyright. Sony has agreed to pay Nintendo 10% of all past and future proceeds made off of the name. This ammounts to a whopping 2.3 billion USD in back-payments. Nintendo will allow Sony to pay the money back in installments instead of a lump sum over the next 20 years. However, Nintendo has plans for their new found source of income. They will immidietly finance a new game studio called 'The Artists Group' which will feature members of Sega, Nintendo, Namco, Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Square-Enix and more to collaborate on projects for Nintendo systems, and exchange copyrighted properties. The first projects announced out of this new studio are a new RPG using various gaming icons as the central charachters, a new Smash Brothers game, featuring mascots from accross the companies, including Pacman, Megaman, Sonic, Mario and more, as well as a new Sega-AM2 developed racing game that will also feature multiple icons from the various companies. The final collaboration is the recently announced Viewtifull Joe from Capcom stuidios. Nintendo has also promised that completely original more collaborations between studios will take place in the future, but for now, they will be focusing on quality content showcasing the newfound bond between the various development houses. Contrary to internet rumors however, Nintendo has not as of yet purchased any software developers, and as such, all members of the Artists Group will be allowed to explore development on other systems of their own accord. More as it develops.

Re:Text from the article..

[Anonymous Coward]

Care to post a link to this so called article?

Re:Text from the article..

[ottawanker]

Sure thing, but, I didn't get it from the article itself, instead I got it from a discussion board - this website (http://www.gamecube-uk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t= 1722)

.. and yes, I did post the previous article, just my account is messed up, and Slashdot allows you to post with an invalid nick.

I believe you've been hoodwinked.

[Maul]

While it is apparently true that the (defunct) Super NES CD-Rom addon project was a joint effort between Nintendo and Sony, and was codenamed "Playstation," this story is a hoax.

This story can't be fake!

[RodgerDodger]

It's on Google News! ;)

What? That can't be?

[autopr0n]

What about the playstation 5!!!

(it has a trinary processor :P)

Re:What? That can't be?

[gl4ss]

considering that people have had psX for freakkin years... i think they're getting the technology from ALIENS!

ps5 would have like parts of ps2 and psx!!!!!!

Or....

[cheshiremackat]

I wonder how much it would cost for Sony to buy Nintendo outright...? No royalties if you buy the plantiff.... That way they keep the playstation moniker and get some cool game stables (mario, metroid, etc) .02 _CMK

Re:Or....

[Anonymous Coward]

Since Nintendo sold more units worldwide this year than Sony's game division did, not to mention the mounds of cash it's made from software made internally, it's not very likely that Sony would be buying them out anytime soon.

Even if it's fake...

[SoVi3t]

it'll still possibly drive Nintendo stocks up, just due to the rumours.... 2.3 billion dollar rumours = $$bling bling$$

Re:Even if it's fake...

[mlylecarlin]

Yeah, I know *I* went out and bought 125,000 dollars of nintendo stock after I read the slashdot article.

mlylecarlin

Console talk seems very reputable :)

[Mitreya]

As their link results in this:

Warning: Failed opening 'StoryText/story146.html' for inclusion (include_path='') in /home/console2/public_html/News/FullStory.php on line 145

On both mozilla and netscape 4.77. I am all out of browsers since I don't want to fire up VMWare...

Re:Console talk seems very reputable :)

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, a server side error message shows up in different browsers? Holy wack, what is this world coming to?

Re:Console talk seems very reputable :)

[Anonymous Coward]

What I like is the demonstration of how l337 they are by mentioning VMWare....

Re:Console talk seems very reputable :)

[Anonymous Coward]

All too many hours of web dev has led me to conclude that you are seeing a PHP error. It's a server thing, not a client side thing.

Re:Console talk seems very reputable :)

[Anonymous Coward]

VMware is hardly 1337. The more 1337 thing to do would be to pretend that you never miss having webpages load perfectly in Internet Explorer ;)

Um...

[autopr0n]

The artical you're talking about was on slashdot just one day ago. And no one is going to do any coaxing.

In any event, nintendo has been trying to change their demographics for a while, but they havn't been able to.

*Sigh*

[Anonymous Coward]

And the Holliday rumors begin!
Oh can I start my own, like I already have a level 99 Final Fantasy XI Character? Or that I installed Linux on the XBox Live System? Again, if the story is true, why does everything just point back to Slashdot, and nowhere else?

Gottla love a troll.

Re:*Sigh*

[Wocko]

It's an article from The Onion, moron.

Re:*Sigh*

[Cl1mh4224rd]

Wow. Can't put anything past you...

Re:*sigh*

[hayek]

Only if they didn't want to enforce their rights in the US.

Bitch bitch moan moan

[Anonymous Coward]

2002-12-17 23:54:49 PS5 ready for Christmas ... 2016 (articles,news) (rejected)

It's more about losing intrest.

[autopr0n]

I used to love comic books, video games, and TV. I still enjoy video games once in a while, but my desire for all three of those things has really gone down. I now find Comic books way overpriced for 3 or 4 minutes of plesure, and TV just knaws at my brain.

People really do grow out of things, but it's not like throwing more blood into a video game is going to make me want to play it more. The only stuff that kind of thing apeals to are 12-15 year old boys.

Re:It's more about losing intrest.

[Mac Degger]

Appart from the fact that you seem to have lost a deal of your sence of wonder (for which my sincerest condolences), I'd also say you never read the likes of Gaiman (the Sandman), Miller (his SinCity series), Wagner (Grendel) or any of the truly greats. There are some grandmasters in comics which deserve Booker Prises.
And I find sometimes a dose of pulp like the Dragon or most of Dark Horse Comics (some gems, some good pulp) enliven my day too.

I'll give you 'overpriced' though. That's what stops me from getting all the 'Lone wolf and cub' series.

Re:It's more about losing intrest.

[justme8800]

>People really do grow out of things, but it's not
>like throwing more blood into a video game is
>going to make me want to play it more. The only
>stuff that kind of thing apeals to are 12-15
>year old boys.

Hey! I'm a 14 year old boy, and gore most certainly does not appeal to me.

oh, and dont say I am, because I am NOT controversal!

Re:It's more about losing intrest.

[DarkEdgeX]

If comic books were still $1.00 or even $1.25, I'd consider reading them still (or collecting them, as I called it as a teen, heh), but it's a complete joke how much comics cost this day and age.

As far as outgrowing it, possibly, but did you watch the Spider-Man movie, or maybe that X-Men movie? Or how about the BatMan movies? I'm willing to bet you did, so how can you say you've "outgrown" comics?

Re:It's more about losing intrest.

[Anonymous Coward]

I now find Comic books way overpriced for 3 or 4 minutes of plesure, and TV just knaws at my brain.

Perhaps if you had read something other than comic books as a child you could spell grown-up words like "pleasure" and "gnaws".

Re:It's more about losing intrest.

[Anonymous Coward]

People really do grow out of things

This is just offensive. To say people 'grow out' of things implies that anyone who still enjoys such things is childish.

