Will the real 'weemote' please stand up?

by James Ransom-Wiley { May 15th 2006 at 5:25PM }

It turns out that Fobis Technologies also has a patented "weemote." Go figure. The latest design, version 7, is even being touted as "Next Generation."

We wouldn't be surprised if Fobis starts landing sales on account of consumer mix-ups. Remember, folks, educate potential gift givers. It's wii not wee.

Tags: weemote, wiimote

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

boots (former bd (former b)) @ May 15th 2006 5:33PM

Ironically, it's also the "version 7" of the weemote. We are actually in the Seventh Generation of videogames.

alex @ May 15th 2006 5:37PM

Also, I can almost guarantee you a garbage-man company like this would never launch a lawsuit against Ninty, because this might actually help them sell one or two of these travesties.

sepll cehck @ May 15th 2006 5:37PM

In best fake spanish accent

"You keeping using that word... I do not think it means what you think it means..."

rudimentalist @ May 15th 2006 5:59PM

Did Nintendo even coin the term "Wiimote" I thought it was just something bloggers made up... In that case I doubt they care.

martin @ May 15th 2006 6:01PM

wow, Joystiq really gives people credit when they send info in. It has been what, 2 weeks since I sent that!!!

epobirs @ May 15th 2006 6:12PM

It looks like a Sony My First Couch Potato.

vidGuy @ May 15th 2006 6:15PM

It's not the "Wiimote" anyway. It's the Nintendo Wii Controller or the Wii Remote.

sepll cehck @ May 15th 2006 6:19PM

I know Martin. Same thing happened to me... Even used the quote I used. I think showing the tiniest bit of appreciation goes a long way in creating a cohesive and productive community.

Perhaps it is not a Joystiq problem but more a problem with specific writers that fail to realize the importance of citing reader tipsters. I would imagine that the ones guilty of such actions are most likely the ones most lacking in creativity and motivation.

Alex @ May 15th 2006 6:24PM

sepll cehck, this is just inconceivable.

Dan @ May 15th 2006 6:32PM

re: sepll cehck

inconceivable!!

Ryan @ May 15th 2006 6:44PM

Nintendo's used gyroscopes before (Gameboy Advance Kirby Tilt), and many other companies have delved into this type of technology as well. The Wii remote uses completely different technology from the PS3 controller, and as a result is much more sophisticated. I think we can all agree as well that the Wii games utilized the Wii remote much more fully as well. It doesn't matter who had the idea first (even though I'm sure both companies came to the "same" idea through different paths), the fact remains that Nintendo's games are much more fully integrated into this new innovative interface.

Robotic House Plant @ May 15th 2006 6:47PM

I like the Weemote Sr, a remote even adults can use

Hoomamooma @ May 15th 2006 6:49PM

ethan, did you even read the post? The article had nothing to do with Sony stealing from Nintendo. I don't see why we need to start this arguing in every post.

ethan @ May 15th 2006 6:57PM

to all you nintendo fanboys, the only reason you even want to buy a wii, is so that you finally have one. ouch thats gotta hurt.
and im just getting back at all those people who were outraged at sony "stealing" the remote idea, and then posting all their little hate posts in all the playstaion comments section. but wow did i burn you.

C. Grant @ May 15th 2006 7:02PM

That tip actually came from a fellow blogger this morning. We always cite tips we use, unless we legitimately don't use them. You'll often see [Thanks, ] and [Via ] attributions on the bottom of posts. That being said, if we stumble upon something on our own, we don't scour our tips jar to see if there was something already in there.

Keep sending em in, we always appreciate it, even if some do slip through the cracks. :)

Dan @ May 15th 2006 7:07PM

Just because sony didn't outright copy the technology doesn't mean they aren't doing this as a direct measure to control the threat they perceive from nintendo. They obviously only decided to implement this idea they were toying with when they saw how hyped everyone was about nintendo's motion sensing controller, also, if the rumours about them not being allowed to use the rumble technology after that court battle with immersion are true, then they might have been grasping at straws desperate for something to replace the lost rumble feature.

Scott @ May 15th 2006 7:12PM

Looks like they are dangerously close on infringing on TiVo's smiley TV trademark as well!

ethan @ May 15th 2006 7:34PM

to commenter #1:
I believe it is not the weemote 7, but the weemote 2.
all numbers clarified now? speaking of clarification, check this out...

Found some new information regarding sony copying the nintendo controller. You might want to reconsider everything you have said about sony stealing ideas from nintendo before reading this.

Sony stole from nintendo huh. here are some tilt functions patented by sony in 1999.

http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=JP11099284&F=0&QPN=JP11099284

here is another article from 2003 showing sony's plans.

http://sony.gamerfeed.com/gf/news/4815/

How about the fact that the warhawk team, even though they added the functionality in 10 days, Knew that the change in the controller was planned for a long time?

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3150702

So Nintendo could have maybe been the ones stealing from sony all this time.

there now it relates to the article... somehow.

Shinn @ May 15th 2006 7:41PM

I don't know what's more funny. You spending time looking for all that or the fact that most people are over it now.

MetaHuman @ May 15th 2006 7:49PM

Ethan, I guess you haven't seen Nintendo's prototype motion-sensing wand/light gun that was planned with the Nintendo Advanced Video System (renamed to NES) huh? What they were working on could be the summation of something 20 years in development.

