Sony Files Patent for Universal Game Controller

[Baby Tea]

Touch screen? Bad.
Wireless? Won't be for 360, since Microsoft isn't giving that tech to anyone. So: Bad.
Cost? Well, since it's a touch screen and programmable for multiple consoles, then the cost will be through the roof (For a controller). So: Bad.

I don't see this working...at all.
Gimme buttons, please. Not a screen for my greasy, sweaty thumbs to ruin.

 

[uppitycracker]

I'm actually kinda surprised Sony is going this route. Kudos to them, though, it'll be a convenience for us, and certainly help them make some extra money in the process.

 

[DigitalSushi]

That would be really nice, but PS3's use usb, doesn't the 360 use some other sort of connection? I maybe be wrong about that though.

what about backwards compatibility?

"The controller provides for backward compatibility so that it may be programmed to emulate the key layout of an older controller that may no longer be available, so that an owner of an older game console can still use the console,

Hooray I will be able to play Mario 3 on my NES again! by using this LCD controller set to NES controller as shown on Figure (2)

All I have to do is plug the USB into this...

... oh dear

Thanks Sony, for crushing my dreams.

 

[DigitalSushi]

The concept is great. The touchscreen, not so much. I take great care with my DS screen, and I still go through screen covers fairly quickly. Controllers have to be even more rugged. Touch screens are known for many things, but durability isn't one of them.

Plus, I prefer tactile feedback. I don't want to look down to see what I'm pressing.

Do what I do and use a cotton bud as a stylus to stop scratching up the screen, but not a cheap cotton bud, go for a top of the range Johnsons and Johnson (a family company) cotton bud. Only the best a DS can get.

 

[Blanks]

Reminds me of the old days when coleco came out with an attachment that let you play atari games

except multi compatible controllers are actually legal XD

It does sound like a really cool idea though, it's certainly different

or is it like using an iphone as a controller?

 

[TheDoctor455]

Interesting... a few more developments along this line and the console wars would finally end.

 

[PunchClockVillain]

Out of all 3 companies, why are we letting Sony make it? I've got more finger cramps from their controllers than I have from the old NES ones (which were unergonomic rectangular prisms).

PS: Remember the LCD display on the old Dreamcast memory cards? I thought those were the shit.

 

[GloatingSwine]

So it's a kempston joystick interface then?

Amigas used those, so did Atari CPCs, some Spectrums, and the Megadrive.

Also: LCD display? I can has haptic feeback pls?

 

[Bobkat1252]

This idea is gold, but the touch screen idea is going to make it fail. I like buttons, I'd rather have a solid, relible button than touch screen anyday, thats why I have a lot of disdain for the DS, because they shoehorn in gimmicky features that just end up being annoying to shift between he buttons and the touch stick. So no, I wont get this.

Once again Sony: brilliant idea, poor follow through.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Sweet. Although the Wiimote shape is a big issue. The Wii is comfortable, I'd rather not wave around a clunky controller.

 

[Plurralbles]

Look at your controller for five minutes. Notice all those marks on it? notice oen of the button not responding as well as it did the day you got it? Well, now put all the wear and tear from every controller you own and still use and put it on one controller.

Fuck this. It'll never be made and i will never buy it.

 

[IckleMissMayhem]

Wonder how long it'll take MS and Nintendo to block the sale of this fab idea....

 

[robinkom]

I'll pass... the inability to feel the buttons you're pressing will not end well for many. Or maybe just me. The widespread use of touchscreens is lost on me, it feels incredibly foreign to me.

How about Sony invest these resources into some more user-friendly development tools for the PS3 so it can have more great exclusive titles...

 

[danielsharpe1634]

if it were to actually work well with the different game types, i'm all for it

 

[Monocle Man]

I can't help but think that they have no intention of ever making this, only patenting it to stop someone else from doing it.
Mind you, one of these would cost a fair bit, so I suppose it wouldn't be much competition to the DualShock3.

Every time someone mentioned Apple releasing a gaming console I imagined them having a touch screen controller with programmable buttons.
I'm guessing Sony did too.

 

[jthm]

No dammit! I wanted to see a 360 controller modded for a ps3 so I can play shooters on the ps3 without my hand cramping.

 

[Benjeezy]

hmm....I dont know, I could see it costing alot, not to mention I dont think Nintendo will be happy with them taking away the money the make when you have to buy new controler every time you hurl a wii remote thorugh your T.V.

Well you need to swing this one harder then the Wiimote, and the flat screen will easily slip through your fingers

oh God, I just created a new problem...

 

[Singing Gremlin]

Right.. I foresee Microsoft and Nintendo redesigning their interface ports for the next generation, patenting everything, and then suing Sony if they make an adaptor to interface with said ports. Game controllers are a profitable commodity to these companies. A universal controller only benefits the consumer, and that doesn't interest the companies at all unless they're the one's making it.

Naw, wouldn't even bother with that. They'd just release a firmware update that 'unfortunately' prevents it from working. After Sony has had a chance to produce a few thousand. It does strike me as killing a potentially troublesome market before it starts rather than wanting to invest, though.

 

[Premonition]

Well, the first word that popped in to my mind when reading this was: KA-CHING.

 

[Jamash]

How is it going to emulate analogue buttons and triggers?

One thing I love about the 360 controller is that I'm able to drive a powerful car on Forza 3 perfectly, without traction control and anti-lock brakes, because I can gently depress the triggers by about 10%-50% to drive the car without wheel spin or locking up the brakes.

Wouldn't a touch screen be digital, and in the case of a driving game the inputs would be either 0 or 100% acceleration, braking and steering, making accurate control impossible?

I suppose it might have it's applications for causual or less complicate games, but for most games which make use of analogue inputs, I can't see it working very well.

It this does get released, it will be interesting to see whether Microsoft bans it's use from X-Box Live, saying that it's a modded controller and could offer players an unfair advantage... even if it's untrue they might just ban it because it's Sony.