Sony Sues Datel, Maker of a PSP-3000 Hacking Extra Battery

Sony Europe has filed suit against UK-based Datel, maker of the Max Power Digital Battery accessory for PSP, alleging copyright infringement for Max Power's ability to circumvent Sony's encryption protection for the PSP. Interestingly, the Battery was originally sold as the Lite Blue Tool, an explicit hacking device already frozen by Sony previously. Sony believed that with the launch of the PSP-3000 piracy was "trending downward."

Changing the Name Didn't Fool Them? Damn...

The PSP has enjoyed quite a bit of hardware success but not as much software success, in part due to large amounts of piracy. It isn't surprising that Sony is going after them, especially in these lean times.

Sony, Jaffe Sued Over Alleged God of War Idea Theft

Jonathan Bissoon-Dath and Barrette-Herzog, plaintiffs, sued for copyright infringment after claiming they sent creative materials to Sony before the production of God of War, including a script and illustrative map, and that Sony subsequently ripped them off in making their huge blockbuster of a game. Sony responded claiming that the allegations were inaccurate, incomplete, and misguided. Plaintiffs wanted to name the game The Adventures of Owen: Owen's Olympic Adventure.

At Least We Know Sony Didn't Take The Name!

I find this case hard to believe based on the name of P's game alone. Who would think up the awesomeness that is GoW, only to name it like it should feature, Izzy the Olympic douche?

Buzztime Sues Sony for Trademark Violations

Buzztime, proprietor of pub trivia games, is suing Sony over its Buzz! franchise of trivia games. The suit alleges "malicous, fraudulent, knowing, willful and deliberate" trademark violations and seeks destruction of infringing products, actual and punitive damages, legal fees, and an order to not register three pending trademark applications containing the word Buzz! (one with the exclamation point and two without) filed by Sony. However, Buzztime doesn't have a trademark on the word "buzz," only on derivative marks like buzztime, buzzhead, share the buzz, and buzzkids. Buzztime claims they have some 13 million players each month.

What's All This Buzz About?

Trademark are around to protect the use of phrase, slogans, and other identifying marks in relation to specific products. Generally, the purpose of the trademark is to designate the origin of goods. Here, Buzztime is in the trivia video game business, so Sony's use of a similar mark could be infringing. However, trademark law takes into account the relation between the mark and the goods, giving four levels of classification: generic ("Computer" for a new computer), descriptive ("Holiday Inn"), suggestive ("Coppertone" for suntan lotion), or fanciful (Apple for computers). Depending on how the mark is classified, it will be granted different levels of protection. It is hard to say how the courts will classify the mark; my guess is that they will think it is descriptive. and therefore warranting little protection. However, the products are nearly identical, so there is a great likelihood of confusion. More on this as it develops...

Sony, Nintendo Sued For Controller Patent Infringement

Copper Innovations Groups, a PA based group, is suing Sony and Nintendo for their purported infringement of one of its patents, titled, "Hand Held Computer Input Apparatus and Method." The method involves assigning hardware identification numbers to device transmissions in order to connect and organize inputs to a system. Specifically targeted are the Wii Remote, Nunchuk, Sixaxis controller, and the Blu-Ray remote. The company is seeking not only damages, legal fees, and interest, but also a permanent injunction to prevent further profiteering. Microsoft is notably absent.

Copper May Have Struck Gold

I checked out the patent, and it is hard to say if the Wii and PS3 utilize this technology without being able to see more about the hardware in those systems. However, the patent presents a very straightforward way of setting up a plurality of transmitters and providing a framework for the receiver to know which transmitter is sending what using identification numbers; this is an obvious way of tackling this problem, and it would be interesting to see how these companies would not utilize the method described in the patent short of having a specific receiver for each input transmitter, which seems highly inefficient.

To Copper's credit, at least he came up with this patent and isn't being a complete troll like the AVG folks...

Summertime, and the Litigation is Easy...

