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Nintendo Gets Sued By Tomita Technologies
- ElectroYoshi
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Nintendo Gets Sued By Tomita Technologies
To start off 2014, Tomita Technologies sued Nintendo for "using patented camera technology" in the 3DS.
Here's a GenGame article on it.
Personally, I think this is just a very greedy move on Tomita's part. But what do you think?
Here's a GenGame article on it.
Personally, I think this is just a very greedy move on Tomita's part. But what do you think?
I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline.
- Swords761
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- Phantomboy
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I think it honestly makes sense, if Nintendo had alerted Tomita prior to the release and they had worked out the agreement then - it would have worked our very similarly. So, I don't think this should too much of a shocker to anyone - it was something that probably could have/should have been worked out from day one. So hopefully it's sorted now.
- ThatOneFox
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Hm really? Put yourself in your position. You're a company, making a respectable amount of money from your technology, which you invented, then a big multi-billion dollar company comes along and uses that idea, giving you no credit for it. I think Tomita are lucky to be able to have won this lawsuit, as normally I would have expected nintendo to win.ElectroYoshi wrote: Personally, I think this is just a very greedy move on Tomita's part. But what do you think?
The fact that some people are quite annoyed with this irks me, as if they were in the place of Tomita they would have done the same thing.
Keith Keiser has a better ass than you
- ElectroYoshi
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Well, yes, but in this case it's incredibly minor. The only "patented" part of the 3DS camera is the screen, and that's not worth going to court over.StreetLights wrote:Hm really? Put yourself in your position. You're a company, making a respectable amount of money from your technology, which you invented, then a big multi-billion dollar company comes along and uses that idea, giving you no credit for it. I think Tomita are lucky to be able to have won this lawsuit, as normally I would have expected nintendo to win.
The fact that some people are quite annoyed with this irks me, as if they were in the place of Tomita they would have done the same thing.
I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline.
- Swords761
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The 3D aspect of the 3DS is not only in the name, but essentially was the initial selling point and distinction between the regular DS and this upcoming new portable generation. The camera taking pictures in 3D is a big part of that selling point too.ElectroYoshi wrote:Well, yes, but in this case it's incredibly minor. The only "patented" part of the 3DS camera is the screen, and that's not worth going to court over.
I say initial like it matters because this "stems from a lawsuit back in 2011" as the article mentions. Obviously, the system is more well-known and liked for its game library and StreetPass features, but the 3D was definitely Nintendo's push-point at the start of the system's history/launch.
- ElectroYoshi
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Swords761 wrote:The camera taking pictures in 3D is a big part of that selling point too.
I knew this already but until now have heard nothing about Tomita being the creators of the technology, which is why I'm unsure whether I believe it or not. All I've heard regarding similarities to the 3DS camera and Tomita's technology is the two using the same screen, which is why this struck me as a somewhat greedy move on Tomita's part (Then again, every source I've found about this was pretty tight-lipped about the details, so...)
I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline.
- ElectroYoshi
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- Entity
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- ElectroYoshi
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I think it's only supposed to come out to something like $3 a unit, but part of me feels like that'll have a pretty negative impact on them in the long run. I mean, it adds up quick on something that sells as well as the 3DS, so...
I dunno. Just my two cents.
I dunno. Just my two cents.
I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline.
- Entity
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ElectroYoshi wrote:I think it's only supposed to come out to something like $3 a unit, but part of me feels like that'll have a pretty negative impact on them in the long run. I mean, it adds up quick on something that sells as well as the 3DS, so...
I dunno. Just my two cents.
Yeah, sell a million 3DSs, lose 3 million dollars :/ I'm sure they're not too excited about that.
- ElectroYoshi
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Entity wrote:Yeah, sell a million 3DSs, lose 3 million dollars :/ I'm sure they're not too excited about that.
This, this, and more this.
Also, personally, I don't see why this lawsuit was even necessary. For God's sake, Tomita already got in their faces about once and won. I mean, was that seriously not good enough for them?????
I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline.
- Entity
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- Swords761
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- Entity
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- ElectroYoshi
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It's not much to lose when it's only one unit, but you still have to consider the add-up over time. 1% means they're losing roughly $3 for every 3DS they sell, meaning they're gonna lose 3m for every million they sell. That means that in the long run, they're gonna lose enough profit to buy 15,000 3DSs.Swords761 wrote:1% is hardly anything
I need a shot again, that sweet adrenaline.
- Swords761
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15 thousand << 10 million.ElectroYoshi wrote:It's not much to lose when it's only one unit, but you still have to consider the add-up over time. 1% means they're losing roughly $3 for every 3DS they sell, meaning they're gonna lose 3m for every million they sell. That means that in the long run, they're gonna lose enough profit to buy 15,000 3DSs.
- ElectroYoshi
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- Sebastian Lawe
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Patent laws really should be changed. If I patented my idea of parsing Xenforo based forums, I don't think its fair for me to sue people who make a program that can parse a Xenforo forum.
I would be able to sue Entity in that regard, although his parsing contributes to a different end result. Patents should apply to an end result device, rather than components. If Tomita actually made a 3DS functioning device, then I would see a right to sue.
However, in today's world we care more about money than innovation. I've said this once before. If I take your idea, and make a better implementation of it, its your job to take your idea back and make it better than mine. Competition forces innovation. Patents make things lazy, as you simply sue and are not required to innovate your idea.
I would be able to sue Entity in that regard, although his parsing contributes to a different end result. Patents should apply to an end result device, rather than components. If Tomita actually made a 3DS functioning device, then I would see a right to sue.
However, in today's world we care more about money than innovation. I've said this once before. If I take your idea, and make a better implementation of it, its your job to take your idea back and make it better than mine. Competition forces innovation. Patents make things lazy, as you simply sue and are not required to innovate your idea.