Nintendo slapped with another waggle suit

by Justin McElroy { Nov 12th 2008 at 11:45AM }

Before we get started, doesn't a "waggle suit" sound like the funnest thing anybody could possibly own? Yeah, we thought so too.

Anyway, Ohio-based Motiva says that the Wiimote violates a patent of that it filed in 2004 for "technology used to create a 'Human Movement Measurement System' comprising a hand-held tracking device in communication with a base station that can be used to create an interactive gaming experience, among other capabilities."

It's apparently such an obvious violation of the patent that it's only taken the company two years of the Wii appearing on every television station and magazine cover on the planet to notice it. If we seem vindictive, it could be thanks to Motiva's counselm who said, "Using someone else's technology without permission is theft. Nintendo makes video games where you get to play a thief, but that doesn't give them the right to be one."

What is he even talking about? Wario? We have no idea.

Tags: lawsuit, nintendo-wii

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Anni @ Nov 12th 2008 11:55AM

Nintendo has always been anti-theft. See: Link's Awakening.

That shopkeeper wasn't having NONE of that shit.

Roto13 @ Nov 12th 2008 11:56AM

I'm like ten seconds too slow, I guess. :P

Roto13 @ Nov 12th 2008 11:55AM

I was playing Link's Awakening yesterday and I stole a bow from the store. Does that count?

Cause now everyone calls me "THIEF"

Shmil @ Nov 12th 2008 11:56AM

Funnest?

Fernando Rocker @ Nov 12th 2008 11:59AM

With a lot of companies suing Nintendo... why don't these companies sue each other?

They all are suing for the same reason.

Kye - Capcom DF @ Nov 12th 2008 12:05PM

i can has out of court settlement noaw pleez? reccessi... resetio... hard timez is starving me.

Jakka ( The Order of Haters of Balance) @ Nov 12th 2008 12:11PM

Wait till one of those companies actually gets the moniez! Then all the others will sue it.

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 12th 2008 12:17PM

Yup they are suing because Nintendo (allegedly) used their technology without liscensing it. They probably have a legitimate case or they wouldn't pursue it. I can say with almost 100% certainty that Nintendo did not steal their idea, rather, they just didn't credit the other patent properly.

Christian @ Nov 12th 2008 12:21PM

They wouldn't pursue it unless they didn't have a case? Have you never heard of patent trolls? This is exactly the sort of thing these kind of companies live for, hoping that all the ambiguity around software patents will allow them to scare a big company into paying them a settlement fee instead of risking a verdict against them or worse, a temporary injunction against shipping their product.

The US patent system broke down years ago and so far no fix is in sight.

Sackolantern PSN ID: johnnynumber5 @ Nov 12th 2008 12:32PM

Christian,

What I meant to say was that they feel they have grounds for a patent violation or they wouldn't have pursued legal action. As I said in my above post I can say with nearly 100% certainty that Nintendo did not steal the idea from them. I agree the patent system in America is broken but if they have a legitimate case you can't argue that they deserve some form of compensation or at least recognition. Not every single case is a patent troll. At this point none of us really know so just like we shouldn't say Nintendo stole their idea we also shouldn't say they are simply a patent troll.

kaneda @ Nov 12th 2008 1:08PM

You don't sue broke ass companies. You sue the guys with the money! That's the basis of suing! You wouldn't sue a hobo would you?

samfish @ Nov 12th 2008 1:16PM

I'm pretty sure we're dealing with patent trolls here. There is NOTHING about this company out there...nothing on Google, nothing on LLC indexes. By all accounts, it's an LLC in name only.
If they don't have any sort of offices, it's likely that they don't even produce anything. They aren't a 'real' company.

These are more tools looking for an out of court settlement, I'd bet.

Rhamsey @ Nov 12th 2008 12:10PM

another settle outside of court for millions of dollars? the patent system apparently sucks.

Miguel @ Nov 12th 2008 12:14PM

I hate patent trolls. This country needs IP reform really badly.

Anticrawl @ Nov 12th 2008 2:14PM

Congress passed the PRO-IP act recently into law. We have a copyright and IP czar now! Yey for dictatorship over ideas! Man I love liberal government.

Chris Are @ Nov 12th 2008 2:22PM

They already tried that and it didn't work. Frivolous lawsuits make me a saaaaad panda.

In A World (XBL) @ Nov 12th 2008 3:00PM

LIBERAL LIBERAL! Grrrrrr *knee-jerk reaction* I'm Anticrawl and I love mislabeling things! GRRRR Liberals...

Anticrawl @ Nov 12th 2008 3:26PM

Clearly you don't understand the definition of liberal and conservative. I'm liberal in personal life but want a conservative government. You should familiarize yourself with the definitions of each. A liberal government wants its hands in every facet of your life and more control. A conservative government is for less regulation and staying out of your home. Both main parties today are extremely liberal with their ideas of government; it is shocking how little people know. The PRO-IP law and Patriot Act are both prime examples of liberal government.

Anticrawl @ Nov 12th 2008 3:47PM

People confuse political party affiliation with liberal and conservative. If you want to scrap about party affiliation then the PRO-IP Act was made law by a majority democratic congress as was the Patriot Act. But quoting actions by political parties is futile because they are both power hungry overbearing crooked morons.

