Sony Ordered to Pay For Dual Shock Tech

GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that a ruling against the Japanese software giant has been handed down in the case of Immersion vs. Sony. Immersion sued the company over the force feedback effect experienced in the dual-shock controller, which it has a patent on. From the article: "Now a Californian district court has ordered Sony to pay a 1.37 per cent license fee based on sales of the PlayStation console and of the named videogames, to be paid quarterly effective from July 1st."

Comments

License fee on particular games?

[UWC]

According to the article, there were about 40 video games listed in the initial suit that purportedly violated the patents. Does anyone know what in the games violated the patents? Would it be any game that utilized the rumble feature? If that's the case, Immersion is wanting fees for not only the hardware that includes the feature, but also for software that has the audacity use features included in the hardware?

Also, weren't there questions the last time this made Slashdot about the validity of Immersion's patents? Prior art in the N64's rumble pack or something? I don't recall. Also, did Immersion ever do anything with the idea, or just get a patent and sit around waiting for market saturation of the feature?

Re:So...

[Anonymous Coward]

I find it more annoying than anything, and I generally turn off vibration.

It depends on how it's used. If it just shakes when something blows up, big whoop. But it can be used to communicate various things to the player better than just visual and audio cues in some cases. I can immediately come up with three games that used vibration to good effect in different ways.

In F-Zero X for the N64, the rhythm of the pulses told you how well you were sticking to the track. Actually being able to feel the track beneath you made it easier to use slides and maintain control through difficult turns.

In Rogue Leader for the Gamecube, there was so much green laser fire flying around that it was sometimes hard to tell whether you were actually being hit, but the controller shook every time you were. Sure, sound effects clued you in as well, but I always noticed and reacted to the shaking first, almost reflexively.

In the Wind Waker, the opportunity for a counterattack was marked by both an icon on screen and a quick thump of the controller. I almost always nailed the timing because I felt the controller vibrate well before I noticed the icon. Plus, I never needed to actually watch for the icon, so I could concentrate on the action.

I think the key is that the rumble should be subtle enough that you don't really think about it during gameplay any more than you think about what you see and hear. If it shakes enough for you to notice, it can only be a distraction that pulls you out of the experience.

Re:Hmmmmm.....

[Zork the Almighty]

Now it's up to +5. I think the trolls have a point. BTW, welcome to slashdot.