Nintendo Forced To Pay Royalties to Tomita on Every 3DS Sold

[WeepingAngels]

When I said CD playback, I meant AUDIO CD playback. I thought everyone knew what CD playback meant.

BTW, Gamecube used mini DVD's.

Nintendo goes out of it's way to avoid paying royalties, it's why you can't play an AUDIO CD, DVD or BLU RAY in any Nintendo console.

Actually the Panasonic Q can. As part of the licensing agreement with Nintendo, Panasonic was allowed to build their own version of the GameCube, and the result of it was the Panasonic Q.
The GameQ, as it was known, was capable of audio playback, DVD playablility, as well as still being a GameCube with it's own GameBoy Player. In the back of it it included a port for an optical audio cable to enable 5.1 surround sound, the regular GameCube composite port, and the digital port for the rare GameCube component cables. The system also included an LED display on the front to show what was playing. The only reason it failed was because the system was way too expensive, so it was discontinued in 2003 after being on the market for 2 years. There were two models, a region locked one, and a region free one. The region locked one was $439 and the region free one was $499. The GameQ also had a pretty cool design and chrome plating finsih on it. It's a really good collector's item, and I really want one. >.<

As for the Nintendo Optical Discs, they are modeled after mini-DVDs but they are in their own way an entirely different thing. The Nintendo optical discs are highly modified so that they will only work on Nintendo Optical Drives and since then Panasonic have been the ones who have made a modified Nintendo Optical Disc for each of Nintendo's systems, while the Drive has only been slightly updated. The Wii's is a modified DVD disc, and the Wii U's is a modified Bluray disc.

Now who is grasping at straws? The Panasonic Q is a....wait for it....it's a Panasonic product and guess who would have to pay the royalties for each one sold? Wait for it...Panasonic!

Shit man, this is getting stupid.

 

[Roxas1359]

Now who is grasping at straws? The Panasonic Q is a....wait for it....it's a Panasonic product and guess who would have to pay the royalties for each one sold? Wait for it...Panasonic!

Shit man, this is getting stupid.

I'm sorry, I realized it after I typed it that I was grasping.
Can we just agree that while patent laws currently are being abused, there actually is a purpose for it and Nintendo can always just file an appeal.
And would Nintendo have to pay Panasonic royalties anyway since Panasonic are the ones who are making the drives and discs for Nintendo in the first place.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Now who is grasping at straws? The Panasonic Q is a....wait for it....it's a Panasonic product and guess who would have to pay the royalties for each one sold? Wait for it...Panasonic!

Shit man, this is getting stupid.

I'm sorry, I realized it after I typed it that I was grasping.
Can we just agree that while patent laws currently are being abused, there actually is a purpose for it and Nintendo can always just file an appeal.
And would Nintendo have to pay Panasonic royalties anyway since Panasonic are the ones who are making the drives and discs for Nintendo in the first place.

Nintendo is buying the drives from Panasonic, doubt there are royalties involved.

I am just saying that Nintendo goes out of their way to avoid paying royalties. No matter how much people ask for it, they refuse to implement Audio CD, DVD or Blu Ray playback. Now Nintendo is in a position to where it has to pay royalties, I think they will do what they can to put a stop to that, including stopping production on the 3DS.

Sure I agree that the patent laws are being abused. That was never my point though.

 

[Roxas1359]

Now Nintendo is in a position to where it has to pay royalties, I think they will do what they can to put a stop to that, including stopping production on the 3DS.

2DS isn't covered by the lawsuit in this case though, so I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo focuses more on the 2DS instead of the 3DS. So we can see that one reason for the 2DS would be to cushion away from the possibilities if they were to lose the lawsuit. As for the 3DS XL I don't know what they'll do about that one since lately Nintendo's been going "special edition" crazy with the XLs.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Now Nintendo is in a position to where it has to pay royalties, I think they will do what they can to put a stop to that, including stopping production on the 3DS.

2DS isn't covered by the lawsuit in this case though, so I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo focuses more on the 2DS instead of the 3DS. So we can see that one reason for the 2DS would be to cushion away from the possibilities if they were to lose the lawsuit. As for the 3DS XL I don't know what they'll do about that one since lately Nintendo's been going "special edition" crazy with the XLs.

The funny thing is, I thought they lost this lawsuit in early 2013. Did they appeal and lose again?

Anyway, I think the 2DS is the answer to this lawsuit. I think people should brace themselves to lose the 3D in the future. Naturally 3D won't stop working on models already made but new games may drop the 3D altogether.

I officially request a clamshell 2DS that does NOT mutilate itself.

 

[Roxas1359]

The funny thing is, I thought they lost this lawsuit in early 2013. Did they appeal and lose again?

Anyway, I think the 2DS is the answer to this lawsuit. I think people should brace themselves to lose the 3D in the future. Naturally 3D won't stop working on models already made but new games may drop the 3D altogether.

I officially request a clamshell 2DS that does NOT mutilate itself.

After doing more research I found that yes, they lost the appeal in the appeals court. One thing to note is that Nintendo gets these sorts of lawsuits every year, but this is the only one that won. So it can be inferred that this case had more evidence that we are just not seeing in this case because Nintendo rarely loses cases unless they are at fault (see the Mario Party lawsuit).
I like to think now that the 2DS' real purpose was to counteract paying royalties in case they were to lose the appeal, and people just inferred that it was for kids. I do see the possibility of a clampshell design for the 2DS now as well. Nintendo's still gonna have to pay a pretty penny though for this.

