Tuesday, February 23, 2010
An idea that creates buzz
Can't resist not putting this on the blog and smile =) I will remember this day - 2/22.

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From PC world
From Universal Remote to Universal Game Controller?
Matt Peckham
Feb 22, 2010 9:03 am



You've heard of universal remotes, but what about universal game controllers? Universal remotes let you control different brands of consumer electronics, primarily television sets, using a single button-smothered controller. They've been around since the mid-1980s, a late reaction to the VCR invasion, with an eye toward the multi-rack-module "entertainment center" we take for granted today.

But universal remotes work primarily as a way to consolidate TV sets, satellite receivers, and video recording or playback devices, not video game systems. And you can already buy third-party game controllers that offer cross-platform functionality. Microsoft's USB-based Xbox 360 gamepad, for instance, which transits comfortably between an Xbox 360 and USB-capable Windows PC.

Now imagine a generic device that worked "universally" with your PlayStation, Xbox, PC, or even a Wii. Would you buy such a gizmo?

Sony thinks you might, or at least that's my take-away from a US patent and trademark app the company filed recently for a very specific sort of controller designed to work with just about any console, from recent models to legacy ones.

According to United States Patent Application 20100041480 , Sony's dreamt up "a universal game console controller that has an LCD presenting, depending on what type of game console a user has input, a controller key layout for a first type of game console or a controller key layout for a second type of game console."



The device would also include an integrated speaker, vibration feedback, onboard storage, various gamepad-like buttons, an option to ape an alphanumeric keypad, and another to emulate older game consoles.

Older consoles? Really older consoles. Specific models named include the Amiga CD-32, Atari Jaguar, and Turbographics, as well as general controllers made by Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sega. The patent even singles out the Gravis Gamepad, a PC-based controller that mimicked the Super Nintendo Entertainment System's controller. Make of that what you will.

"Just like remote controls, game consoles, and thus game controllers, are becoming widespread," reads the 'background' section of the patent filing. "It is not surprising to find more than one game consoles in a household, especially when competing game console manufacturers attempt to attract unconventional consumer groups in the gaming industry."

"As understood herein," concludes Sony, "it would be useful to have a universal controller that would be able to work with a variety of game consoles.

Useful? Or with all the control nuances part and parcel of interactive gaming, prohibitively generic?


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From Cnet:

February 22, 2010 8:13 AM PST
Sony envisions universal controller for game consoles
by Don Reisinger


Sony has filed a patent application for a universal game controller that will work with any game console.

This certainly isn't something I was expecting.

The patent application was filed in August 2008 and was officially made public on Thursday by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The application describes a "universal game console controller that has an LCD presenting, depending on what type of game console a user has input, a controller key layout for a first type of game console or a controller key layout for a second type of game console."
Sony's device includes an LCD on its face that would give people the option of choosing their desired controller. Upon doing so, they could control all the on-screen action with the device's touch display, rather than use a respective game console's standard controller.

In the application, Sony describes its own controller for the PlayStation 3. The new controller's layout would include all of the PS3 controller's buttons, including the L3 and R3 buttons, which can currently only be used when a gamer presses down on the thumb sticks.

The patent filing also describes the Xbox 360 controller, meaning its universal controller apparently could work with Microsoft's console.
"The second layout includes, in a row from left to right, a 'previous menu' key, an 'exit' key, and a start key, keys X, Y, A, and B being presented in a box-like or cruciform-like arrangement on a right part of the display," the patent application reads.

Aside from today's consoles, Sony's controller might take us back to the old days of gaming.

"This document describes an adaptable or universal game controller which can be used to emulate the controllers of popular game consoles, such as, without limitation, the PlayStation made by Sony, a controller made by Nintendo, X-box game controllers made by Microsoft, Amiga CD-32 controllers, Atari Jaguar controllers, Gravis Gamepad controllers, Sega controllers, and Turbographics controllers," Sony writes in the application.

Unfortunately, this is just a patent application. But if Sony were to build a game controller that works with practically any game console, I'd be in line to pick one up.
posted by Juxling at 2:30 PM

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