How Blatent Is Your Patent?

Nintendo has recently been ordered to pay $21 million for an infringement on a patent relating to its Wavebird and Wii Classic controllers. The company known as Anascape also sued Microsoft who chose to settle out of court. Nintendo are set to appeal and they expect the amount to be significantly reduced.

Anascape patented a 'Variable Conductance Sensor' in 1999 as well as others over the past 7 years including…

'Game Controller with Analog Pressure Sensor'
'Remote Controller with Analog Button'
'Variable Sensor with Tactile Feedback'
'Analog Controls Housed with Electronic Displays'
'3D Controller with Vibration'

Of course as usual I have no idea what I’m talking about but some of those do seem very vague… which got me thinking about what strange things I could find that people have patented.

Electrified table cloth - Designed to discourgage bugs from crawling on a table cloth. It says that the most humans would feel would be a slight tiggling sensation but I'm sure you could have some great fun at parties with one of these.

Stud Spectacles - These are glasses that don't need a frame because they attach to body piercings on your face.

Device For Moistening The Adhesive Coating On Postage Stamps - Describes a device containing an applicator to moisten stamps, but reading further it contains the following quote "The applicator may be in the form of a human tongue".

Head bird feeder - See nature up close and personal with your very own cranial bird table. You no longer need to sit in a dark and damp hide to view nature's finest. Simply sit in the middle of the lawn and wait.



That picture is actually in the patent documents believe it or not.

Are you bursting with useless ideas? Then you'd probably make a great member of the GAMEOV3R Forum

Sanity’s Encore

Silicon Knights, the developers of the classic GameCube survival horror game Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, are reported to be working on a new, as yet un-named, third person perspective psychological action thriller. The GC original spanned a century of demonic intrigue, had a great story and some truly mind bending “insanity effects”. These effects were so convincing and impressed gamers so much that Nintendo went on to patent Sanity in video games. They did! Honest! Memory card erasing and your TV switching off along with all the other weirdness are Nintendo Patents. Perhaps Gameov3r will patent fun. All game developers and producers would then have to pay us a nominal fee for including anything in their games that could be described as fun.

Eternal Darkness received high review scores and sold extremely well back in 2002. It’s well worth playing through even today and commands a decent price on Ebay thanks to its reputation. You might find this one cheaper in the second hand bucket of your local game emporium.

Could the as yet un-named Silicon Knights game (expected to be released in 2010!) be the long awaited sequel? Here's hoping.

2010’s a long time away but Too Human, Silicon Knights latest adventure, should fill a gap in the meantime. Who am I kidding? Tomorrow is Mario Kart Friday! Like I'll be playing anything else?!? The Gameov3r FORUM will be buzzing with karting mayhem, it is already, and lots of people typing in FC's! Please work online, please work online, please work online, please work online, please....