So I saw a message board posting claiming that Sony was being sued by Immersion Corp (owned in part by Microsoft, more on that later) for patent infringement and back royalties. The source? The DualShock 2, a controller that, for many, is the difference between playing a game and living it. The DualShock 2, which has been around for years (since the PS2 has been around for years), and is sold along with each console. O....K.
Let me back up and state clearly that I've played every type of controller that has a force feedback function and NONE...NONE of them can compare to the DualShock 2. I'm very picky about how noisy the feedback is within the controller, and thus far, only Sony can make a quiet, yet powerful, feedback motor. Others have tried, and failed - Logitech came close, but their controller is way too overpriced.
Now, let's break down the facts as presented.
- The PS2 has been out for YEARS. YEARS. I remember when it first launched; my friend was dumb enough to run out and buy a launch system for $300, returning it shortly thereafter when he found there were no games. I'd estimate roughly 5 years, but I'm probably off a year in either direction.
- The DualShock 2 has been out for YEARS (since it was sold alongside the system).
- There is a limited list of games that "use the DualShock feature". This I don't get; more on this later.
- Force Feedback really started with the Dreamcast, but its was a separate feedback module that plugged into the controller. N64 followed suit with a similar concept.
- Third party makers have force feedback in them.
With the facts above, I ask myself questions.
- In all of these YEARS why is this company coming forth now? Especially considering they could have really hurt the PS2's chances of becoming or remaining number one. If the PS2 had never existed -OR- were hindered by this announcement in the beginning, Xbox -WOULD- be the dominant system, Dreamcast would still be around and kicking out games, and GameCube would probably have been on top of the RPG world. Hey, just stating it as I see it.
- Just about every game on PS2 uses the Dual Shock in some way or another; why is the list so short? I mean certain games like Final Fantasy X-2 and Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time weren't listed. There has to be more to this. I wonder if it's the name "DualShock" and not the mechanics. Then I'd understand the limited list, because not every game that supports DualShock mentions it on the box or in the game.
- Why are third parties exempt? Why is Nintendo exempt? Again, something doesn't add up, unless question 2 is correct about it being the name patent and not the mechanics, or are others doing something different?
Anyway, I tried to buy a PS2 and found that no retailer has any, for some odd reason. Whether related to the suit I don't know, but I bought Dynasty Warriors hoping to play it, and finding now that I cannot. Really bites.
Oh well. Comments welcome.