 

[Weaver]

Seriously, corporations are well on their way towards having more rights than the average individual.

I personally feel they already do! An individual can't lobby a bill through senate, a company can.

 

[NearLifeExperience]

I'm very pleased with this, give Nintendo a taste of their own medicine!

Aaand that was the death of 3D handheld gaming right there. Ouch.

Implying that the 3DS wasn't doomed already? I think the fact that they released a 2DS is pretty much a testament of that. It's basically Nintendo saying "Hey, remember when we had this 3d thing? Yeah, we know that was shit"

 

[WeepingAngels]

The funny thing is, I thought they lost this lawsuit in early 2013. Did they appeal and lose again?

Anyway, I think the 2DS is the answer to this lawsuit. I think people should brace themselves to lose the 3D in the future. Naturally 3D won't stop working on models already made but new games may drop the 3D altogether.

I officially request a clamshell 2DS that does NOT mutilate itself.

After doing more research I found that yes, they lost the appeal in the appeals court. One thing to note is that Nintendo gets these sorts of lawsuits every year, but this is the only one that won. So it can be inferred that this case had more evidence that we are just not seeing in this case because Nintendo rarely loses cases unless they are at fault (see the Mario Party lawsuit).
I like to think now that the 2DS' real purpose was to counteract paying royalties in case they were to lose the appeal, and people just inferred that it was for kids. I do see the possibility of a clampshell design for the 2DS now as well. Nintendo's still gonna have to pay a pretty penny though for this.

They will want to cut their losses though. I hope the clamshell 2DS doesn't scratch itself.

I never used the 3D anyway because I was always getting double vision but the 3D was the justification for the 3DS being as weak as it is, it had to render twice or something like that. On NeoGaf people seem to think the reason we don't have SNES Virtual Console games is because the 3DS is too weak. Without the 3D....well the gap between the Nintendo's handheld and the Vita or mobile devices will seem even bigger. I am just thinking outloud now.

 

[hermes]

Obvious patent troll is obvious.

Did Tomita develop, market or try to do anything with the patent? Since they haven't released anything, we can say No.

Ehhh... I don't think you understand how patent works.

I am no expert, but even I know you can have claims over patent infringement even if you never created a marketable product with it. In fact, in a perfect world, patent laws were created to protect people doing that...

 

[WeepingAngels]

Financial trouble? Puh-leease, 1.82 percent is a drop in the sea. Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it's a lot of money taken from a GIGANTIC FUCKTON of money.

That's the attitude that would make a corporation go broke. If they don't care about where 2% of their profit goes 50 times then they have no profit.

 

[WeepingAngels]

Financial trouble? Puh-leease, 1.82 percent is a drop in the sea. Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it's a lot of money taken from a GIGANTIC FUCKTON of money.

That's the attitude that would make a corporation go broke. If they don't care about where 2% of their profit goes 50 times then they have no profit.

Well, then they should work on it. I, on the other hand, will cherish their defeats.

Really, what did Nintendo do to make you hate them into bankruptcy?

 

[Lunar Templar]

-.- Good going asshole. Way to set hand held gaming back a few years.

Good. Anything that takes money away from Nintendo makes me happy.

$20 says they won't continue the 3DS and just go with the 2DS cause this blatant patient troll managed to win. Cause lets be honest, no one bought a 3DS for that 3D bullshit (which I never have on)

 

[Mersadeon]

Ok, I'm not gonna stick my neck into this discussion, I am just going to ask: what does "unearthed windfall" mean? I have never heard this phrase before - it sounds like someone translated something literally that shouldn't have been.

 

[Roxas1359]

Ok, I'm not gonna stick my neck into this discussion, I am just going to ask: what does "unearthed windfall"? I have never heard this phrase before - it sounds like someone translated something literally that shouldn't have been.

Windfall in this case apparently means "good fortune or personal gain" so in this meaning it's basically that Tomita unearthed good fortune.
Hope that helps.

 

[Cecilthedarkknight_234]

Well, I am sure potato chips are patented. I wonder if everyone has to pay royalties to fry up some potatoes.

Well no, because you can't patent anything like that really since cooking oils and frying oils, along with potatoes, are derived from natural resources. You can't patent a natural resource. God help us if you could.
Also, patents are used mainly for technology and not food. Names are often trademarked, but that's usually for brands so then no one can actually use it against the company that is named that. Patent and Trademark laws are necessary, but are a bit outdated and as a result have been abused by patent trolls like Samsung and Apple.

Anyway, he said he doesn't like Nintendo because he finds them overrated, isn't that a good enough answer?

Actually you patent natural resources if you genetically engineer/change it to grow faster/better. So in short yes you can patent such stuff if you have enough money.
http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/product-patents.aspx

On the case at hand why wasn't this handled in japan?? I can not fathom why they would use our court system to settle something between 2 private companies from their country.

 

[Roxas1359]

Actually you patent natural resources if you genetically engineer/change it to grow faster/better. So in short yes you can patent such stuff if you have enough money.
http://www.monsanto.com/products/pages/product-patents.aspx

On the case at hand why wasn't this handled in japan?? I can not fathom why they would use our court system to settle something between 2 private companies from their country.

Ah, I was mistaken then. Thanks for the correction.
Anyway, the reason this one was handled in the US is because this is a patent that was filed in the United States and so it had to be tried there. Some patents you have to go into many different countries to patent it since trademark and patent laws might differ in different countries.

 

[Zipa]

While it sucks that a patent troll won out it is also very hard to feel sorry for Nintendo after they made a big deal of people lets playing their games on youtube.