People's opinions and desires change, they do not 'grow out' of things. They just find other things to replace the things they used to enjoy.

It in no way invalidates the opinions of people who still enjoy the same sort of thing.

Re:45 y.o. italian plumber named mario sues Ninten

[Cid Highwind]

In other news, a 45 year old italian plumber named mario, sues nintendo, for defamation of character, and slander.

Isn't he still in rehab for that shroom habit of his?

I don't believe it

[mao che minh]

No company whom's livelyhood is in an industry as volatile and sudden as gaming would agree to a "20 year" payment plan. That is absurd. I could see a massive corporation like Canon agreeing to maybe a 10 year suit of this magnitude with a much smaller company like Hewlitt-Packard/Compaq (in case you didn't know, Canon has patents on almost all laser printer and camera technologies, and builds almost all of HP's printers and the components that go in cameras - such a suit could be concievable if HP slipped up). This is because Canon knows that it will be around for at least another 20 years, and HP at least 15. But 20 billion from Sony over 20 years? Not likely. Nintendo would rather have 3 billion right now. The market in which Nintendo thrives would demand it.

Re:I don't believe it

[haggar]

I thought it was 2.3 billion in installments of 20 years, so it would be about 115 million a year?!

Re:I don't believe it

[Anonymous Coward]

No company whose ...

English, motherfucker. DO YOU SPEAK IT?

Re:I don't believe it

[liposuction]

To sum up the other replies:

1. Read the article.

2. Re-Read the article.

3. Think about your post.

4. Proof read your post.

5. Submit.

Moron.

Slashdot = Rumour Center?

[kjeldsen]

Why post rumours when there are real stories worth posting?

Re:Slashdot = Rumour Center?

[Anonymous Coward]

Forgot where you were at for a second, huh?

True, but not what the original poster said.

[Inoshiro]

The original poster was trying to imply that any game with bright, primary colours, or any game with Mario, had to be a kids game. That such games were only of enjoyment to kids. Ludicrous!

I still enjoy video games a lot. Granted, I don't have nearly as much patience for jumping puzzles as I used to (which could also be linked to the greater numbers of games I own ;)), but I still enjoy Mario Party 4, Super Monkey Ball, Smash Bros, etc. Games marked as "kiddy" by some. I play the crap out of them until my controllers don't work anymore. Is there something wrong with me? Not at all. I also enjoyed Monsters, Inc -- another "cute" movie which happenened to have depth, and a great execution.

Re:True, but not what the original poster said.

[NineNine]

The original poster was trying to imply that any game with bright, primary colours, or any game with Mario, had to be a kids game. That such games were only of enjoyment to kids. Ludicrous!

I still enjoy video games a lot. Granted, I don't have nearly as much patience for jumping puzzles as I used to (which could also be linked to the greater numbers of games I own ;)), but I still enjoy Mario Party 4, Super Monkey Ball, Smash Bros, etc. Games marked as "kiddy" by some. I play the crap out of them until my controllers don't work anymore. Is there something wrong with me? Not at all. I also enjoyed Monsters, Inc -- another "cute" movie which happenened to have depth, and a great execution.

Yes, if you're a grown man, then I *would* say that there is something wrong with you for playing kiddie games and watching kiddie movies. I really hope that you're not "into" little kids, too. A grown man that plays little kids' video games and watches little kids' movies makes me really fucking nervous.

Re:True, but not what the original poster said.

[Psmylie]

"Yes, if you're a grown man, then I *would* say that there is something wrong with you for playing kiddie games and watching kiddie movies. I really hope that you're not "into" little kids, too. A grown man that plays little kids' video games and watches little kids' movies makes me really fucking nervous."
Good god. This guy was talking about how he still likes to play games and watch movies that some (ignorant) people label as "kid's stuff" and you suddenly suggest he's a pedophile? What the hell is wrong with you? Are you really that ignorant or are you trolling?
Just because some people might label something "for kids", and just because some media might be interesting to kids, that doesn't mean that there is nothing in it that would entertain an adult. I'm not talking about stuff like Seseme Street here... Inoshiro's example of Monsters Inc. is a good example. Even though it was primarily marketed for kids, there was plenty of really good humor in there that adults liked. Another example would be the Lord of the Rings movies. My 10-year old nephew likes them, and so do I.

Re:True, but not what the original poster said.

[joshsisk]

I didn't see Monsters Inc, but the Toy Story movies (by the same company) were good entertainment for kids or adults...

Re:True, but not what the original poster said.

[NineNine]

Ignorant? No, I've seen all of those games on TV, etc. I honestly get the creeps when a grown man talks about liking kids' games and predominantly kiddie movies. I'm not suggesting anything. I just think it's creepy, and more than a bit unusual. That's great and all for 18 year old stoners maybe, but a grown man (if the poster really is one) is gonna have a hard time meeting a woman who's ok with someone who plays nothing but Mario games and watches kid's movies. Very hard time.

Re:True, but not what the original poster said.

[Anonymous Coward]

Woa... Dude!

I'm a 30 something male-- loved Monsters Inc and other "kids" movies and play games marketed towards kids (Mario, Sonic, etc). PLUS I am married to one beautiful woman!

My question for you-- what do you consider a more mature game? One with lots of blood and guts or perhaps with overtly sexual themes? If those are your thoughts I would guess *you* have some *serious* problems yourself. I'd be MUCH more worried about kids hanging out with you than with someone that enjoyed kids movies and games!

Re:True, but not what the original poster said.

[IndependentVik]

but a grown man (if the poster really is one) is gonna have a hard time meeting a woman who's ok with someone who plays nothing but Mario games and watches kid's movies

Look, if all he did all day was watch 'Alladin' and play SMB, you might've had a point. However, nowhere did he imply that's all he does all day. There is nothing wrong with watching the occasional kids movie and playing video games. Do you think that "to be a man" the only movies you're allowed to watch have to be loaded with sex/violence and the only games you're allowed to play have to involve sports?

Look, I've read your previous posts on /. and you seem like a fairly intelligent individual, why so closeminded about this?

Re:True, but not what the original poster said.

[rela]

What the hell is wrong with you? Are you really that ignorant or are you trolling?

He's trolling, of course. This is slashdot, remember?

Re:True, but not what the original poster said.

[Anonymous Coward]

You can see the proof in his replies (and the lack of them to the well-reasoned, non-offensive responses). Definitely trolling.

IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Anonymous Coward]

...EDITOR first check STORY!

Another article, has to be true

[Anonymous Coward]

I was able to find an article on elitewarezandsex.com that goes a long way towards confirming this bombshell. The bulk of the story is highly technical legalese but towards the end there is an interview with Sony CEO Nobuyuki Idei.

CATS> How are you gentleman

Nobuyuki Idei> It's you!

CATS> What happened?

Nobuyuki Idei> Somebody set us up the bomb

He goes on to elaborate on the structure of the settlement, which will be paid largely in B class shares issued specifically for that purpose. I've submitted the story to Slashdot I just thought I'd fill everyone in before the inevitable posting.

please watch your language...