To all my faithful readers out there, I apologize for slacking on my blogging duties. I have been preparing for the CA bar, and it has left me little motivation to do anything else. Luckily, there has been a recent spat of video game litigation to draw me back in. Here are four updates on widely publicized suits.

Microsoft sued in two states for the scratching of game discs:

1. Florida

2. California, too

Sony settles on the overtime lawsuit with its employees:

$8.5 million paid out

Midway hit with a class action suit involving misrepresentations of and failure to disclose that it was "grossly underperforming because it was experiencing operational difficulties."

67% Decline in Stock Value, No Basis for Financial Statements, He's Heating Up...Insider Trading! He's on Fire!

Lets not forget all of the litigation that Microsoft is trying to avoid by extending the warranties of all Xbox 360's three years to handle the dreaded red rings of death malfunction:

Microsoft's $1 billion Reddening Ring

Looks like I'm taking the bar a bit too late to get in all of the fun.

Manhunt 2 Release Suspended

Following an unprecedented amount of resistance from ratings boards across the globe, Take-Two has decided to suspend the release of its Manhunt 2, mostly because it could not release it on any of the platforms it was programmed for. Developed for the Wii and PS3, the game received an Adults Only rating in the US. Sony and Nintendo will not authorize the sale of AO games for their PS3 and Wii consoles respectively. M2 was also condemned by the UK ratings board, stating, "Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing." The AO rating also means that most commercial supplier will not carry the game, including Wal-Mart, Best Buy, and Gamestop.

Manhunt 2 gets Axed

These developments do not shock me. This game really seemed to push the limits of what might be acceptable in a video game violence-wise. We all love the interactivity of the Wiimote, but if you saw your kid playing this game it would actually be more disturbing than watching him blow up the National Guard with a Rocket launcher in GTA III. You simulate murdering people with all sorts of instruments with a simple flick of the wrist. It almost seems like it would be weird to invite someone over to show them your new game that kicks ass, only to have them watch you saw some dude's head off. I'm 25 and would be a bit repulsed by the game (though I have to say that I can imagine at least one of my friends getting really into this game). Then I imagine coming home to see my ten year old brother playing, and I think enough is enough. The rating is warranted, but frankly I wouldn't be surprised if the rating would ultimately appeal to some players: after all, Rockstar and Take-Two say that they are catering to the older crowd. Are they actually, or are they just cigarette companies in disguise?

Manchester Cathedral Not Too Happy about Being a Level in Resistance: Fall of Man

The Church of England has threatened to sue Sony, the makers of Resistance: Fall of Man, over their use of the interior of Manchester Cathedral as a game level (apparently, the outside has been blown to bits). Set in a post-apocalyptic world, Resistance is a first-person shooter with tons of guns and video game violence that moral, upstanding folks usually object to. Church of England claims this is a violation of their copyrights (in the building, though these must have expired by now...it is pretty old) and trademarks (would any one really believe that the Church endorsed this game?), but seems to be mostly based on an equity argument (this is just morally wrong...give us an injunction). The Very Reverend Rogers Govender claimed that the game was undermining the work of the church by promoting violence and using holy places as battlegrounds.

I killed 14 of my friends in Manchester Cathedral online; it was my best game ever!

Normally the whining of the older generation about violent video games doesn't phase me much, but this particular instance does seem a bit different. Is nothing sacred any more? Once again, I suppose that is for the courts to decide. Although I do agree with Aleks Krotoski: if the church wins, do video games always have to get permission from building owners to use their buildings in games? How close the building have to actually be? What if Dan Brown had to get the permission of the church to set a Da Vinci Code scene at the Vatican - after all, he was sending a message that undermined the church.

Fall of Man, Fall of Man...clearly sinful

Sony Plans to Aggressively Pursue PS3 Hackers - Is This News?

Sony, a paragon on unpredictability, vowed to pursue all hackers of its Playstation 3 console. Apparently, hackers have already figured out a way to crack PS3's firmware 1.10 and 1.11, which will allow a hacker to boot up a game but not necessarily play it. Similar to Microsoft's vow to not allow hacked systems to play on its XBoxLive service, Sony likewise could not allow any hacked PS3s to connect. In addition, hacking your PS3 violates the warranty.