In A World (XBL) @ Nov 12th 2008 5:18PM

@Anticrawl

The word you're thinking of is "authoritarian", not "liberal"

authoritarian: favoring complete obedience or subjection to authority as opposed to individual freedom.

liberal: favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, esp. as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.

So, as you can see, two completely different concepts; almost antonyms, really. I'm tired of people misusing the word "liberal" to describe anything they don't like.

Anticrawl @ Nov 12th 2008 10:43PM

Note: I said liberal not liberalism. I'm using the word as an adjective not as an ideology. Don't be an idiot or put words in my mouth friend. Modern and classical liberalism are up to interpretation and can not be defined by any means. So therefore it is futile to refer to any form of government as such. A simple manner is to use liberal and conservative as a means to define the style of government in vague terms.

In A World (XBL) @ Nov 14th 2008 8:54PM

You said: "Man I love liberal government."

Followed by: "it is futile to refer to any form of government as [Liberal]"

Only people who are completely wrong and can no longer defend their self-contradictory opinions resort to saying things like "Don't be an idiot". So good job at misusing words, backtracking, and then blaming me for your own shortcomings.

Someone @ Nov 12th 2008 12:20PM

This picture of scrooge's money bin is so hilarious i literally spit coffee all over my keyboard :)

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Nov 12th 2008 6:48PM

i agree. i came on here just to comment on the picture. it's friggin hilarious.

John Z @ Nov 12th 2008 12:19PM

"Nintendo makes video games where you get to play a thief, but that doesn't give them the right to be one."

OH SNAP! Nintendo, you might as well give up now. Clearly you cannot hope to defend yourselves successfully against such eloquent, impeccably-researched statements as this. No, you will soon find that you are crushed under the Wall of Logic; while your machines may still print money, that cash will go to fund the people who make statements like this.

(Your browser still does not support the [sarcasm] tag. Upgrading is recommended.)

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Nov 12th 2008 12:22PM

I love wearing my waggle suit. It's probably the most comfortable / offensive garment I own. I sure will miss being able to eat at Applebee's though.

James0x57 @ Nov 12th 2008 12:26PM

"Your attempt at being clever has failed."
Sounds like a motivational poster.

Mr Khan @ Nov 12th 2008 12:27PM

One of the patent troll cases did gain ground, though, to the point where the judge was an inch away from freezing all sales of Wii and Wii-related products in America

It was a Classic Controller case, though, different.

Mr Khan @ Nov 12th 2008 12:28PM

And Wario's more of a dry-land pirate than a thief, imo

Vidikron @ Nov 12th 2008 1:21PM

Aren't pirates thieves?

kaneda @ Nov 12th 2008 12:29PM

I am suing joystiq for infringing on my Waggle Suit trademark!

Dirty @ Nov 12th 2008 12:33PM

When your hung like me every suit is a waggle suit.

DEEZNUTZ @ Nov 12th 2008 3:19PM

Fail. Everyone knows fat walruses have little peckers.

Dirty @ Nov 12th 2008 3:32PM

Oh noes.... the truth is out.

Titanium_Orchid @ Nov 12th 2008 5:13PM

why does this comment string not have three hearts yet?!?

Someone please think of the children!

Kamizar @ Nov 12th 2008 12:35PM

You know, I've always wondered why Scrooge McDuck swims in mostly what looks to be gold coins, is there any country in the world that still mints and uses gold coins for anything?

And wouldn't the gold at the bottom be one solid mass, due to the pressure at the top?

BlaqueBeird @ Nov 12th 2008 12:44PM

OK,so you can get past the fact that Scrooge is a talking, suit wearing duck, but swimming in gold is too far? Is that only part of the show that seems unrealistic, cus I've never seen a duck scientist with a robot suit in my life.

Mr Khan @ Nov 12th 2008 12:48PM

Same thing happened once when i was watching SWAT Kats. Episode 22 where they go to an alternate dimension. I explained the plot to a friend and he asked "What's the scientific basis for that?" And i said "They're anthropomorphic talking cats in flight suits, what kind of scientific basis do you need?"

The plausibility gap is in strange places for some people, i suppose

ZaxCG2 @ Nov 12th 2008 12:57PM

You get the same things with video game storylines...

The one thing to describe it is INTERNET ARGUMENTS.

Kamizar @ Nov 12th 2008 1:01PM

However, the DuckBerg Universe is filled with anthropomorphic animals, so that fits in with the plot, however you can clearly see, diamonds and dollar bills in there, so that means that cash is in use, I have no problem with him "swimming" in it, but since they have a Duck-Copter one would assume that normal physics are in play for the most part and since steel is constantly used for inventions in Duck Tales(WOO HOO) im guessing gold still retains it's properties, considering it's still valued...

kaneda @ Nov 12th 2008 1:06PM

I used to think it ridiculous that a duck could swim in a pile of gold. So I filled a small cardboard box up with pennies and put my new baby duckie 'Quackers' in it. To my surprise, he indeed did swim through the coins as if it was water. But he died the next day of copper poisoning. DAMN YOU DUCK TALES!!!! DAMN YOU!