[g4dget]

Brand names are protected by trademarks, not copyrights. That does matter because copyright law and trademark law are very different. For example, trademarks evaporate if you don't enforce them, while copyrights don't.

And it's a "copyright"; "copywrite" is something a "copywriter" does.

Hmph

[Iscariot_]

I guess the next system from Sony won't be a "box", "cube", or "station". How about "Sony Girlfriend Eliminator"?

Re:Hmph

[Anonymous Coward]

waddayamean next system.... Like 1 in 8 internet users I have my Girlfriend Eliminator in my hand right now..... and its NOT made by sony.... though with the action it gets they may want it for themselves.... :-)

Re:Hmph

[LordLucless]

Damn, for a moment there I thought that was "Girlfriend Emulator". Imagine that, a platform dedicated entirely to... *Looks at his PC* Never mind.

Re:Hmph

[Anonymous Coward]

How about "Sony Girlfriend Eliminator"?

Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these!

D'oh!

Re:Hmph

[Anonymous Coward]

You own a rubber vagina?

Re:Hmph

[Anonymous Coward]

Already exists.. It's called Slashdot :)

Re:Hmph

[Anonymous Coward]

Uh, my girlfriend plays on the playstation more then I do. Of course, she does it half naked and its a hoot to watch her jiggle in frustration :)

Another Dupe

[Skraut]

What is it with Slashdot today.

First we get stories that are duped.

Now we are getting duped by stories.

Re:Another Dupe

[LordKronos]

Just wait until the dupe gets duped.

Why there's no news

[porkface]

Sony invoked the DMCA to prevent all sites from publishing information about the former console saying that it lacked copy protection.

-- somebody had to, and I figure this is as good a thread as any to fuck around in.

slashdot warning

[Anonymous Coward]

I think before a story appears on slashdot its better to warn the target website admin that the server is gonna slsahdotted.atleast the admin can put the text only on another server to be devoured by us.

mad rhymez

[Anonymous Coward]

me and the nizle bizle wardrive, using wifi to scan for open ports; when we find an open one, we know the nizlles aint living in forts

In other news...

[Skraut]

New York, NY - AP

Open source users everywhere were stunned by the VA Linux announcement that it was filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. This reporter dug through the Enron'esque' books to find the cause of such a rapid decline, but it seems several Slashdot editors had indeed purchased the Brooklyn Bridge. Large sums of money were transfered to a mysterious Vinny Flumputchinato who's only address is "Yellow Cab on Broadway"

Stashed away in the Slashdot offices under the mound of free AOL cd's was found a brown paper bag with "Joe's Market" on one side, and in crayon "This 's the deeed to the Brookline Bridge." When questioned, Slashdot Editor Chrisd replied, "When I was last in New York this guy driving my cab asks me if I want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge. I thought to myself, Holy Shit, the Brooklyn Bridge is for sale, I've got to make that the headline Slashdot. But then I said to myself, wait Chrisd If you don't post it right away, but instead buy it now and then sell it later don't you think you can profit????"

At present, this reporter has been unable to locate Mr. Flumputchinato for comment.

Nintendo better watch out..

[euxneks]

Rubik might sue Nintendo for using "Gamecube" ;)

Buy Sega

[phriedom]

That is an interesting idea. But if you wanted the Sega hardware engineers, why not just hire them after Sega stopped making hardware? I think most of those people would have been out of a job and available. If Sega has some hardware IP that Nintendo wanted, I expect it is available at fire sale prices, no need to buy the entire hardware division, or the entire company.

OTOH, buying Sega for their software writing ability sounds like a better reason, though I would be surprised if they did.

The 'Megaton' announcement thing

[Timmeh]

I was confused what everyone meant when they were talking about the 'Megaton' rumor from Nintendo, but here's a link that 'rounds up' the 'Megaton' rumors that has everyone abuzz. Basically there are two, the Playstation trademark thingey, and that Nintendo is planning on buying Sega and Capcom (hadn't heard about Sega) so produce games exlusively for the cube. I'm as skeptical as the writers of the above-linked article:

Yes, people actually believe this. Presumably they also expect the megaton announcement itself to be made by Shigeru Miyamoto on the back of a flying pig...

Nintendo's Playstation Settlement Bombshell

[JimPooley]

:s/Bombshell/Bollocks

What, you're taking editorial lessons in publishing groundless fanboy bollocks from fat Harry at Aint It :s/stuff I just made up/Cool News?

I can't remember. Can companies sue rumourmongers if said rumours drive down their stock price?

More like gained sense of crap detection.

[autopr0n]

Seriously, the stories in most commic books are extreemly trite. If they cost 10 They might be worth it. 1/3rd the price of a move for 1/20th the entertainment isn't much of a deal... especialy when most of the stories are lower quality then free entertanment on the boob toob.

Yeah, I never really looked at the supposed literary greats of the comic world... but there the price diferential is even greater. I could pay $8 for a Gibson (for example) novel that would take me 18 hours to get through, or $3 for a comic that would take 10 minutes if you were lucky...

Re:More like gained sense of crap detection.

[joshsisk]

I admit, I don't read comics much anymore for the same reasons, but look into the graphic novels - a book like Moore's From Hell would take you QUITE a while to read through. Ditto for the various Cerebus collections.

Nice accuracy

[xihr]

Not only is copyright misspelled, but it's not even about copyrights, it's about trademarks. Bravo.

"Return Of the Lone Gunmen"

[cribcage]

"STEEEEEEEEEE-RIKE TWO!!!!"

Nice going, chrisd.

Plan something BIG for number three, would ya? If you're going to get booted as a Slashdot "editor" (even with quotes, I can't believe I just juxtaposed those two words...), your final act should be something really monumental.

Seriously, though: Is this, like, the earliest April Fool's joke in history? I mean, past mistakes aside, I never figured you for a dumb guy. Are you really telling us that you read this submission, and you seriously thought it seemed plausible?!?

Otherwise, you should be thankful you posted this at 1238AM. Imagine if you'd posted it mid-morning, and every Slashdotter had run straight to Ameritrade to sell his/her shares in Sony. Imagine what might have happened, at least temporarily, to Sony's stock. (In this climate, a small blip can be interpreted as a relatively large spike...and before you can say "Open Source," stockholders are assuming that "spike" represents information they don't have, and they're scrambling not to be left behind.)

Now imagine what the correspondence from Sony's attorneys might have looked like, when it arrived in your office the next morning. Does the name "PairGain" ring any bells?

crib

Where can I apply for this job??

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd make a perfect Ghost of Christmas Future.

Taunting kids all day long with stuff they can't have.... ahhhhhh

I know I'm fundimentally evil, but at least I'd be good at the job.

Re:Where can I apply for this job??

[Anonymous Coward]

great comeback... :0

whoever Nintendo's lawyers are...

[Anonymous Coward]

... they did a kick-ass job!

