Microsoft, Nintendo sued over games controller

Holy Vibrating Handhelds!

By INQUIRER staff: Thursday 03 August 2006, 18:32
A CASE started in a Texas district court a few days back alleging that Nintendo and Microsoft had breached a game controller patent. Or two. Or more.

Anascape Ltd, a firm based in Texas, alleges that Nintendo and Microsoft breached patent number 5,999,084, called "Variable Conductance Sensor" and issued to Brad Armstrong in 1999.

The firms are also alleged to have breached patents 6,102,802 - "Game Controller with Analog Pressure sensor, and 6,135,886, "Variable Conductance Sensor with Elastomeric Dome Cap as well as 6,208,271 "Remote Controller with Analog Button".

No, we're not finished yet. Anascape alleges 6,222,525 "Image Controller with Sheet Connected Sensors" was also breached, as well as 6,343, 991 "Game Control with Analog Pressure Sensor" and 6,344,791 "Variable Sensor with Tactile Feedback".

As well as 6,347,997 "Analog Controls Housed with Electronic Displays", 6,351,205 "Variable Conductance Sensor" (a different one) and 6,400, 303 "Remote Controller with Analog Pressure Sensor" (a different one).

Then there's 6,563, 415 "Analog Sensor with Snap Through Tactile Feedback". And lastly, but not leastly, there is 6,906,700 "3D Controller with Vibration".

If you've got this far you won't be surprised to learn that Anascape Ltd wants a court to rule Nintendo and Microsoft owe it a lot of money. µThe Incuirer

5,999,084, called "Variable Conductance Sensor"

Variable-conductance sensor

Abstract

A sensor having a housing; two highly conductive elements fixed in-part within the housing and in-part exposed external of the housing; the conductive elements separated from one another within the housing in a normally open arrangement. A resilient dome-cap is positioned within the housing, and in some embodiments is conductive and in constant contact with one of the conductive elements, and in other embodiments the dome-cap need not be conductive. A depressible actuator is movably retained by the housing with a portion thereof external of the housing to be accessible for depressive force to be applied thereto by a mechanical device or human finger/thumb. The actuator also includes a portion positioned to allow depressive force applied thereto to be applied to the dome-cap. Pressure-sensitive variable-conductance material is contained within the housing and electrically positioned as a variably conductive element in a current flow path between the two conductive elements. Depression of the actuator causes the dome-cap to bow downward, causing a user discernable tactile sensation indicating actuation of the sensor, and transferring force through the dome-cap into the pressure-sensitive variable-conductance material for providing variable electrical flow between the two conductive elements dependant upon the applied pressure. The resilient dome-cap returns to a raised position and the flow path is again rendered open when the actuator is no longer depressed. Methods of manufacturing the variable electrical output tactile-feedback sensor are also disclosed.

My thoughts: This one I didnt understand at all, English is not my native language and from the images it seems to be a button? Does somebody else understand?

6,102,802 - "Game Controller with Analog Pressure sensor"

Game controller with analog pressure sensor(s)

Abstract

A game controller of the type held in two hands simultaneously for controlling electronic games, including a housing, a plurality of depressible surfaces at least in-part exposed on the housing with the depressible surfaces in operational association with electricity manipulating devices contained within the housing and controlled by depression of the depressible surfaces for manipulating electrical outputs at least useful for controlling electronic games. At least one of the electricity manipulating devices is a pressure-sensitive variable-conductance sensor for creating an analog electrical output proportional to varying physical pressure applied to at least one depressible surface. The analog electrical output is output as a signal at least representational of the analog electrical output to an image generation machine for controlling electronic imagery. Also disclosed are methods of use and manufacture of game controllers having at least one pressure-sensitive analog sensor.

My thoughts: All I can understand it means a controller held in both hands with buttons and analogue button/stick to a "image generation machine for controlling electronic imagery" Dosent that include almost every controller? and the images just shows SNES and N64 controller as example and from what I could understand the result was a SNES controller with analogue shoulder buttons, how vague can you get?

