Fenner Investments is suing Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft over the design of their game console controllers. Fenner, located in Texas, is claiming they hold the patent entitled “Low-Voltage Joystick Port Interface.” The suit claims that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are causing damage to Fenner by their infringement of the patent in their respective controllers.

It appears that Fenner is claiming to own the patent on joysticks or ports that connect joysticks to another device. If this is the case it may have a far reaching affect on game hardware manufacturers.

It should be noted that Fenner recently also tried to sue wireless makers such as Nokia and Cisco over another patent entitled “a method and apparatus for managing a communications network for mobile users.” That suit was dismissed.

Sony and Microsoft were also recently …

Some sites were reporting that Sony won an Emmy for its PlayStation 3 Sixaxis controller. The source of this information was Sony itself in a press release the company said, “Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced that it has been recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award for the PlayStation computer entertainment system’s Sixaxis wireless controller.”

Turns out the company actually won the award for its PlayStation 2 DualShock controller. The controller is notable for its force feedback features and analogue thumb controllers.

Sony issued a retraction of the story today stating the DualShock controller had taken home the prize not the Sixaxis controller. The updated release read, “In a press release dated January 8, 2007, SCEA announced we had been recognized by the National Academy of …

According to Japanese gamer magazine publisher Enterbrain, Nintendo’s Wii has outsold the PlayStation 3 in Japan. Some think that this could be an indication of the success or failure of each platform in the US. SlipperyBrick previously reported that Sony claimed it had shipped one million units in North America.

Wii’s stronger sales happened in spite of the fact that the unit went on sale three weeks after the rival PlayStation 3. Enterbrain says that the Wii sold 1.14 million units versus the paltry 311,000 units sold by Sony.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 is relatively expensive and the cheap model sells for 49,980 yen (about $425) while the Wii sells for 25,000 yen (about $210). The speculation is that the price of the Wii, couple with its unique motion-sensing …

At CES 2007, Sony Corp. said it met its goal of shipping one million PlayStation 3 game consoles in North America in 2006. Sony did not say how close it came to shipping 2 million units world-wide in 2006. The PS3 has not started selling in Europe yet. It is scheduled to go on sale around March of 2007.

The PS3 has been plagued by production problems mainly from a shortage of blue laser diodes which are a necessary component to the Blu-ray players included on the high-tech console. Rumors have circulated that Sony may dump the Blu-ray format because of the ongoing component shortage issues.

Nintendo, with its much lower tech (and some argue much more fun) approach is expected to have sold 4 million Wii’s in 2006. Microsoft said it expected to sell …

Analysts are reporting that the shortage of the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintindo Wii game consoles may continue up until March or even longer.

Paul-John McNealy from American Technology Research said that even though Sony has a target of shipping 1 million game consoles by year end, that could translate into 600,000 to 800,000 actual units being shipped since the 1 million included ones that are warehoused and in-transit.

Consumers are still waiting in line to get the Wii and PS3 game consoles according to reports, and the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 are expected to have increased sales as substitutes when the Wii and PS3 cannot be found. Employees at major stores in southern California have reported sporadic shipments of the game consoles which are being purchased as fast as they come in. Workers reported saying …

In case you have been in a cave the last few days, Sony released it’s next generation game console to United States customers yesterday at stores across the country, and like the PS3 sales in Japan only a week ago, the consoles were reportedly gone in a matter of minutes. Sony geared up to be able to offer 400,000 PS3 consoles to the US market for the launch date, and Sony wants to have 1 million available to US customers by the end of the year.

Sony has two versions of the PS3 available, and numbers on how many of each are not clear. The less expensive of the two offerings contains a 20 GB hard drive for $499, while the other version is retailing for $599 with a 60 GB hard drive and WiFi capabilities. Both versions have Sony’s impressive …

Tokyo, Japan - Sony released the much anticipated PlayStation 3 game console to Japanese in-store sales on Saturday, and the results were good news for the bean-counters at Sony.

Online advanced orders of the PS3 were available through Amazon.com for Japan in October, but people lined up overnight at participating stores throughout Tokyo hoping to be one of the limited numbers of people able to purchase the new game console. At least one person was reported to be in line for the purchase even before the store closed the previous day. According to the New York Times, online auctions of the new Playstation 3 went quickly and as high as $1,100. This is more than double the cost of the basic PS3 model with a 20 GB hard drive at around $425.

The Washington Post reported that so may people were lined up …

Sony announced the debut game titles for its highly anticipated Playstation 3 game console. Upwards of 20 PS3 titles will be available through the holidays, resulting in a very diverse line-up for the new game console. The library of debut games covers the most popular game genres and features some of the leading game franchises. Most titles are expected to retail under $60.
Sony Titles

Resistance: Fall of Manâ„¢
NBA 07
Genji: Days of the Bladeâ„¢

Third Party Publisher Titles

Blazing Angelsâ„¢ Squadrons of WWII (Ubisoft)
Call of Duty®3 (Activision)
EA Sportsâ„¢ Fight …

Sony Corp. has recently stated that it may not be reaching it’s shipment target for this year with the PlayStation 3 game console due to a crossover parts shortage with the Blu-ray high-definition disc drive. Sony’s plans are to ship two million PS3 players before the end of this year in the U.S. and Japan, and six million worldwide in Q1 of next year.

“The honest answer is it’s more of a target’” for PlayStation 3 shipments, Jack Tretton, co-chairman of Sony Computer Entertainment America, said yesterday in an interview. “Clearly we’ve had production issues.”

A smaller number of shipped PS3 consoles would give Microsoft XBox and Nintendo Wii a jump on already competitive console market when they have their consoles go out next month in time for the holiday buying season.

The PS3 is still planning on hitting stores Nov. 17, and with it will come 22 …

Sony has announced that the PS3 with 20GB hard disk will come equipped with HDMI output standard with the system. This is great news given the sharp increase in availability of flat displays supporting HDMI on the market.

PS3 with 20GB HDD will become available in Japan at a new recommended retail price of 49,980 yen.

Press Release [Sony PlayStation]