Links = Legitimacy?

[cribcage]

Has anyone else noticed that, the more hyperlinks a submission includes, the more likely the Slashdot editors are to take it seriously?

If I were to submit a story including links to a commercial real estate firm, eBay, and a picture of the Brooklyn Bridge, would you post my story about how I'm auctioning it off using a zero-feedback profile with a "Buy It Now!" of $19.95?

It looks to me like "Magamo" figured out exactly how to slip one through your blind spot, chrisd. Better work on your tells.

crib

Hmm, still December

[Attackman]

For a minute there, I though it might have been April 1st already. I was was ready to wait on other funny stories, like Red Hat buys Microsoft or something of the like, when I came to my senses and realized that someone posted a story that simply isn't true. Maybe those looking at the submission pile are five months ahead of us. Poor bastards.

bullshit...

[radiashun]

yeah, that's like 115 million dollars per year to pay that off... i think some other news sites would've covered this if it's this huge :-/

come on guys, april fools is still many months away!

Wouldn't want to be that guy...

[anarchima]

I sure wouldn't want to be the guy(s) who came up with the name 'Playstation' for Sony's new console. Ouch, that's a lot money :P

Great.

[commodoresloat]

So now google's AI code is more reliable than a live editor. Remind me why I'm supposed to have faith in human intelligence again?

Re:Great.

[Anonymous Coward]

Because humans created google.

backward compatibility costs nothing

[Anonymous Coward]

Few people realize the jump between PS2 and the original Playstation. I know the halfly informed will jump out and say "yeah the old one is 33MHz, new one is several hundred," etc. But in this case the MHz (just as in intel/amd world) says nothing.

in every PS2, the "PS1" portion is not even another chip, let along anything they had to work hard for: there was no signal routing on the circuit board, no data passed between the new and the old (gfx proc, new cpu), and I don't even think it usued the memory (might be wrong on the last part, though).

The PS1 portion is but a corner of the I/O processor. (I/O processor handles (duh) I/O - but also sound - so PS1 core pipes the audio directly through.) So pretty much PS1 is running on the "sound card" portion of the PS2, if you will. I highly suspect that they had a lot of chip area left when making the I/O processor (or adding on the entire IP core of PS1 costed minimally) so they just said fsck it let's put that on there.

In desktop terms, this is equivalent to, say, running a Pentium II system using your SCSI card controller. (which, btw, the higher end ones from adaptec actually do use a P2 for the microcontroller)

Contrastingly - while that's not possible for the PS2 to be integrated into a dusty corner of a new-gen console for now - by the time P2 retires, I would not be surprised if they can pull the trick again - or if it proved to be costly then, they will probably just skip it.

Not sure if this is coverable under NDA, as it should be pretty common info via developer kits; but i am posting AC anyhow.

Re:backward compatibility costs nothing

[rsearle]

The Sega Genesis had the ability to run games from Sega's previous console the Master System. The Genesis was a 68000-based console, but it used a Z80 for sound processing. You could buy a converter that adapted your old Master System cartridges to the Genesis form and ran them on the sound processor.

Re:backward compatibility costs nothing

[vasqzr]

You can play GameBoy games on the SNES as well.

SuperGameBoy

http://www.buyritegames.com/product_information. as p?number=SNES-SUPGB&back=yes&dept=1077&last=10 76

Re:backward compatibility costs nothing

[UnknownSoldier]

AC> yeah the old one is 33MHz, new one is several hundred," etc.
Yes, the PS2 (EE) runs at 294.912 Mhz. It was ~250 Mhz, but got bumped up before (public) release.

AC> in every PS2, the "PS1" portion is not even another chip, let along anything they had to work hard for: there was no signal routing on the circuit board, no data passed between the new and the old (gfx proc, new cpu), and I don't even think it usued the memory
Yeah, the IOP has its own 2 Megs, seperate from the other 38 Megs (32 Megs Main + 4 Megs GS + 2 Megs SPU)

AC> The PS1 portion is but a corner of the I/O processor.
Are you sure about that? I was always under the impression that the IOP *was* the PS1 chip. I'll have to take another look at the manuals, once I'm at work.

AC> while that's not possible for the PS2 to be integrated into a dusty corner of a new-gen console for now - by the time P2 retires, I would not be surprised if they can pull the trick again

I disagree slightly - someone said in a previous /. post that the 7 PS2's CPUs *could* be thrown together on one chip. However, that wouldn't be practical, or the most efficient use of die space. From what I've read & seen, it seems like the PS3 is going to be a massively parallel computer, but we'll have to wait and see until ~2005.

Cheers

Re:backward compatibility costs nothing

[Anonymous Coward]

IOP is not the PS1 chip because it has a much beefier sound processor and more bandwidth (I believe the IOP also handles the network and whatnot). (AFAIK, anyway)

Slashdot Liablity (slightly off topic)

[Sancho]

As a "news site," how liable is Slashdot for posting this story should it turn out to be total fiction? There was apparently zero editorial checking, and since the story isn't there, you have to wonder if it ever was. Did some Slashdot editor just see a cool story and "OK" the submission? If that's the typical way things get done, it's awfully unethical.

Re:Slashdot Liablity (slightly off topic)

[Osty]

As a "news site," how liable is Slashdot for posting this story should it turn out to be total fiction? There was apparently zero editorial checking, and since the story isn't there, you have to wonder if it ever was. Did some Slashdot editor just see a cool story and "OK" the submission? If that's the typical way things get done, it's awfully unethical.

Until you can prove a direct correlation between something like a major dip in Sony stock and this story on Slashdot, I don't think Slashdot is liable for anything. Oh my, did I just stick up for the Slashdot editors? Crap. Anyway, you're 100% correct -- the editors should have at least followed the link (when the link is to a page that doesn't exist, don't post the story. end of ... story). Failing that, they should've realized that any legitimate story on this would've at least linked to a more reputable source (cnnfn, yahoo, even msnbc), either without the consoletalk link or along side it.

My prediction is that this will get blamed on the editors seeing the Two Towers today. The movie was so damned long, they were probably half asleep by the time they got back to "work".

Re:Slashdot Liablity (slightly off topic)

[Anonymous Coward]

you're new around here aren't you.

This is TYPICAL of slashdot... hell just wait ...timothy will be posting the dupe within an hour!

Re:Slashdot Liablity (slightly off topic)

[iapetus]

The story did exist at the time the article was posted. I know, since I've had to prune out countless topics about it on a well-known gaming forum (incidentally, if Slashdot is covering ludicrous gaming rumours these days, I'm sure we can supply them with a few more interesting ones...) Consoletalk have since taken it down, presumably partly in response to the widespread coverage Slashdot is getting it. :)

Re:Slashdot Liablity (slightly off topic)

[Zemran]

What do you mean "should it turn out to be total fiction" ? I think many people, including myself, have done some research and found no evidence to support this article. I think that, along with a reasonable amount of understanding of Sony and Nintendo, make me certain that this is a hoax. We would have heard about such a court case long before a finding.

