correct me if i'm wrong

[fenixrising]

but i was under the impression that nintendo had copyrighted the d-pad design they use(for many, many years now), hence all the shitty d-pads on every other controller. yet the dreamcast has the same d-pad design as nintendo. answers anyone?
i know it's a rather trivial question, but in our time of lawsuits etc, i just wondered how sega slipped it past

 

[Monkfish Acc.]

Maybe they bought the copyright? I dunno.

 

[LordOmnit]

Perhaps a four-directional pad was too general to be copyrighted.

 

[Sib]

Possible the copyright expired over time.

 

[hopeneverdies]

Wait didn't Gunpei Yokoi create the D-Pad? And yes I know he created Metroid and the Virtual Boy

 

[Jamash]

I've got a Madcatz joystick for my 360 with a 4-way d-pad.

Maybe it only applied to the d-pad and the specific switches underneath the d-pad.

Nintendo's patant [http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=4687200.PN.&OS=PN/4687200&RS=PN/4687200] seems quite specific. Someone with a better head for legalese and technical specification could make more sense of this than I can and give a better answer.

Other 4-way d-pads could have slightly different inner workings, which allows them to get away with it.

Or like suggested before, maybe it's too general to copyright or it's expired.

 

[blood77]

So it is kind of like some one reinventing the wheel. But instead of being one whole thing there are two halves that have to be put together. So even though they look the same they are structurally different.

 

[tucci]

Hmm. If Nintendo could somehow get the rights to a game originally made by a Russian (Tetris) I guess anythings possible

 

[Russian_Assassin]

Yeah... I believe that copyright is kinda stupid. Everyone claims that they invented everything! In that case I invented oxygen! You are all using my product without permission! I want to sue your asses for a billion dollars, in cash!

Ok, the joke is a joke, now back to the subject: Well the fact that someone uses an idea that another company thought first is not a rare sight. Just look at PS3 and Xbox360. They both try to rip each other in a futile attempt to win a futile console war. So my point is, ripping off copyrighted stuff is a phenomenon we should get used to.

 

[Daye.04]

Hmm. If Nintendo could somehow get the rights to a game originally made by a Russian (Tetris) I guess anythings possible

How is that specifically amazing?

Perhaps he thought Nintendo was poor?

Id' have to go for that.

But on topic, I think they never had a d-pad copyright. But it was pretty much only they who used it. I have no idea, though. That's just my guess

 

[DigitalSushi]

Hmm. If Nintendo could somehow get the rights to a game originally made by a Russian (Tetris) I guess anythings possible

How is that specifically amazing?

I concur, getting the rights to a game as opposed to other publishers just stealing the game and selling it.... is well, standard, average, run of the mill.... although clever from a business standpoint.

also Gunpei for the win.

 

[fenixrising]

I cant remembr when i first read of this, but it was mentioned in an article covering an award ceremony where nintendo recieved an award for the d-pad invention. Now my memory of it is either wrong or the article was totally innacurate.

 

[DigitalSushi]

I cant remembr when i first read of this, but it was mentioned in an article covering an award ceremony where nintendo recieved an award for the d-pad invention. Now my memory of it is either wrong or the article was totally innacurate.

it was Gunpei Yokoi who invented it, he also did the Gameboy.

He created the virtual Boy, quit from Ninty, created the Swan and died in a car crash shortly after, he is so revered that the Swan is still made and sold in Japan to this day, it used to outself the Xbox week by week actually.

 

[Andraste]

I cant remembr when i first read of this, but it was mentioned in an article covering an award ceremony where nintendo recieved an award for the d-pad invention. Now my memory of it is either wrong or the article was totally innacurate.

You are correct that Nintendo created it. I don't believe it was copyrighted, though, as many game controllers were created using the d-pad afterward. So unless everyone paid royalties to Nintendo, don't think so.

Wait didn't Gunpei Yokoi create the D-Pad? And yes I know he created Metroid and the Virtual Boy

Yes, it was Gunpei Yokoi. We have a <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_87/490-Searching-for-Gunpei-Yokoi>great article profiling the man. Definitely worth a read to see all the ways in which this genius of play influenced games. hopeneverdies' list of his achievments is merely scratching the surface.

 

[forever saturday]

Hmm. If Nintendo could somehow get the rights to a game originally made by a Russian (Tetris) I guess anythings possible

How is that specifically amazing?

Perhaps he thought Nintendo was poor?

Id' have to go for that.

But on topic, I think they never had a d-pad copyright. But it was pretty much only they who used it. I have no idea, though. That's just my guess

The reason it is amazing is because it was still the Soviet Union at the time, so the state held all the copyrights and stuff. At least I think thats how it worked.

 

[wgreer25]

OK people. Copyright does not refer to technology, it refers to works like poems, theses, plays, other literary works, movies, dances, musical compositions, audio recordings, paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, software, radio and television and broadcasts, not tecnology. IP technology is just called patents. Just so you get the terminology right.

If Nintendo does have a patent on the D-pad then one of two things have happend. Other D-pad manufacturers have slightly changed the technology so that it is considered a new IP or they are paying a licensing fee to Nintendo for use of their technology.

Yes, patents do expire. They last up to 20 years.

I work in Research and Development for a Global company, so I have to deal with IP every now and again.

 

[KeithA45]

but i was under the impression that nintendo had copyrighted the d-pad design they use(for many, many years now), hence all the shitty d-pads on every other controller. yet the dreamcast has the same d-pad design as nintendo. answers anyone?
i know it's a rather trivial question, but in our time of lawsuits etc, i just wondered how sega slipped it past

I sincerely doubt that Nintendo has any rights over the D-pad. It's common enough that it's everywhere. Even the PS2 had a D-pad of it's own (although slightly different)

To me that's like saying that Microsoft has the rights over the qwerty keyboard

 

[Daye.04]

(...)
The reason it is amazing is because it was still the Soviet Union at the time, so the state held all the copyrights and stuff. At least I think thats how it worked.

That might be.
Also. Damn you! I thought the "1 new message" thing was about my avatar =P