Hackers Beware...Sony is After You Again

No warranty huh...the first iteration of any new console is almost always total crap, so maybe I should wait for the next model of PS3 before I hack to boot up a game; screw playing it.

Patent Hints at Future PSP, Possibly with Phone Capabilities

Often filed patents never turn into anything, but hopefully, that will not be the case for a new patent filed by Sony that appears to disclose a redesign of the PSP. Given the recent partnering of Sony with British Telecom to provide for BT services to the PSP, this new patent application could show where Sony is headed. The patent features a sweet looking swivel screen, hinting at multiple modes of use, i.e., normal view for games, swivel for cellular phone capabilities. In addition, the the new PSP could also support TV and video modes streamed directly from the internet.

PSP Swivel

I was going to buy an iPhone, but...

Sony Plays Down Virtual Reality Glove Patent

Keeping their ear to the streets, Unwired View has discovered that Sony has filed a patent for a virtual reality glove system that is meant to be compatible with some unspecified gaming console. The glove would allow the user to control cursors on the screen and having electronic means of applying pressure to the fingers to simulate touch. Sounds pretty badass to me.

Sony's VR Gloves

Of course, Sony had no real comment about the patent, merely reiterating the policy of protecting their IP to absolute fullest whether a product is manufactured or not. Below is a link to the application itself:

US Patent Application 0070075966: Hand-held Computer Interactive Device

Ghost Rider Creator Sues T2, Marvel, Sony

Gary Friedrich, co-creator of Ghost Rider, is suing Take-Two, Marvel, Sony and a host of other for copyright infringement of his Ghost Rider character and his alter ego, Johnny Blaze. Friedrich claims that the copyrights in these characters reverted to him in the 2001, and that the named defendants undertook a long and extensive campaign, including movies, toys and video games that utilize his copyrights.

Ghost Free-Rider

With an estimated Box Office gross of $215 million, Mr. Friedrich stand to gain quite a bit.

PS3s banned in UK Prisons

Citing fears of internet capability, UK Home Secretary John Reid banned all PS3s in prisons. The main concern in that the consoles can give and receive radio signals.

No PS3 in prison? I never would have...

Apparently the PS2 got banned after inmates used it to watch porn.

Spyro makers sued over Boy's epileptic seizure

A young boy suffered a seizure while playing Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, a game mostly held to be crap in general. After not heeding the warning at the beginning of the game, the boy's mother is no suing Vivendi, Sony, Sierra, and the video store that rented the game. The woman claims the companies were, "negligent, careless, and reckless with regard to the design and manufacture," of the game; that is what the warning label is for lady.

Spyro Suit

Nintendo got sued a couple of years ago by angry parents whose child had died playing N64 in a similar epileptic incident. Nintendo won on summary judgment after the other side failed to respond. I bet the defendants in this case will have similar luck.

Sony and Immersion Put Suit Behind Them, Form Agreement

Sony and Immersion have finally come to an agreement, putting their much publicized legal battle behind them. Sony was hit with $91,000,000 judgment in favor of Immersion, for their infringement on Immersion's Force Feedback patent involving rumble technology. According to GameDailyBiz, "In Immersion's form 8-K, the company revealed that Sony will pay quarterly installments of $1,875,000 (for a total of $22,500,000) beginning on March 31, 2007 and ending on December 31, 2009; Sony will also pay Immersion certain other fees and royalty amounts. In addition, Immersion has agreed not to sue Sony or enforce the original permanent injunction that was issued back in March 2005." Sony will also pay the $91 million.

Rumble Again Sony, The Suit Finally Settled

Not bad Immersion, not bad.

Students Encouraged to Play PSP in Class...Sweet

Sony has announced an initiative aimed at trying to put PSPs in the hand of even more youngsters by having them play in school. Richard Owen, a testing teacher, found the initial response positive; he said the students benefitted from being able to work at their own pace. They had the children play Buzz! - a quiz game designed for students of that age.

