PS3 Fanboy

GamePolitics has learned that SCEA and David Jaffe have both been sued in the US District Court in California for alleged copyright infringement over the God of War franchise. The suit was filed in February by Jonathan Bissoon-Dath, "the author of a series of related works of fiction, including Olympiad," and Jennifer Barrette-Herzog, creator of Island at the Edge of the Living World. The two allege that they sent their work to Sony Pictures in 2002. They note that God of War shipped on PS2 in 2005, and David Jaffe said that the game took three years to develop.

The plaintiffs allege that God of War share many similarities in plot, character relationships, themes, setting, mood, etc. "Plaintiff's works tell the original story of how a champion saves Athens from destruction by the invading Spartan army that has been sent by Ares ... [God of War] is the story of how a champion chosen by Zeus and Athens saves Athens from destruction by an invading army sent by Ares ..."

With Greek mythology so widely read and known, it isn't surprising that remarkable similarities can appear between various pieces of fiction. SCEA responded to the allegations, calling them "inaccurate, incomplete, abstracted and/or misleading." Both SCEA and Jaffe have requested the case to be dismissed, and to be reimbursed for the legal costs associated with defending themselves.

Orinda Intellectual Properties, a company whose main purpose appears to be suing other companies (see Google search for more), has claimed that Sony has infringed upon patent number 5,438,560, which describes the process of layering data on an optical disc. The patent, originally filed by Hyundai in 1993, sounds similar to Blu-ray's multi-layering process. (However, this sounds like technology used in almost all forms of optical media.)

Orinda is demanding a trial, and wants to halt the manufacturing, sales and distribution of all Blu-ray devices, including the PS3. Orinda is also asking for "a reasonable royalty." "Orinda has been and will continue to be damaged as a result of Defendants' infringing conduct," the company said in the filing. "Defendants' infringing conduct will continue unless permanently enjoined by this court."

This isn't the first time Sony has been entangled in a legal battle. See some other (sometimes ridiculous) cases here.

[Via NeoGAF]

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has voted to investigate a patent complaint against select short-wavelength light emitting diodes, such as the ones used by Blu-ray players. The complaint was filed by Gertrude Neumark Rothschild of Hartsdale, NY, on February 20, 2008, and alleges that some aspects of Blu-ray technology infringes on patents.

Thirty companies, including Sony and other Blu-ray player manufacturers, are listed as respondents. The ITC investigation doesn't necessarily mean any foul play has been committed -- the ITC states they have "not yet made any decision on the merits of the case." This could be over quickly, or Sony can expect yet another long-haul legal battle over its technologies.

Sony can't just catch a break, can it? According to Gamespot, a company named the Copper Innovations Group filed suit against Nintendo and Sony for a patent it holds on a "Hand Held Computer Input Apparatus and Method." The patent, filed in January 1996 references devices and their ability to communicate with hardware reference numbers. Sony's PS3 controllers utilize a similar technology.

This isn't the first time Sony has had to face a lawsuit for its controller technology. Famously, Immersion successfully sued Sony for the use of rumble in the DualShock controller. Until the suit was settled, Sony had to remove rumble from their SIXAXIS controllers.

Neither Sony nor Copper Innovations Group has commented about the situation. Will this end up being another headache for Sony?

In another of Sony's long line of random lawsuits, Parallel Processing Corporation of Newport Beach, California have filed a suit against Sony alleging their patent for "synchronized parallel processing with shared memory" has been infringed. While this may or may not be true, it's a pretty convenient time to lay into the corporation by not specifying the specific patent claim being infringed. We really do wonder if this small, money-hungry company came up with the Cell processor first, but we're leaning towards no.

The most interesting part of this lawsuit are the demands laid out by the PPC -- "damages and attorney's fees with interest, as well as the impounding and destruction of all Sony products that infringe on the patent." Fat chance, jerks. We won't let Sony give up all of their PS3's, ones we've purchased, and watch them get destroyed. It is this claim that makes us scoff in disgust and really wonder what these little companies are thinking. If Sony stole an idea, fine, let them pay you. But don't ask for something so outlandish and ridiculous.

Sony can't seem to catch a break.

According to ars technica, the troubled electronics giant is facing yet another lawsuit, less than a week after a Blu-ray related complaint filed by Target Technology. This time, Canadian encryption company Certicom filed a suit claiming Sony had infringed their elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) through the use of AACS encryption.

AACS, or Advanced Access Content System, is a standard encryption technique that's used on both Blu-ray and HD-DVD products. AACS can be found in all PS3 systems and Blu-ray (game and movie) discs. According to the suit, Sony must pay license fees for use of this technology, which will cost company a hefty price, increasing the cost of PS3 that much more. Other Sony products are affected by the suit, including (but not limited to) certain VAIO computers, televisions and DVD players.

In a shocking turn of events, the PS3 controller has gone from banamerang to wireless DualShock 3, except without the DualShock name and vibration.

If you take a good look at the back of the new control pad (see the close-up above), you'll notice that the DualShock 2 brand name imprinted on the old controller has now been supplanted by a row of LED lights to show which input has been set, either wirelessly or via the wired USB recharge port. Sony's now the only name in-line for PS3 controllers either on the pad or in the press releases (see "the new PS3 controller").