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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."
I'll have you know this can also be used for men - the dual shock controllers are excellent for stimulating the prostate, or so I'm told.
Nintendo was probably the first to market with a rumble device, with the release of Star Fox 64 in 1997. The articles say the lawsuits are over force feedback, which could mean many things. The technical term would be some form of variable resistance applied to the joystick or something, but rumble features are often considered "force feedback." The PS2 has pressure sensative face buttons, which could cause one to contemplate. The Immersion website seems to promote the rumble aspect of force feedback, so clearly Nintendo could be liable.
Immersion's gone after the other big two (sucessfully), is Nintendo next? Perhaps, but Nintendo's no slouch when it comes to patents themselves, and perhaps Immersion doesn't wish to lose their own patent viability in a court battle with Nintendo. I wonder, if the Immersion and Nintendo patents are similar, if Nintendo can sue for damages and a share of the wealth...
I Browse at +4 Flamebait
Open Source Sysadmin
xBox already settled with Immersion to the tune of $26 million
m mersion/2100-1041_3-5056455.html
http://news.com.com/Microsoft+settles+suit+with+I
http://www.tomandemily.com
Wow, you received +3 Informative for telling us to shove our controllers up our asses.
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.