PlayStation

Time To Play "What The Hell Is This Thing Sony Just Patented?"

What the hell is this? A steering wheel? A jet fighter’s yoke? It’s certainly a peripheral for the PlayStation Move, with swing-wing handle grips out at the side. Why is that feature necessary?


March 20, 2012
Xbox

Microsoft Working On A Gaming Helmet, Glasses

Since 2010, Microsoft has been working on a gaming display system so small that it wouldn’t need to be sitting on an entertainment unit or even held in your hands. You could wear it in a pair of glasses. Or in a stupid helmet.


November 7, 2011
In Real Life

This Nintendo Patent Looks Completely Bizarre

Kotaku AU

Just because Nintendo creates a patent for something, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to create the thing — I expect this might be the case with this completely bizarre Wii controller add-on, which looks like a periscope, or something Peter Venkman might use to, um… bust ghosts?


November 3, 2011
Nintendo

Nintendo Comes Out On Top

Three years ago Ohio-based technology company Motivia filed a patent lawsuit against Nintendo, alleging the Wii infringed on its ‘Human Movement Measurement System’ patent. Today an International Trade Commission judge ruled that wasn’t the case. Grats, big N.


November 2, 2011
PlayStation

Sony Thinking Of Vitality Sensors For PlayStation Consoles?

Maybe! A patent application, filed in 2010 but only recently uncovered, has Sony looking at biometric controls on devices that look like a DualShock, a PlayStation Move controller, and a handheld.


October 3, 2011
Xbox

Kinect Could Automatically Control What You Can Watch

A Microsoft patent, filed in March 2010 but only publicly released last week, is called PARENTAL CONTROL SETTINGS BASED ON BODY DIMENSIONS. It’s about using tech like Kinect to automatically restrict content on a PC or Xbox depending on who “or what” the camera sees in the room.


August 15, 2011
Nintendo

Nintendo Files Trademarks For "Wii U" But Doesn’t Own Wiiu.com

Our good friends at Fusible note, somewhat wryly, that while Nintendo’s gotten around to filing patent applications on the Wii U it’s lacking ownership of the wiiu.com domain. The console by that name is due for sale sometime in 2012.


August 13, 2011
Nintendo

Nintendo Seeks To Patent The Massively Singleplayer Online Game

Back in 2010, Nintendo filed a patent application for something called a “massively single-playing online game”, something whose interactions don’t take place in real time and what sounds a little Animal Crossing-ish (above).


July 8, 2011
Nintendo

Retired Sony Engineer Says 3DS Copied His Patent

The Nintendo 3DS uses glasses-free 3D technology that infringes on a patent held by a former Sony engineer, according to a lawsuit filed two weeks ago.


March 11, 2011
PlayStation

Seized European PlayStation 3 Systems To Be Released

While the Blu-ray patent infringement lawsuit between electronics manufacturer LG and Sony rages on, a court decision in the Netherlands has halted the confiscation of PlayStation 3 systems entering Europe, with the more than 300,000 units already seized ordered returned.