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. "

Comments

IP TV

[Pulse_Instance]

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.

Re:IP TV

[AnalPerfume]

Microsoft, Sony & Apple have all eye'd the sitting room as the next battleground for media domination and control. They know people use their TV's for more and more functions, not unlike a web browser which started life as a simple application but has now grown to be multi-functioned and used to interact with more and more things.

Sony and Microsoft have their consoles able to connect to the net, play DVDs etc. They know that if they can get the trojan horse in the home, they can sell peripherals designed for that unit, and know that if it breaks in a couple of years the customer has already invested a fortune in peripherals that they will most likely replace like-for-like. All three want to be the COMPLETE solution from end to end, rather than just part of a heterogeneous solution. They will use vendor lock-in, proprietary formats, DRM etc to ensure that despite the barriers their customers will face having to deal with it all, when all they want is a system to easily plug together and just work.

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.

The End is Nigh!

[buttfscking]

I think the Xbox/Zune crossover project was mentioned somewhere in Revelations...

Xbox 360 MCE

[Drakkenmensch]

Anybody else thinking of Media Center Edition? While the required hardware implementation for the PC edition left somewhat to be desired (those required satellite and cable cards still give me nightmares), the Xbox 360 might skip a lot of the more complicated initial setup for a far more user-friendly experience. Or so you would think, in theory.

Been there, done that

[RiotingPacifist]

I already did that on the original xbox

Easier target candidate

[gmuslera]

Putting fences all around Imaginationland. They could have no plan to build it, but want to make sure nobody else will.

Actually just applications

[Dachannien]

These are actually just published applications, not patents (you can tell because the number starts with the publication year, whereas patent numbers are just serial numbers in increasing order roughly by date of issuance).

What's interesting is that the first one linked is specifically limited to a game console, while the second one sounds as though a MythTV box with MythGame/MAME would read on most, if not all, of the claims (whether under anticipation or obviousness depends on whether you consider a MythTV box with MythGame to be a game console).

Prior art everywhere

[DavoMan]

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).

invention vs innovation

[Anonymous Coward]

When America stopped Inventing and started Innovating was the beginning of the decline. When Bell created the telephone it was an Invention. When the RIAA finds a new way to sue people its an Innovation. Creating a new lifsaving medication, Invention. Offering crippled versions of Windows at different price points, Innovation.

Innovation is a term lawers and marketing goons use to glorify their often nauseating and sometimes unethical practices.

Regarding the article. It's not an invention with a product in mind. It's ammunition for their arsenal of potential patent litigation intended to coerce compliance from competitors. In a word, an innovation. Not news, move along.

Re:invention vs innovation

[AnalPerfume]

I wonder how much it'd knock off US multi-nationals stock prices if the rest of the world decided overnight that patents were a bad idea and scraped them altogether, wiping all existing patents into oblivion. How many large US companies rely on their patents to control their markets, or bully competitors? If their patent portfolio is wiped out in every other area except the US, what happens?

This is a hypothetical nightmare for some patent trolls which they will lobby tooth and nail to ensure never comes to pass.

Here we go:

[SilverHatHacker]

You mean they're gonna start supporting XBMC?

Huh?

[gstoddart]

So, they're either trying to patent the general-purpose computer, or they're trying to say that merging your home theatre into one single component is a unique invention.

I mean, you've been able to watch TV, movies, play music, and play games on a Mac for, what, 10+ years now? And you can easily make a PC do all of this as well (most of it right out of the box). And by changing the settings on my amplifier, I can choose between music, movies, video games, and the radio.

All they're doing is taking functionality which has been available individually, as well as already integrated into the function of a computer, and adding one more thing -- being a gaming console. None of these sound like they should be patentable -- you can't take something people do all of the time, and patent the idea of doing it all in one box. That makes no sense to me.

Have patents really devolved to "take what we can already do, put it in a box that also plays video games" and have that somehow be an innovation??

I would argue that the entire computer industry (Microsoft included) has produced enough prior art as to seemingly completely invalidate this entire patent.

Cheers

Re:Patenting away the competition

[Afforess]

I don't know about you, but the wireless syncing and game support was much better than the Ipod's until the touch came out. Those were great features, but even the best products fail with terrible ads and marketing.

It was just marketed poorly and could beat the Ipod's cool factor.

Geek-cool or cool-people cool? Because, quite frankly, they're very different.

Don't hurt yourself thinking about this question, I realize it's very difficult.

Gaming console rented as set top box

[dvorakhound]

If MS gives the xbox cable hosting capabilities, and partners with a cable provider like Comcast so that they offer the Xbox as the rent-a-cable-box solution, they would make an absolute killing.

Patents suck

[Lord Lode]

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.