DCEmu Homebrew Emulation & Theme Park News
LyonHrt
by Published on October 21st, 2008 16:31
A US manufacturer’s recent claim that four of its patents for on-screen navigation and control technology have been infringed by the Wii are to be formally investigated by a US trade body.
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to investigate Hillcrest Laboratories’ allegations – made in a recently filed lawsuit - that Nintendo has violated three patents Hillcrest owns relating to a “handheld three-dimensional pointing device” and a fourth for a “navigation interface display system that graphically organises content for display on television”.
The ITC said that the complaint alleges “violations of section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930” and that it relates to “certain videogame machines and related three-dimensional pointing devices”.
Initially, the ITC's Chief Administrative Law Judge will assign the case to one of the ITC's five administrative law judges, who will hold an evidentiary hearing.
The selected judge will then make an initial decision over whether there is a violation of section 337, after which the ITC will make a final decision over the lawsuit’s merits.
Hillcrest’s hoping for an exclusion order and a cease and desist order, which if successful could see the Wii and/or the Remote and Nunchuck controllers banned from sale in the US and from being imported into the country.
Getting the ITC in on the act is a commonplace tactic used by US companies who allege that a foreign company has riden roughshod over their intellectual property rights. It's often seen as a quicker way of getting a result than waiting for the case to come to a conclusion in the courts.
Charlie Scibetta, a spokesman for Nintendo of America, has already claimed that none of the videogame pioneer's products infringe Hillcrest Laboratories’ patents. Nintendo plans to “vigorously defend” its position, he said
Let the fight begin...
Source The Register. ...by Published on October 21st, 2008 16:26
A lawsuit has been filed against Nintendo by a US-based firm, which claims that the Wii tramples over four patents for on-screen navigation and control technology.
Hillcrest Labs owns three patents relating to a “handheld three-dimensional pointing device” and another for a “navigation interface display system that graphically organises content for display on television”.
Exactly how Nintendo is supposed to have ridden roughshod over Hillcrest’s patents isn't yet clear, but it's believed the lawsuit is likely to focus on the console’s Remote and Nunchuck units, rather than the Classic Controller - which has already been the subject of a patent infringement action brought against Nintendo.
Hillcrest’s patents are believed to relate to its HoME and Freespace technologies. HoME enables consumer electronics manufacturers to create interactive digital media products for, say, TVs. Applications made with HoME are used in conjunction with Freespace, which allows devices like remote controls and PC mice to be turned into three-dimensional motion-sensitive pointers.
Nintendo hasn’t said anything publically about Hillcrest’s lawsuit yet, but this isn’t the first time the Wii has faced legal problems.
Last month, a US judge rejected Nintendo's attempt to avoid a $21m pay-out awarded against it over the design of its Wii Classic Controller.
In 2006, Nintendo found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit alleging that the Wii’s Remote ripped off another patent owned by US firm Interlink Electronics for a “trigger-operated electronic device”. That case is thought to be ongoing.
Source TheRegister. ...by Published on October 21st, 2008 15:27
The motion controller is an integral part of the Nintendo Wii’s point of difference. Now PS3 and Xbox 360 are looking to change that.
When it comes to next-generation gaming, each of the three contenders has its own unique way to pitch their respective consoles. Sony can push the superior graphics potential and storage capacity of the PS3, Microsoft can highlight the Xbox 360s impressive selection of games and accessories, while Nintendo has the family-friendly Wii that revolves around motion control gaming. Now it looks as though Sony and Microsoft are looking to dull down Nintendo’s point of difference.
In2Games has released the first image of its proposed upcoming and familiar looking motion controller for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The Wii Nunchuk Xbox 360 and PS3 motion controller claims to operate through "proprietary and cutting-edge patent-pending ultrasonic technology". It will be interesting to see if this “patent-pending” product can get approval considering how similar in design and concept it is to the clever Wii controller.
If this product is approved however, PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers have no need to rush out just yet to buy one so they can play the latest in next-gen games with motion control. The only game that is supported currently is the (surprise, surprise) In2Games title Squeeballs.
If this patent is approved on the In2Games remote, it would be great to see some PS3 and Xbox 360 titles provide support for the motion controller. The Force Unleashed anyone?
Source Gadget zone. ...by Published on October 21st, 2008 15:25
Videogaming247 writes.
More completely frankness from the Moore. This time, he’s admitted that he and Robbie Bach were baffled by Wii’s controller, but knew Nintendo would come back despite the GameCube’s death.