Re:Slashdot Liablity (slightly off topic)

[mangu]

You are worried just because it's total fiction? Wait a few hours, they'll get a duplicate story later today!

Just wait until...

[Anonymous Coward]

IBM ask for their $2.3 Billion for violation of the PS/2 mouse and keyboard connectors.

OUCH

[katalyst]

That must have hurt Sony. However, this shows how important the "brand"/name is to a company. Hmm.. I wonder if Micrsoft will get sued by some sextoy company for using "XBox".
This case is very interesting though. There was no news about this "Playstation" controversy. Doesn't a company have to run through an agency before it launches a product of a particular name?

You're wrong.

[autopr0n]

I distinctly remember news articals from the early 90s discussing the SNES-CD, and they said it would be called the PlayStation.

As far as copyright.gov goes, well.

1) it's not a copyright, it's a trademark.
2) The deal was made in Japan, not the US.
3) Trademark law is a bit diffrent, in that you can start using a term, and trademark it later. As long as you've been 'trading' under that name, you get protection. So even with out legal ownership nintendo could still have a case.

And lets not forget 4) Slashdot is not a bullshit free site.

Anyway, the artical is total crap for reasons other people mentioned, but so is your post. Your history is warped, and so is your understanding of Intelectual Property.

Re:You're wrong.

[Anonymous Coward]

Here's how I read your post:

I distinctly remember news articals asdf sdfyuiu asdf asdf. I'm a flaming morong. articals articals articals articals articals.

blah blah blah.blah goes, blah.

1) articals
2) articals
3) I kind of sound like a lawyer, yet I said ARTICALS.

And lets not forget 4) I am a big flaming retard.

Anyway, this post is total crap for reasons other people mentioned, but so is my face. My spelling is warped, and so is your understanding of Random Capitalization.

*sigh*

[autopr0n]

Don't you think the trademark of relevence would have been filed in japan, not the US?

they will still use "playstation"

[Anonymous Coward]

I doubt they will shy away from using the name "playstation" because the settlement is only from past and present profits, not from future ones which I'd bet Sony now has all the rights to

Aibo?

[forgoil]

Why not just build the next playstation inside the aibo? No more having to move it around yourself, and you can call for it and it will come to you. A logical choice for Sony of course ;)

In related news

[Anonymous Coward]

Thursday 19th of December: Microsoft has won a lawsuit proving that the infact own the Slashdot name. The website Slashdot.org will henceforthly be transfered to the ownership of the Microsoft MSN .Net portal family. Users will receive MSDeveloper Network access and other great benifits. SlashdotXP.net will open for service on Friday the 13th.

I bet...

[Anonymous Coward]

George Michael is loving this right now.

Why have Nintendo waited so long?

[Rik Sweeney]

Surely if Nintendo felt that Sony had screwed them over with the Original PlayStation (the SNES add on) then they should have said something back in 1994* not all these years later.

*Obviously this date is incorrect.

To Err Is Human, To Really Screw Up You Need A PC

[Alexius]

Ironically enough, the 'Fortune' at the bottom of my page is:

People don't usually make the same mistake twice -- they make it three times, four time, five times...

So, we'll see a duplicate of this posted?

Here's a link to the article...

[mypalmike]

Right here
-_-_-

Original News ITEM found at ConsoleTalk.com

[Anonymous Coward]

Its a good thing I found a forum where someone posted the article...

----
Nintendo drops the Megaton
Out of Tokyo this morning (mid-day in Japan) Nintendo has announced the move that could change gaming forever. had come to a legal agreement over the rights to the name 'Playstation'. The name, which was originaly given to a joint-venture CD rom based add-on for the Super Nintendo, was technically, a joint-owned copyright. Sony has agreed to pay Nintendo 10% of all past and future proceeds made off of the name. This ammounts to a whopping 2.3 billion USD in back-payments. Nintendo will allow Sony to pay the money back in installments instead of a lump sum over the next 20 years. However, Nintendo has plans for their new found source of income. They will immidietly finance a new game studio called 'The Artists Group' which will feature members of Sega, Nintendo, Namco, Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Square-Enix and more to collaborate on projects for Nintendo systems, and exchange copyrighted properties. The first projects announced out of this new studio are a new RPG using various gaming icons as the central charachters, a new Smash Brothers game, featuring mascots from accross the companies, including Pacman, Megaman, Sonic, Mario and more, as well as a new Sega-AM2 developed racing game that will also feature multiple icons from the various companies. The final collaboration is the recently announced Viewtifull Joe from Capcom stuidios. Nintendo has also promised that completely original more collaborations between studios will take place in the future, but for now, they will be focusing on quality content showcasing the newfound bond between the various development houses. Contrary to internet rumors however, Nintendo has not as of yet purchased any software developers, and as such, all members of the Artists Group will be allowed to explore development on other systems of their own accord. More as it develops.
[UPDATED: Wednesday 2:17 18/12/2002]

What's in a name?

[nmg196]

Sounds like a massive amount of money to have to pay just for royalties of the *name*. It's not even that good.

What's in a name...? Everyone would still have bought it if it was called a "PS2".

Nick...

good for you.

[autopr0n]

It really matters a lot to me that felt that way.

Oh wait, no it dosn't.

Re:good for you.

[Anonymous Coward]

It really matters a lot to me that felt that way.

Sometimes, the little pronouns like "you" can really make or break a sentance.

Seriously though. The other AC's post was funny. Just laugh it off. They're an AC for crying out loud. And this is just /.

Fix the Headline!!!

[ctar]

I don't know why, but it's embarassing to me to think that this headline will stay up, UN-ALTERED all day on the front page of slashdot. Can't the put an 'oops' at the end, as they usually do with dupes? This is much more serious than a dupe (as in duplicate; not being duped, which is what everyone who reads this will be)...It's embarassing.

in related news...

[Anonymous Coward]

In related news, every /. user has to pay 10% of their earnings to Anonymous Coward, if they include the word beowulf in their posting...oops I did it my self!

Unless in Europe...

[Anonymous Coward]

Xbox live is still in beta test in Europe. It doesn't go live to the general public until March 2003. That's what I keep having to tell all the US ignoramuses I play against...

Re:Unless in Europe...

[Nos9]

Yeah I thought of that, but the "news" was still almost 2 weeks old for there first update.
On a side note the site appears to be down for violating terms of use or nonpayment (most likely excessive bandwidth from getting /.ed

also given the host is an American company I would have guessed it was an American site, but someone from Europe could contract an American company to host their page for some reason I suppose.

Urban Legends

[Smid]

As they happen on slashdot.

Trouble with some modern journalists, is they sometimes research their information before they print it. Otherwise they get sued.

If I hadn't read and dismissed this one from uk.games.video.gamecube three weeks ago, and dismissed it as another bit of unlikely speculation on nintendos "big announcement" (which is more likely a Pokemon game), then I might have believed it.

More importantly the Sony stockholders might have believed it too, and the large corporations.