PSP making school actually cool

Wait. If I play PSP in school, I probably will not want to play PSP when I get home...or will I? Plus, who is buying all of these PSPs? The government? Some think Sony is using this to plug its products, but they could potentially make a boat load. It is only a matter of time before educational games become serious money makers.

Microsoft declares victory over holiday season

Microsoft, murdering all holiday mirth, claimed victory as the number one console seller in the US this holiday season, beating second place Wii (around 600,000), and third place laggard PS3 (491,000). Boosted by "must-have" titles, like Gears of War, and the overall shortages faced by its competitors, Microsoft announced it has sold over ten million total units and over a million this holiday season alone. Not bad for $300-$400 a pop. Then again, at $600 a pop, PS3s grossed about $250 million, as much as only $50 million less. Not like the pure dollars matter though (since most console sales are not very profitable); its all about the recognition.

Microsoft wins again!

Oh, and the earlier post about when is Microsoft going to combine the 360 and PCs...duh, that shit is on the way. I have to say in this three way race, I'm pulling for Nintendo. While the other machines may be stronger, the Wii is just more innovative and fun, i.e. I would rather see games go that way then the Microsoft way: straight to the dark side.

What Games has Tose Made?

This article is the first I have heard of Tose, a large developer who works mostly in secret doing contract work for some of the heaviest hitters in the business. They are the largest non-publisher game developer. Apparently, they have worked on over 1,000 titles, but the list of which games these are, is secret. The article mentions that they have made a name for themselves from porting popular titles between platforms. Eventually, this porting relationship transforms in to the beautiful flower that is allowing Tose to develop a game and then having the publisher slap its brand on it. Still though, this article made me feel a bit betrayed, like when Capcom developed the Legend of Zelda: The Minnish Cap --> it was a good Zelda game, but it just wasn't Nintendo.

Gaming's Dirty Little Secret

If Tose made modifications, who would get sued if one of these ports infringed an existing copyright or patent? I wonder how far the games companies would go to keep that game list secret? Would the company absorb the lawsuit on a given game in order to not have to reveal its relationship with Tose? Tose is barely mentioned in the credits of most games it works on, and it prefers to stay that way.

American Video Graphics Lawsuit

One of the first cases to catch my interest is a patent litigation involving American Video Graphics and basically every video game and hardware manufacturer. AVG is a company that acquired some patents a few years back originally granted to Tektronix back in the 80s. Now they are deciding to hold the video game industry hostage with their 4,734,690 patent "Method and Apparatus for Spherical panning." As argued by plaintiff’s pleading, the patent is meant to cover the following: imagine an object at the center of a sphere. By placing a camera on the sphere that always faces the object, a user can move the camera along the sphere to get different angles of the object. The radius of the sphere can be changed, effectively zooming in and out. Is it just me, or does this cover every freaking game created since 1996. If we think about the revenue that has been generated by "infringing" games...well...this case could be worth a lot of money; the thing that pisses me off is that, not only is AVG manipulating the video game industry (whom I love dearly), but they are also manipulating the American patent system (which I may love just a little bit more than Pearl Harbor sucked). As one PC manufacturer put it, "The patents are a mixture of an extremely general, vague variety and of an incredibly dense and complex variety. Manufacturers would need to pay a patent lawyer a lot of money to decipher whether they're even in violation of the more complex ones or not. The bringer of this suit is very conscious of that." AVG are types of fools that give the law a bad name. Who's with me? To top it off, AVG established itself (right before this suit) in the Eastern District of Texas, so that the Federal courts there would have jurisdiction over this case. Why? Because in the 5% of patent litigations that actually make it to trial in this jurisdiction, plaintiffs win 78% of the time. Coincidence...I think not

For more info:

Graphics patent holder sues Sony, MS, Nintendo

3D patent suit extended to Dell, HP, IBM, Sony, others

Patent Suits Target Game Industry