“I was in Tokyo when Iwata-san brought the controller out and said, ‘here it is!’ and we were all going, ‘what the hell is that?”. I was with Robbie and I remember going ‘I don’t know… it’s different’. But we knew that they were too good a company to lose twice in a row,” he said.
“But even then it was all about Sony, it was not about Nintendo, because they were so down and out – it’s very difficult to think now, it was four years ago. You just couldn’t picture that four or five years ago. GameCube was just… dying. The Revolution as it was called, we knew it couldn’t be anything powerful. It was in the days when Sony and ourselves were saying it’s all about hi-def, it’s all about 5.1 sound, it’s all about 1080i, and they said it’s about a GameCube 1.5 and you’re going to wave this stick around and have a lot of fun.”
This was featured in the forth part of the Guardian interview. ...by Published on October 21st, 2008 14:08
SplitFish AG (SplitFish), the world's premiere designer of PlayStation 3 first-person-shooter (FPS) console controllers, announced that it will be showing off its award-winning FragFX v.2 at the TOKYO GAME SHOW 2008, October 9th-12th, 2008 at Makuhari Messe in Tokyo, Japan. On hand to put the FragFX v.2 through its paces will be one of the top FPS players in the world. Members of the media and other visitors to the Splitfish booth will be able to test their skill and get game playing tips from this pro.
Source . ...by Published on October 21st, 2008 14:06
It was refreshing to sit down at an actual drum set this time around after trying get by with nothing but air a few days ago. After jamming out to a few songs with them, I have to say these are better than the original four-head Rock Band drum set. Now, that's not to say the RB2 or Guitar Hero sets won't better (and they probably will), but I like the setup of these drum heads much better. It's too bad, however, the actual game makes drumming on this particular set very frustrating.
For the drum set itself, it's really nice and sturdy. You can store the sticks right into the side, and the pedal is solid and has some weight to it. What I like the most is how the yellow snare head is sort of in the middle and much larger than the other ones. It's the head you'll be hitting most and it fits more naturally right in front of you like a real set. The other heads are positioned correctly as well, but I'm not really feeling how the cymbals aren't floating like they should be. It's makes it a bit hard to focus on the notes when you might end up missing the cymbals all together since they're small. But these are minor complaints compared to the gameplay.
Source Kotaku. ...by Published on October 21st, 2008 14:02
It has been a while since I have typed the name "Newton” as in the semi-secret Xbox 360 motion controller wand project. So what happened to Newton?
There are two possibilities:
1. It was delayed and they are still working on it. Either the software or games is not ready.
2. It was canceled and it will never reach market. They might have decided that it was not going to work in the Xbox accessory lineup.
At PAX 08 all of the Microsoft folks that I talked to would clam up at the mention of the Newton code name. I have no doubt that the Newton project is either still going on or was real at one point before being put on hold or canceled out right. I have seen evidence of them building hardware and I think that they invested more resources than if it was just a research and development project.
They unveiled that the game Ninja Blade does not use the Newton controller nor does Banjo Kazooie : Nuts and Bolts. Also the fact that they are making another Sceen It! game that will ship with the Big Button controller is another sign that the Newton is not on track.
They might end up using the research from the Newton project on project Phoenix (the third generation Xbox AKA 720) or it might be introduced in 2009.
The Opus motherboard is out, they are working on Valhalla, Lips is out soon but not every video game hardware project in development makes it to market. I am still waiting for that Super Nintendo CD-Rom drive.
Source 8bitjoystick. ...by Published on October 21st, 2008 13:58
At last month's Leipzig Games Convention, Konami mentioned that a new Xbox 360 limited-edition controller would be coming to Europe. The company's spokesperson said that the green controller would be released alongside Pro Evolution Soccer 2009, and it was unveiled alongside the game at the show.
The Xbox 360 controller has received criticism for its directional pad, which is why this new pad sees a 16-way upgrade. That's up from the eight directions on the regular pad, although everything else on the joypad remains the same as before.
According to Microsoft, the new limited-edition green wireless controller offers "enhancements to D pad functionality, which will add to the experience of playing games where the D pad is the primary control mechanism." While only Pro Evo has been announced as supporting the new pad, various rumours suggest other games may offer support, including Street Fighter IV; however, when we spoke to Capcom about the matter, it declined to comment.
We tried the new controller at Leipzig 2008 and found it was fairly difficult to notice the difference. In office tests on Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 and Forza Motorsport 2, the control pad performed at the same standard as regular controllers on both games. It appears that games will have to be programmed to support the new pad or retrospectively offer downloadable updates.
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