Ok, so maybe slashdot has the freedom to post an urban legend every so often, but do watch out, it might cost you a lot of money one day...

Chrisd, you should be fired.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's true. Chris, this is your JOB for God's sake! You get PAID to do this! This story is an obvious fraud. The site didn't get "slashdotted," you see, as other people have pointed out, there was no such story on Console Talk to begin with. The submitter posted a fake link. All it would have taken for you to realize this was fraud was to click the damn link!!! But you didn't even do that! What if it had been a link to goatse.cx?

And what about Console Talk? Because of you, thousands of slashdotters think Console Talk is full of shit, when in fact the bogus story was never on their site to begin with!

Chris, you screwed up, and you should apologize to Slashdot, and to Console Talk.

Re:Chrisd, you should be fired.

[Anonymous Coward]

The story is false. Absolutely, 100% false.

This was a story that started as a joke over on the Gaming Age forums. Some took it at face value and it ended up spreading onto fansites and what-not as actual news.

Nintendo isn't suing Sony.

Oh really?

[ph4s3]

ADMINS - NIX THIS AS A HOAX IMMEDIATELY IF YOU CAN'T VERIFY THE STORY.

Google News and now The Inquirer (http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=6816) have now sourced the article on /.

It's spreading.

See how Sony's shareprice reacted to the 'news'

[Anonymous Coward]

visit here.

April Fools Day

[PunchMonkey]

Funny... I didn't think April 1'st was until April 1'st....

Maybe Sony will be nice

[The Analog Kid]

and put an extra $1USD per installment like my mom did will the mortgage payments.

Dear Slashdot,

[redtail1]

Dear Slashdot owners,

Please don't let kids play with the submit button. They have problems with spelling and tend to believe most rumors.

Thank you.

We need more definitions...

[Anonymous Coward]

Please also add definitions for the following: stupid, lazy, irrelevant, pathetic and adolescent.

Slashdot is irresponsible

[Anonymous Coward]

All too often Slashdot links to bullshit/fake stories such as this. Used to be a good site for interesting news tidbits, but now you have to take everything that's posted on the frontpage with a grain of salt. They simply do NOT do their research anymore before posting a story.

Re:Slashdot is irresponsible

[Anonymous Coward]

Can you blame them ? They appear to have enough trouble using a spell checker and pressing the submit button only once. I would hate for any of them to have a melt down while attempting to read/verify a submission.

On Soviet Slashdot...

[liquidsin]

the story dupes the editor!

Burn.

I couldn't hold it any longer...

[jokercito]

In Soviet Russia,
Fake Slashdot stories post YOU!

Look at the bright side...

[Anonymous Coward]

This week we have decided to like CNN for not posting this story.

They got the lead from slashdot!

[Anonymous Coward]

They even linked back.

Slashdot needs to check its content

[xNullx]

We've already had at least one dupe story this week, and now slashdot is posting hoaxes / rumors from other sites. It's not that hard to check business sites (hell, with google it's trivial) to see if the story is true, instead of blindly posting it because it sounds cool. 2.3 Billion dollar settlements aren't made without the knowledge of the business world and/or shareholders.

-Chris

Re:Slashdot needs to check its content

[xNullx]

Well according to the faq they don't check stories unless they're outrageous, so that's my mistake. -Chris

Re:Slashdot needs to check its content

[DSL-Admin]

Yeah, they shoot down my story submissions, but post this crap... real nice... My sub about Proxy Arp'ng a cable net is way better than this, atleast mine was real content...

Re:Slashdot needs to check its content

[AuraSeer]

If this doesn't qualify as an outrageous story, what does?

A little late, but..

[GrBear]

December Fool's Day!

Re:Shift in devlopment.. was Re:WOW

[tgibbs]

I totally agree on a shift of scope on the part of nintendo. I just finishe mario sunshine, and while my gf and myself enjoy playing animal crossing, I would really like to see something above the 'kiddie' market.

I think Nintendo does a very good job in providing games for the kiddie market and the adult market. Where they are weak is in the male teenage/young adult market--the demographic that is big on games with extreme violence.

babble on, retard

[Anonymous Coward]

heh, so now that this story has been branded a hoax/rumor/fake, don't you just feel like an ass-talking dumbfuck?

Here Here!

[Chris Canfield]

I don't understand this nationwide taboo against admitting to enjoying anything that might be labeled "for kids." How many parents enjoyed Aladdin, or Spirited Away? I have a deep suspicion that Americans refuse to like things tainted with the "kid" label because they never grew out of that pre-adolescent phase where they had to constantly prove they weren't pre-adolescents.

In Video Gaming, anything lighthearted and fun gets labeled "Kids," and anything edgy and violent gets labeled "adults." While an adult movie like What Women Want can be fun, very few adult games retain that sense of lighthearted enjoyment.

Kids games are also in digestably shorter bites, with more intense enjoyment up front, for the little one's attention spans. This is great when you are trying to grab a moment between work and a trip to the grocery store.

That's just my opinion, but I'm not wrong.

-C

Re:Here Here!

[Anonymous Coward]

Just for future reference, I'm pretty sure that should be "hear! hear!". Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Re:Here Here!

[rela]

That's just my opinion, but I'm not wrong.

Hahahahahaha that's a funny line. You may catch me stealing it!

Funny

[Anonymous Coward]

Bit of a low for slashdot rumourmongering this one. I don't know what's funny, posting this clearly untrue story or the people commenting here that appear to believe it.

*sigh* *hughalughghhughalughghhughalughgh*

[Anonymous Coward]

*cocksmoke* *your mother gave me head twice yesterday* *i will gladly fuck you in the ass tonight, as you requested*

Copywrite and Copy2pc

[tstoneman]

Anyone remember copywrite and copyiipc?

I'm dating myself, but back in the day, these were the two major copying programs that everyone used to copy IBM PC games/programs, back in the mid-80's. They would break most floppy-disk protection schemes and new versions would be coming out, it seemed every few months that would cover more and more programs and games.

I think it was thanks to the efforts of those two programs that software companies finally gave up on trying to add physical protection mechanisms on the floppies and eventually give up entirely.

Now if only the RIAA and the rest of the music industry would just learn from the mistakes of the past, they would realize that all their stupid protection mechanisms are just a complete waste of time.

Re:Copywrite and Copy2pc

[Drakin]

I was more a fan of Rawcopy myself. Though, a few games I had to break down and use other programs...

Re:Copywrite and Copy2pc

[op00to]

Right on. There was one for Apple ][ as well, and I think it was from the Beagle Bros....But i forget. :(

Re:Copywrite and Copy2pc

[ncc74656]

Anyone remember copywrite and copyiipc?

Never used those...then again, I used Apple IIs almost exclusively up to '91 or '92. Copy II Plus (same company, but for a different computer) was useful for more than just making backups...it also had lots of file-management tools bundled in. (I just put it back on my IIGS not long ago...some software I scanned in from a magazine only works under DOS 3.3, and Copy II Plus makes copying files between ProDOS and DOS 3.3 disks fairly easy.)