Seeing as how the two technologies are different though, the comparison is kind of moot.

ethan @ May 15th 2006 8:07PM

actually i didnt spend time looking for that someone else did, i just copied the links, but thanks for adding your input, and if i would have cared about what you said i would have responded sooner. oh and meta human if the comparison is moot, why bother adding what you said anyway?

MetaHuman @ May 15th 2006 8:23PM

Ethan

Because if I had not included the thing about the light-wand/gun, my point would have been too broad and not worth listening to.

Momus @ May 15th 2006 8:48PM

Figures would Forbis would rip off Nintendo's technology. No wonder Nintendo is paranoid people will copy them. Fucking Forbis. Wahh wahh wahh!

Exbzurg @ May 15th 2006 8:52PM

what about kirby's tilt and tumble ehh ethan?

Exbzurg @ May 15th 2006 9:13PM

http://gonintendo.com/?p=2545
in case u wanted a visual confirmation on that...

ethan @ May 15th 2006 9:29PM

these past two posts have shown that people still do think sony ripped off nintendo with the controller because they are mad that playstation has led for 2 generations now.
Now to answer exbzurgs question, i have never played the game, never heard of the game, and never seen the game, because i dont pay attention to childish nintendo games. i just have two questions to ask you in order to help you answer your own question.
1. was the technology in kirby tilt a whirl patented?
2. was it out before sonys first patent in 1999?
if the answer to both those questions were yes, then you may have something there, that is if it even is anything related to the technology in the Dual shake and the Wiimote.
But now i am done posting for the night and done posting on this article for ever since i am only fifteen and do have school tomorrow. Yes that is correct, you have been debating (and losing) to a fifteen year old, and obviously you are older than that since you know when a ray gun came out over twenty years ago.

Exbzurg @ May 15th 2006 9:48PM

first of all the game came out not long time ago(2001), on the game boy color but im sure the patent tech has been around for longer.
second age had nothing to do about.
All it takes is a bit of internet searching and anyone can find anything.
Hell im only 16 and i buy old stuff online. I own lots of nintendo, sega, and atari stuff. And as a videogame enthusiast i enjoy knowing about their various pasts.
Also there was the powerglove, which was also motion sensitive(sort of) and that was in the 80s.
Also 3d mouse tech has been around since the 80s anyways, and thats very similar to motion sensitive tech.
So really everybody rips off of everybody i guess.

Questworld @ May 15th 2006 10:32PM

I think some Nintendo fans only say Sony "stole" Nintendo's idea as a form of retaliation to the Sony fanboys who called the Wiimote a gimmick. And to be fair, Nintendo does get a lot of flak and being labeled "kiddy" or "gimmicky" until the tables get turned and Sony applies similar technologies (connectivity, tilt sensors, etc.) at which time the Sony fans try to justify that "it's been done before" or that it's free game for anyone who wants to use it. So now that Sony's implementing these sensors (a good thing IMO), where're all the gimmicky comments from the same people who labeled the Wii controller "gimmicky." Of course now it's a race between fanboys about who did what first. Typical. Fanboys are grabbing at straws saying their company did this first or that the opposite team didn't really do anything innovative because similar technolgies were done before. "Nintendo's analog stick isn't innovation because Atari had joysticks on their consoles" some people would say but Sony implemented C-sticks similar to Nintendo's and not Atari's large joytick, and why is that? It's because Nintendo's (or anyone else who had the same idea, like Sega) redesign IS a good idea. So shut up about it already. I swear this is getting tedious and stupid. If fanboys aren't going for pole position as to which of their favorite companies came up with what in the hardware race, they're going for pole position on which game series went on who's console first and which ones should be Nintendo or Sony console only. Don't you people get tired of this? And why do you people get sucked in by people like this?

Nintendo has good ideas. Period. Sony and Xbox fanboys should stop trying to make it seem like Nintendo's irrelevant and stop trying to downplay their importance. Sony and MS have their own contributions to the industry. They've provided stuff like DVDs or networking technology. That's important too. In the grand scheme of things, all companies have been collaborating, even indirectly. They affect each other. Even the guy who invented telephones has a part of this history in technological advancement. So people should just get over themselves and their egos. Stop flaming, stop baiting, stop trolling.

Y'know for a community that's suppose to revolve around fun and gaming, you people sure are about as fun as politics and taxes.

Ryan @ May 15th 2006 11:48PM

Finally Nintendo comes up with a product truly targeted at their main demographic.

martin @ May 16th 2006 8:25AM

Ummm, how did the power glove work??? Ummm. How old is that???

Austin @ May 16th 2006 9:21AM

If ninty tries to officialy use wiimote or wii remote they will find themselves taking lessons from RIM and there crackberry after the sales have been made. I'm sure they did an IP infringement search prior to naming it though. Then again?

gomora @ May 16th 2006 10:51AM

joystiq could you please pass the *cough*lawsuit*cough*

AJ @ May 16th 2006 3:22PM

"14. to all you nintendo fanboys, the only reason you even want to buy a wii, is so that you finally have one. ouch thats gotta hurt.
and im just getting back at all those people who were outraged at sony "stealing" the remote idea, and then posting all their little hate posts in all the playstaion comments section. but wow did i burn you.

Posted at 6:57PM on May 15th 2006 by ethan"

This is the problem I have with the internet. You can't tell if people making posts like this are making a joke or just embarrassing themselves.