6,135,886, "Variable Conductance Sensor with Elastomeric Dome Cap"

Variable-conductance sensor with elastomeric dome-cap

Abstract

Improved methods for using a dome-cap sensor wherein an injection molded dome-cap is combined with an analog active element which is positioned to contact conductive elements of an electronic circuit. The dome-cap is variably depressible for transferring force of varying intensity into the active element to provide variable conductivity connecting the proximal conductive elements. The electronic circuit reads the active element as being in any one of at least three or more readable states dependent upon amount of pressure applied to the active element. Relief of depressive force allows the dome-cap to return to a raised position and one which can indicate the sensor as electrically deactivated. Also disclosed is an improved analog sensing circuit including a user manipulable variable-conductance sensor, the improvement including the variable-conductance sensor being an injection molded dome-cap with an analog material and variably depressible to variably compress the material; the analog material, at least when compressed, is contacting two proximal circuit elements, wherein the degree of compression determines the degree of conductivity between the two proximal circuits.

My thoughts: This just seems to me a very technical of saying analogue button, and it seems like it from the images too. Can you paten something so simple and vague?

*The blog will continue in my next blog-post. The result was longer then Gamespot allows in a single blog-post, and if anybody is wondering 20000 characters is the limit you can have in a single post :) *

I have just come home to Bergen after visiting my father in Hareid. I must say the visit was kind off dissapointing, almost all my friends was on vacation so ther wasent much for me to do there. I was really loking forward to coming back to Hareid and have allot of fun with everyone I grew upp with, but it ended up with me just beeing bored most of the time. And the one night we actually went out to one of the local pubs (me and 3 others) I didnt meet anyone I knew. It was crowded and boring. I hope the next time I visit, I will have more fun.

I just got up to Hareid Yeasterday to visit my father, and will be here until next sunday. My father had been and visited us in Bergen for the weekend, and we figured I could ride with him home to Hareid for my vacation in Hareid. He also meet my boyfriend for the first time this weekend, and happily enough it could not have gone better. They hit it off very well, and now both my parents have meet him. Now I have one week to meet all my relatives, and friends living here in Hareid, so I guess I dont have much time to spend here at Gamespot. But I guess I can drop in, hopefully a short time everyday.

I have been helping a friend of mine to move these last few days. And when he has a two floors apartment with allot of stuff, that made it very tiredsome work. It didnt help that he lived on the third floor and no elevator either.

And happily enough when we were finished moving everything out, we got to clean the apartment also, boring work.

And to top that, I havce also vacumed our own house today, so now I am fed up with cleaning.

But I can lookforward to tomorow, when I must take clean everything behind my computer and redecortae so it wont be as messy.

But hopefully it will all be worth it in the end.

Just got home from my weekend-trip with my boyfriend to his aunt and uncle, we visited them in their cottage in the country.

It was sunny and hot, and it was in a nice secluded spot, and with a nice big lake. I had a good time swimming allot, and getting to know his family. Buit now I am home in the city with a bad case of sunburn to help remember my trip.

The time is now 01:30, which means I have been 24 years old for an hour and a half. And I just wanted to use this time to say congratulation Kårstein.

And I got a new emblem from Gamespot also today "Tagger flirt" wohoo.

Today I became an Officer in the Ultimate Wii Union! It is my first time beeing an officer in any Union in Gamespot! I just want to tell everyone that this kind of thing makes me very happy :D

Finally I can uninstall Firefox, and start using only Opera! I still cant believe how much faster it is then Firefox, and people are still saying Firefox is the best.

And now when they have included the View in IE feature, I can use the rich text editor or any other feature that dosent support Opera, in my Opera window!

It is so great it just borrows the feature from IE but you get the speed and reliabilety from Opera, I am so happy about this. Everybody should switch to Opera.

I have just come back from my vacation. I spent 2 weeks in a lovely town in Spain called Lloertt de Mar, and 3 days in Barcelona, and I think I love Spain.

Lloret de Mar is a lovely old town in northern Spain, and has these amazing small and old-facionat streets, you could almost stretch you hands out and touch both side at once. The people there were great, and the weather was sunny everyday we were there (I got sunburnt  two times that was not so great). My boyfriend and I went to the roof of our Hotel every day to lie in the sun and bathe in the pool. And went to bars everynight to party, great :D .

It was kind of a shock for me coming to Barcelona and be in a big city for the first time, Barcelona has more people in it then my country`s population put together (Norway). But I liked that too allot.

Now I cant wait to September when we are going again.

Finaly I can contribute in the forums thanks to Gamespot correckted my account.

Thank you JodyR