Finally: Sony and Immersion end litigation, enter into business agreement

[Titanio]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070301/sfth075.html?.v=79

Immersion and Sony Computer Entertainment Conclude Litigation and Enter Into Business Agreement
Thursday March 1, 4:30 pm ET

SAN JOSE, Calif. and FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Immersion Corporation, (Nasdaq: IMMR - News), a leading developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced the companies have agreed to conclude their patent litigation at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and have entered into a new business agreement to explore the inclusion of Immersion technology in PlayStation® format products.

"We are pleased to have put this litigation behind us," said Immersion CEO Victor Viegas. "Our new business agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment is specifically intended to enable advanced vibration capability for the benefit of the PlayStation gaming community. We are happy to provide our technology in this regard and hope to make technical proposals very soon with respect to use of our technology in the PlayStation products."

Immersion will receive the amount of the judgment entered by the District Court, which includes damages, pre-judgment interest, costs, and interest, in addition to retaining compulsory license fees ordered by the District Court which were already paid. Terms of the business agreement between the parties provide SCE with certain new rights with respect to Immersion's patent portfolio. Additional financial terms are not being disclosed. The conclusion of this litigation and the agreement will have no material impact on Sony's consolidated earnings forecast announced on January 30, 2007.

"We look forward to exploring with Immersion exciting new ways to bring the largest and best range of gameplay experiences to our customers," said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group Chief Operating Officer, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "We are very excited about our new partnership with Immersion and the potential for new and innovative products incorporating their technologies."

Pity it couldn't have happened in time for launch, but looks like we should have a new DualShock3 with 'next-gen' rumble.

 

[NovemberMike]

I guess rumble isn't last gen anymore...

 

[Natoma]

It's about damn time. No rumble = Bah!!

 

[Qroach]

hehe lol, I guess sony realized they weren't going to get away without paying them anything.

 

[DJ12]

I guess rumble isn't last gen anymore...

I bloomin' hope it is.

Proper force feedback, now that's what I'd like to see.

 

["Nerve-Damage"]

Thats our Sony!!

Swallowing a bitter pill, eating crow, and taking one up the a** for the team (finally).

 

[swanlee]

So the lawsuit lasted long enough for the PS3 to launch without rumble as a standard feature in the controller or programed for games.

So how does Sony correct this? Send everyone with a PS3 a new controller and have the devs patch every current game to add rumble?

I think the damage is already done.

 

[rounin]

So the lawsuit lasted long enough for the PS3 to launch without rumble as a standard feature in the controller or programed for games.

So how does Sony correct this? Send everyone with a PS3 a new controller and have the devs patch every current game to add rumble?

I think the damage is already done.

The "damage" done is small and fixable. They just do what they did with the PSone and they earn more money selling controllers. Then devs can choose release patches for games that don't have rumble or not, it doesn't really matter.

 

[Natoma]

So the lawsuit lasted long enough for the PS3 to launch without rumble as a standard feature in the controller or programed for games.

So how does Sony correct this? Send everyone with a PS3 a new controller and have the devs patch every current game to add rumble?

I think the damage is already done.

Not really. Rumble isn't a feature like motion control or more buttons. It's a nice thing to have. But it won't fragment a user base if they introduce rumble controllers later.

Games will still perform properly with or without the rumble feature.

 

[Naboomagnoli]

The more obvious "good news" from this is that hopefullya time will come where we don't have to ask if PS3 first-party racing games support steering wheel FFB.

I wonder how they'd go about making a "next-gen" rumble to satisfy Sony's previous claims (which were still very tenuous - how can you claim rumble is last gen when the controller you put it in is heavily based on a PS1 controller?). The only way force feedback could really be represented in a pad is if the sticks moved of their own accord - that'd be a real headache in terms of making the pad robust and droppable (and not getting little children's fingers trapped between the stick and the socket!).

 

[rounin]

Terms of the business agreement between the parties provide SCE with certain new rights with respect to Immersion's patent portfolio.

I wonder what implications this has.

 

[INKster]

Well, the original PSX didn't need dual-shock or even analog sticks to succeed at first, just as Xbox's original controller was eventually dropped without too much fuss about it.

My guess is a Dual-Shock 3 is very close now, indeed.

 

[TheChefO]

'Bout
Freakin
Time

It is quite odd they waited 'til this long to get the deal done, but does this mean the UK systems are shipping with the DS3?

At least GT should ship with rumble/FF.

 

[Titanio]

'Bout
Freakin
Time

It is quite odd they waited 'til this long to get the deal done, but does this mean the UK systems are shipping with the DS3?

I very much doubt it, unfortunately, it sounds like the ink is barely dry on this. Hopefully by the fall something will be out there, maybe..just a guess though.

 

[RollingBalls]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12960

According to a statement from Sony, Immersion will be receiving "the amount of the judgment entered by the District Court," referring to the $82 million previously awarded to Immersion (plus $8.7 million in pre-judgment interest, down from the company's original $299 million claims), and "damages, pre-judgment interest, costs, and interest, in addition to retaining compulsory license fees ordered by the District Court which were already paid."

The agreement will also see Sony paying Immersion twelve quarterly payments of $1.875 million each, beginning next month, totaling $22.5 million, along with other fees and royalties. Immersion, along with the rights to its patents, will agree to no further suits against Sony.

My God! Was it really worth it?

 

[Naboomagnoli]

I think they'd wait till SixAxis manufacturing costs are reduced a bit, even holding back to encourage use of the motion controls before then integrating rumble into a later pad.

 

[Titanio]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12960

According to a statement from Sony, Immersion will be receiving "the amount of the judgment entered by the District Court," referring to the $82 million previously awarded to Immersion (plus $8.7 million in pre-judgment interest, down from the company's original $299 million claims), and "damages, pre-judgment interest, costs, and interest, in addition to retaining compulsory license fees ordered by the District Court which were already paid."

The agreement will also see Sony paying Immersion twelve quarterly payments of $1.875 million each, beginning next month, totaling $22.5 million, along with other fees and royalties. Immersion, along with the rights to its patents, will agree to no further suits against Sony.

My God! Was it really worth it?

Methinks they were going to have to pay out one way or another, so at least they're salvaging something from it and getting something out of it.

 

[patsu]

Sony... please give me the Batarang.

 

[Undercover Cop]

Looks like the Sony morons nearly avoided a reaming from having to pull Dual Shocks off shelves.

Will the PS3 get rumble now? Probably by late 2007.

 

[slider]

I wouldn't have thought it'd take that long to start mass producing rumbling controllers. Right? I'm sure both parties have produced a rumbling controller behind closed doors whilst ignoring the intricacies of patents.

I guess both sides sort of made a point. Kind of. Can't really see what that point was but... all is well in the end.