Nintendo is taking the GameCube Controller/Classic Controller off the shelves!

We need to somehow make a homebrew gamecube controller/Classic Controller! Somebody with one of them should use the schematics and rebuild it or something! Perhaps put it in another case! Bah!
In case you're wondering why we should do this, it's so that people who don't already have one of those controllers can play VC games! That, and for the sake of homebrew, of course!

Um.. This either isn't going to happen for awhile or not at all. The company sueing Nintendo hasn't reached a decision with them yet. Also, the Gamecube controller isn't being pulled off shelves. Just the wireless version of the Gamecube controller, the Wavebird.

Did they ever actually say what element of the controller Nintendo infringed on? I know it's not the fact that its wireless, since if that were the case, the classic controller would be exempt. I know it can't be the fact that it has a certain method for analog stick response... because if that were the case, the original GC controller and the Wii remote woudln't be exempt. I know it can't just be the button layout, because if that were the case, there wouldn't be a GC controller exemption and they would have to answer for basically yoinking the SNES controller design anyway...

I mean, I can't really think of anything else. I don't see how they won this lawsuit in the first place.

[patft.uspto.gov]

Source: Kotaku

"Anascape's patent covers certain configuration of the remote to control six types of motions at the same time."

Source: Bloomberg. [www.bloomberg.com]

And it seems that the ban covers the GameCube controller, WaveBird and Classic Controllers, so probably has something to do with the dual analog sticks (which would clear the nunchuck because it only has 1 analog stick).
Interesting stuff. It seems a lot of high profile lawsuits come of texas these days :)

But Sony had it's dual analog set up back in the late 90s. I don't see how they could be the target of a year 2000 patent.

umm.. no their not, i'm sure nintendo's lawyers will stop anascapes lawsuit. wii were "sewed" before remember?

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pzyr0
umm.. no their not, i'm sure nintendo's lawyers will stop anascapes lawsuit. wii were "sewed" before remember?

Nintendo have already lost and were ordered to pay $21m to Anascape. They are appealling, but they're fighting an uphill struggle now. The appeal is what is holding the ban right now; if the appeal fails the ban will be enforced.

The key phrase here is "six types of motion at the same time". This will obviously have something to do with the analog sticks, but it's likely that Sony's dual analog controllers for the PS1 didn't support six types of motion at the same time. I can't even remember using the right analog stick on the PS1, sometimes I wondered if it was there just to make the controller look symmetrical ;)

I wouldn't even bother fretting over this case. Even if the Classic, WaveBird and GC controllers were banned in the US, most people would be able to import them and Nintendo would release an alternative classic controller, maybe even an alternative WaveBird/GC controller. They'd just have to be Anascape-patent-free :)

Er, this thread is moving away from being a General Homebrew topic, so to steer it back on track I'd like to say that a homebrew controller would be quite difficult to build and sell to Wii owners at a reasonable price. Not to mention that if you were selling it, the controller would have to work without using any patented technology.

There are actually a large number of patents being disputed. 6 degrees of movement isn't one of the ones that got upheld (otherwise the Wii Remote and Nunchuk would be the real dispute here) and the idea of actually being able to have a patent on a mere concept of something that has been actively pursued all over tech industries is just absurd. It's obvious by the ruling of the bullshit Texas patent case (of course it's in Texas, the patent troll capital of the world) that what is in debate has something to do with analog controllers and maybe tactile feedback and pressure-sensitive buttons (it's basically like they are trying to claim the rights to a variable resistor). The only thing the PS1's Dual Analog didn't have out of those would be the pressure-sensitive buttons, and they pulled that out in 1997 stateside (earlier in Japan).

It's remarkable that the most internet presence Anascape ever had before was a really poorly designed website that was last updated in 2002. I really have to wonder just what was said in that trial...

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DimensionWarped
It's remarkable that the most internet presence Anascape ever had before was a really poorly designed website that was last updated in 2002. I really have to wonder just what was said in that trial...

[www.anascape.com]
[www.anascape.net]
[www.anascape.org]

Does this look to you like they've ever had a website?

From what that guy said above, ONLY the wireless one is banned (not the wired one). But they CAN'T ban the wired one anyway, because then they would have to recall ALL of the ones in circulation too. Without GC controllers, the ENTIRE GC system itself would be completely USELESS.

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Videogamer
From what that guy said above, ONLY the wireless one is banned (not the wired one). But they CAN'T ban the wired one anyway, because then they would have to recall ALL of the ones in circulation too. Without GC controllers, the ENTIRE GC system itself would be completely USELESS.

If you read the Bloomberg link I posted, you'll see it's the wired and wireless GC controllers and the Classic controller. They can't recall them, that's what part of the $21m in damages are for.

I remember Engadget complaining about Anascape's lack of web presence when they originally posted the story. I have to admit I chuckle to myself whenever I see the words "texas-based" and "suing" in the same line. At the same time, I'm also disgusted.

IANAL, but I really think the patenting system needs an overhaul. People with patents should have to be seen as actively pursuing the technology they hold the rights to, otherwise they're just holding back the people wanting to make advancements. Patenting stuff is just an easy way to make money for most. File a patent, wait a few years until someone uses the tech and ker-ching!

Anyway, enough with the opinionated, off-topic nonsense :)

i want to know why this dispute is only going on now. The Gamecube has been out for nearly 8 years now. Wasn't Nintendo "infringing" then?

@CLXrsist
No, only the Wavebird infringes.

Oh, okay. still doesn't make sense though.

Actually, Anascape pretty much went after everyone with more than one analog stick. Classic and GC wired controllers took a hit too. If the two analog controls is what it's about, that's remarkably stupid. I think I'm going to go patent the idea of having a fifth face button and 5 or more trigger buttons on a controller. In fact, I'm going to patent the idea of having more than the standard number of buttons on a Dual Shock controller. Thats basically what they did here apparently. Not that anyone will ever say what elements are actually the subject of infringement. I've seen links to around 8 different patents, none of which really cover anything more than vague generalities. I think the Anascape guys must have been cozy with the judge. Of course, that's natural. It's Eastern Texas afterall.

Yeah, I think I'm going to patent the optical mouse and wireless keyboard.

EDIT: Hey wait! It may not be the analog sticks!
[patft.uspto.gov]

As a matter of fact, this link says nothing about six degrees of freedome! It only covers the vibration!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/29/2008 11:53PM by strongfan.

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strongfan
Yeah, I think I'm going to patent the optical mouse and wireless keyboard.

EDIT: Hey wait! It may not be the analog sticks!
[patft.uspto.gov]

As a matter of fact, this link says nothing about six degrees of freedome! It only covers the vibration!

That's what I thought when I read that a while back, but it doesn't go into any details of the vibration, it just says "a tactile feedback motor" attatched to a shaft as an additional component. For me, this sounds too sketchy to be an integral part of the patent. The majority of the patent seems to emphasize on controlling movement.

Not to mention tactile feedback with motors has been around in arcades since the early 90s.

Homebrew and Open Source Classic console to GC adapter. You can build this device and use it to interface an NES, SNES, or N64 Controller into a Gamecube port. You cant get any more classic than running your virtual console titles on an original controller. Maybe now everyone will quit griping about the possible ban on Gamecube and Classic Controllers.