Now if only the RIAA and the rest of the music industry would just learn from the mistakes of the past, they would realize that all their stupid protection mechanisms are just a complete waste of time.

Score: 5, Insightful. Of course, it's worth mentioning that they more than likely don't know about this bit of history. Hillary Rosen, Fritz Hollings, and the rest of them probably barely know how to switch their machines on and use that "Intarweb thingy." What are the odds that they've ever tried copying Lode Runner?

Re:Copywrite and Copy2pc

[Spankophile]

Doesn't hold a candle to FastHack'em for the C=64!!

Re:Copywrite and Copy2pc

[crgrace]

Doesn't hold a candle to FastHack'em for the C=64!!

Word. One time, I tried to copy Spy Hunter on the C-64 using an early version of FastHake'em and when I loaded the copy up, instead of saying "(c) Midway Games" on the bottom of the screen it said "We Prosecute Pirates". Me and my brother got scared the FBI was gonna show up! (I was 9 years old so don't laugh).

Carl

Re:Copywrite and Copy2pc

[Minna Kirai]

Yes, I remember, but the program was really named "copywrit". MS-DOS only permitted 8 characters, you know...

Although anything beyond the first 8 would be ignored by command.com, so you could type the full "copywrite" if you preferred.

Playstation 2 or PS2?

[GrayCalx]

Did Sony actually sell it as the Playstation 2, or was it simply the PS2? Did they expect this?

IN SOVIET RUSSIA

[Microlith]

SLASHDOT STORIES DUPE YOU!

Call the grammar police!

[Anonymous Coward]

And that's "comprising members..." not "comprised of members..."

Pffff.

All "news" sources get fooled.

[bareman]

And you guys are bitching about slashdot getting fooled because they got tricked?

How about

"Iraq sells nerve agents to Al-Qaeda"

next day

"Oops, sorry, that information was inaccurate."

YOU alone have the responsibility of confirming what "news" you believe.

Re:All "news" sources get fooled.

[davmct]

true, but slashdots' quality HAS been degrading as of late... this is just further proof that the viewership is banding together to request a coup. yes, we're thankful for no more Katz, but we want MORE quality! I'm not entirely sure exactly what the slashdot crew DO for their paychecks, but if screening and editing stories is one of them, they SHOULD aspire to do a better job... and with that, do they REALLY need that many 'editors'.

Even if it is true...

[Fugly]

Hmm, my guess is that Sony's next console will be shying away from the PlayStation moniker..."

Um, providing this article were true, why wouldn't they use the name? They just paid 2.3 billion dollars for it.

Hoax verified

[Wingchild]

Here is an article decrying this story as a hoax; It's not really an article so much as a list of people saying "feh", but at least it's posted on something like a news site.

Slashdot would do well to create the right impression among it's readers; maybe having one of our friendly editors change the story title to reflect it's untruth is advisable.

Why Not twice..

[DSL-Admin]

Now waiting for the patent holder(s) of PS/2 interface to sue Sony for the shortname of PS2. IBM can sue for the name as well, since they had a computer called PS/1 and PS/2 Everyone wants a piece of action.... geez.. Maybe the inventor of the words Play and Station should sue them both for infringement of their name.

Hmm...

[John Pfeiffer]

Yeah, this didn't sound right to me either, I thought the SNES addon CDrom that turned into the PSX was called 'Project Reality' or something (I could be wrong, I think they called the N64 that too....)

Remember the Slashdot Random Story Generator?

[Mulletproof]

Maybe it's time bring the Slashdot Random Story Generator back out. It seems to do a better job at sensationalistic fictional story-telling.

In Soviet Russia

[ChrisNowinski]

Front Page Lies to You!

well, it was fun while it lasted

[Jafafa Hots]

slow news day. Rumors can be fun.

An explination and timeline

[BedivereW]

nintendoland.com has a good explanation of the events from 1991 onward. The article is devoted to the SNES CD which was a separate project. The Playstaton was always an independent console that Sony devloped on their own to play SNES and CD games. The SNES CD or ND and it was sometimes called was an add-on to the original SNES console but their were a lot of problem incorporating the Sony version of the add-on. That is why Sony started the Playstaion project. They could not make their CD system work with the pitiful processor in the SNES.

Re:Shift in devlopment.. was Re:WOW

[Anonymous Coward]

sports, racing, GTA3, first person shooters, role playing (RE etc.)

Ummmm...

[DaytonCIM]

What ever happened to an editor's duty to check factual accuracy of a /. story?

Magamo plans?

[eingram]

Magamo (user who submitted the story) is either getting a good laugh right now, or he's registering a new account here on Slashdot. ;P

as nelson would put it

[sHu_pAc]

hea hea !!!

anti-Midas

[Anonymous Coward]

Yep, anything PA touches turns to pure bullshit, so you're right.

One word:

[The J Kid]

dupe

The Funny Part...

[JPhule]

... is that this story will probably get dupe posted by someone within a day or so.

It's not tastes changing..

[Inoshiro]

It's the notion that tastes must change in such a set way, so suddenly. I don't agree with a statement that says that I have to stop enjoying Mario games. I don't agree with a statement like "GameCube is a kiddy console" -- I was playing RE0 again last night on it. RE0 and Metroid Prime are the two most enjoyable games I have for it (and they consistently win out against my other consoles [I have all of them* with a respectable library for each] for my game time).

There are plenty of games I love which, as you pointed out, I may not have appreciated as much 15 years ago. Shenmue, for example (I own Shenmue, Shenmue 2 eu import, and Shenmue 2x), or Ico (another game I happen to have at my house).

Recently I was actually talking with a person who was looking to buy some games for their children, and I thought about a few games I really enjoyed now (like Splinter Cell, and Sons' of Liberty), and I was wondering if I would've had the patience for that kind of game as a child (probably, since I played so many RPGs ;)). You're right in that children won't always enjoy adult things, but I don't think that the adult enjoyment games are a separate set from childrens games; I think that the range of games you enjoy grows larger (admittedly, you do stop enjoying ABC/123 Sesame Street, but I never enjoyed that when I was young ;)).

* When I say I have all of them, I mean I have a lot :) NES, SMS, TG16, SNES, PSX, N64, Dreamcast (2), PS2, Xbox, GameCube, GBA.

Re:It's not tastes changing..

[nomadic]

Well I don't think anyone's saying that you can't play these games as an adult. Like I said, I enjoy those kinds of things too. But if Nintendo really wants to grab more of an older age group, they should try making games that might appeal to people who really haven't been playing video games their entire lives like we have. Look at Myst; amazingly successful, because it appealed to people who weren't game players.

Nintendo's mistake, I think, is the way they try to twist their franchises rather than making new ones. I really don't understand their thinking sometimes.

It's like, "hmmm..those final fantasy games are popular, let's make our own RPG. Why not use Mario." Why not? How about because he's a freaking plumber in bright red overalls who jumps on mushroom peoples' heads. I mean, come on, we're willing to suspend our belief but not by THAT much.

