
Several of you have been enquiring on the situation regarding PlayStation and Immersion kissing and making up. The release below was put out a while back, but should give you some further light on matters:
Immersion and Sony Computer Entertainment Conclude Litigation and Enter into Business Agreement
SAN JOSE and FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 1, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) Immersion Corporation, (Nasdaq: IMMR), 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.”
About Immersion (www.immersion.com)
Founded in 1993, Immersion Corporation is a recognized leader in developing, licensing, and marketing digital touch technology and products. Using Immersion’s advanced touch feedback technology, electronic user interfaces can be made more productive, compelling, entertaining, or safer. Immersion’s technology is deployed across automotive, entertainment, industrial controls, medical training, mobility, and three-dimensional simulation markets. Immersion’s patent portfolio includes over 600 issued or pending patents in the U.S. and other countries.
I hope to see rumble return, and return with superior capabilities to the current two motor+variable speed setup.
Expecting something like force feedback resistance on the analogue sticks may be too much though. There can’t be a lot of surface area in there to attach magnets to but hey, I’m no FF expert!
Comment by Shin-Ra — Mar 16, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
i expect good ol’ rumble…
plz sony.. dont give them more money for any new tech, let this be it, then move on
gdamn leeches
Comment by whatdafunk — Mar 16, 2007 @ 2:25 pm
Why does sony not just say that they will bring out a rumble sixasis in a press release?
This would stop all the confusion there is at the moment..
Comment by lars — Mar 16, 2007 @ 2:57 pm
Good!!
At least we gonna have the rumble!! (?)
Comment by Shady BRO — Mar 16, 2007 @ 3:14 pm
The multi-million dollar question is why Sony felt they could sit this issue out and/or fight Immersion when it was pretty clear from the beginning Sony had little chance of winning?
Regardless, glad to see Sony come to their senses…even if it’s a day late and a dollar short.
Comment by Matt — Mar 16, 2007 @ 4:08 pm
@Whatdafunk
They own the patents, Sony don’t….Sony would be paying Nintendo if it wasn’t for the external nature of their rumble packs….and you wouldn’t want that now wouldya
I just can’t beleive how amazing the new PS3 pad is…they really went to town…striking
Killzone, and FPS sans rumble…the revolution is coming people!
Comment by Basil Brush — Mar 16, 2007 @ 5:00 pm
Somewhere in Kojima Studios, Mr. Kojima is smiling and issuing a memo to put rumble into MGS4. What does this mean for folks who have bought the current SixAxis controllers?
Comment by nmc75 — Mar 16, 2007 @ 6:41 pm
This is old news. Knew about this last week.
Comment by Silent_Shark — Mar 17, 2007 @ 2:09 am
I guess people with the current controllers will have to buy new ones or maybe Sony will run some kind of upgrade program.
Comment by Tom Eccles — Mar 17, 2007 @ 9:26 am
When will hear announcements on force feedback patches in already released games like F1 and Motorstorm? I plan on getting a Logitech G25, but not until I know for sure we are getting force feedback.
Comment by Will — Mar 18, 2007 @ 10:40 pm
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment