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Microsoft Gaming Patents — Where They're Going
An anonymous reader writes "BNET looked at some patents which suggest that Microsoft might be thinking about an integrated game console/set-top box. Quoting: 'Patent 20080167128 is for watching television on a game console, while patent 20080167127 covers switching a gaming console between various media, including television, video, music, and games, and even using the console as a set-top box. Clearly Microsoft has been interested in controlling the living room, and combining media, gaming, and set-top functions in a single device would make a great deal of sense.' There are also hints of mobile gaming that support the current round of rumors about a combination Xbox-Zune. "
Wasn't Microsoft working on this a while ago. There were going to add IP-TV functionality with a DVR to the 360. I was really looking forward to it but as far as I remember it was never actually released.
How can you award a patent for something so ambiguous?
Dude I think a 'multimedia PC' (computer with CDROM or one that can play video) from the 1990's is enough to qualify as prior art here.
Furthermore what about the old computers that plugged into the TV? They were a do-everything device for the telly equipped with:
* A media drive that handled music (cassette tape),
* They downloaded new media (modem),
* AND did video in various crazy analogue ways (tv tuner).
Whats the harm in yelling 'Computer, end program!'? You could be living in Star Trek! Go on.. give it a try.
It's official. If you can patent these things, patents have become truly useless and sucky. Devices that are both TV and gaming device are so old. Even cellular phones do it. Oh and PC's of course. Useless. Lawyers are truly, really, degrading human progress.
It's staggering that Microsoft would get a patent on something which seems blatantly obvious as the next feature on a TV based console. It's no surprise that they applied for it however.
Obvious, indeed. Isn't there already a ton of such attempt at multi-functional devices already ?
Countless of do-it-yourself, small form factor PCs sitting under the TV set and featuring, TV reception, DVR functions, multimedia player, and console emulators ?
The patent was only filed in 2007. Whereas the mini-ITX format which spawned so much of these home theater PCs dates back 2001.
And building multi-function boxes has so much been a hot topic, that in 2002, a whole 5 years before Microsoft even files a patent, MythTV was named so, because of the "mythical convergence box" able to play TV, browse web, check e-mails, and play games, that everyone was raving about back then. Half a decade before Microsoft even files patents to put TV into an XBox, people were already making such hybrids. (Well except obviously MythGame was initially more about launching Mame/Mess and similar old school games rather than Xbox games as those weren't emulated back then).
From a purely "let's find the oldest prior art" point of view :
- Xbox Media Player and its successor Xbox Media Center and MythTV were all already functioning as "get other medias and TV on your XBox" several years before microsoft even thinks to file a patent for this specific stuff.
- the Nuon platform (started in 1999) was specifically designed to be an official hybrid gaming/movie platform
- Nuon was very probably an attempt at something nice and organised, after numerous not-really-licensed chinese and korean no-name CD or DVD players that featured MegaDrive/Genesis and/or NES emulators for last couple of years of the 90s.
- Consoles from the previous generation as the PlayStation 2 (2000) and the XBox (2001) have been designed to have hybrid DVD-player functionality, either built-in or after paying for an accessory thanks to asinine licensing.
- Consoles from even older or in-between generations like the Playstation (1994), the Saturn (1995) and the Dreamcast (1998) were designed to be able to play VideoCD and SuperVCD either built-in or with an additional co-processor in the case of Saturn. The DC was also designed from the start to be able to check emails and browse the web.
- Sega's GameGear was designed to also work as a portable TV set (with a special cartridge) and Nintendo launched a similar cartridge (ok, the Gameboy's was for FM radio, not for TV, but it's still converging several media into 1 device)
- The consoles which probably spawned all this "combine a console and a media player in the same box" mania : the Pioneer Laser Active. A device that plays LaserDiscs, CDs, but also Megadrive & Mega CD games, and even its own Mega LaserDisc games, and NEC and NEC-CD games (depending on whether the Sega or NEC module was plugged in). And the CD-i playing both movies (although requiring an additional co-processors) and its own format of games.
I think not only the patent is obvious, but there's plenty of prior art in the hacking community to just destroy the patent into oblivion.