BTW, I loved Sesame Street as a kid, and can still watch it if a younger relative is. What I hated, even as a kid, was all the Warner Brother cartoons, and I still do. Which is probably the exact opposite of most of the people here...

Re:It's not tastes changing..

[Inoshiro]

"Nintendo really wants to grab more of an older age group, they should try making games that might appeal to people who really haven't been playing video games their entire lives like we have"

I don't see that as a problem at all. Everyone in the past 30 years has grown up with video games in their lives. Why should Nintendo have to bother with the small percentage that has eschwed them? I'm happy with the way their plans are going.

Re:First Post!!! FP!!!

[magister707]

you fail it really badly. sorry.

Playstation Trademark

[Anonymous Coward]

Trademark for Playstation name registered to sony!

Re:Playstation Trademark

[porkface]

Swell web programming by the uspto, but "The search has expired."

WTF

[tymellon]

Could we at least double check info before posting it.

LoL

[OverkillTBP]

There's always a business trying to be on top. So I guess you can say now that Nintendo is a monopoly of the game consols. Because that is just annoying. New monopoly rundown MS is OS monopoly Nvidia is graphic card monopoly AOL is internet monopoly There are probably 3 or 4 I'm forgetting, but nintendo is now added to that list.

Re:LoL

[Anonymous Coward]

It was sad enough when people believed this article and posted despite over half the other comments calling it out as false. But you had to believe it after the editor admitted he was trolled.

Re:LoL

[joshsisk]

And just how is AOL "internet monopoly"? Explain that one to me. I think you'd be hard pressed to say that Nvidia is a graphics card monopoly, either.

Hint : monopoly _doesn't_ mean "a business trying to be on top".

This Hoax start in 1995?

[Bipoha]

This site mentions the joint project of the SNES-CDROM unit between Sony and Nintendo was indeed called the Playstaion. This document appears to have been originally written on December 10, 1994.

I find it difficult to believe a settlement was handed over this issue...but I don't doubt the name of their scrapped project.

Doh indeed

[kc0dxh]

One would expect more from a source that claims it's product is news (of any subject matter).

I don't know.

[autopr0n]

Nintendo has been around for over 100 years, and Sony has been around for at least 50. And, while Nintendo is mostly games only, Sony has a lot to fall back on... Sony even made the Tape recorder Nixon used to erase the Watergate tapes :P. I'm sure Sony will be around for another 20 years, and I'm willing to bet Nintendo will be as well.

In fact, if Nintendo really needed the money, they could use the installments as collateral for a loan, and get quite a bit more then 3 billion dollars.

Horribly enough...

[MacAndrew]

...in certain cases a trademark can be copyrighted. Arghh!

Mickey Mouse is a classic example IIRC.

Apple's jumped in, too.

Some devious mind proposed, "Can You Patent a Copyrighted Trademark?"

No comment.

I do not believe it applies here, though

[0x0d0a]

While I could see a trademark being copyrighted (say, a very elaborate logo), I haven't heard of it.

Neither of the articles you linked to contains, AFAI can tell, an instance of a copyrighted trademark. It's mostly journalists using language loosely.

In the Mickey Mouse one, Mickey Mouse works are copyrighted. Mickey Mouse himself (the famous silhouette, at least) is a trademark. The trademark does not apply to the works, and I'm fairly sure that the copyrights do not apply to the trademark.

And in the Apple one has the use of trademark in a non-legalistic way, unfortunately (a distinctive characteristic rather than a registered symbol) in "copy its copyrighted trademark themes". Even more unfortunately, it *also* mentions trademarks (in the legal sense) in the same article, which is a bit confusing. Now, the themes in question contain both copyrighted images (like Apple's famous "glassies") and Apple's "apple" logo, which is a trademark. :-)

Re:I do not believe it applies here, though

[MacAndrew]

Yes, I wasn't sure of the sloppy language and couldn't kind a great example in the amount of time I'll allow myself to chase these things around.... The press! sigh.

But the concept does exist. With Mickey, he's both art and mark. You make a big drawing of Mickey, that's copyright. You stick it on your commercial van, or the fronts of your baseball caps, that looks like trademark. That sort of thing. It would be tricky to make a Mickey movie and make it abundantly clear that Disney had nothing to do with it, and that you weren't diluting their trademark, and so on. I don't think Disney went to the mat over the Sonny Bono thing over Mickey, but for the myriad other inventions they own which do not symbolize Disney.

The one I'm wondering about -- I'm not an IP guy -- is what I cited somewhere of "patenting" a copyrighted trademark. I'm hoping that's just April Fool's"

Re:I do not believe it applies here, though

[0x0d0a]

I'm not formally an IP guy either, though I like talking about it. :-)

It would be very difficult to patent a copyright or a trademark, because you need to patent a *process*, not just an image. A patent on an invention wouldn't even protect an image containing a blueprint of that invention, since information on patented devices can be exchanged freely -- it's just that the patent devices can't actually be produced.

The fourth prong of IP, trade secrets, doesn't apply either, because both trademarks and patents must be registered and publically available, which would invalidate a piece of information's trade secret status.

I think you could have a copyrighted document that contained information protected as a trade secret. However, they could be separated -- producing a (different) work describing the trade secret would violate only the trade secret law, not copyright law.

Re:I do not believe it applies here, though

[MacAndrew]

Well, see if you can glue 3 or 4 together as a mental stunt. Surely you have nothing better to do. :)

A patented trademark -- appears it could be something like a Swiss Army knife that is distinctive in its patented construction and operation. Maybe you could copyright it as a work of art? Or something like that... It gives me a headache.

Here's a weird and worrisome trademark case. I wrote to the note's author with the patented trademarked copyright Q; perhaps it will amuse him enough to write back. I'll let you know.

Re:I do not believe it applies here, though

[0x0d0a]

Here's a weird and worrisome trademark case.

Ick. It's a bit disturbing, and moreso the fact that there are apparently a number of other landmarks that are trademarked.

I strongly suspect that, even had the appeals court been able to find that the image of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had strong commercial associations, the use the photographer made of the trademark would have been deemed legitimate.

My guess is that the court just wanted the strongest grounds possible to throw out the ruling. They didn't need to debate whether trademarking a building was legitimate, because the photographer wasn't infringing under even conventional trademark issues. They are not required to list all the reasons a previous ruling might have been invalid.

I'll let you know. :-)

Last Post!

[alpg]

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has a few things to say on
the subject of towels.
Most importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For
some reason, if a non-hitchhiker discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel
with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a
toothbrush, washcloth, flask, gnat spray, space suit, etc., etc. Furthermore,
the non-hitchhiker will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or
a dozen other items that he may have "lost". After all, any man who can
hitch the length and breadth of the Galaxy, struggle against terrible odds,
win through and still know where his towel is, is clearly a man to be
reckoned with.
-- Douglas Adams, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

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