A US judge has ruled that Sony did not infringe on another company's patented technology with its PlayStation hardware, specifically in regard to how consoles and controllers communicate.
As detailed by GamesIndustry.biz, Genuine Enabling Technology (GET) first filed a complaint against Sony back in 2017, claiming that the PlayStation maker had infringed on its '730 Patent, entitled 'Method and Apparatus for Producing a Combined Data Stream and Recovering Therefrom the Respective User Input Stream and at Least One Input Signal.'
Amongst the many claims levelled in the case, a central point was how PlayStation consoles and controllers connect. Now, as we all know, the DualSense communicates with the PS5 by submitting a separate signal on a "slow-varying frequency" for button inputs and another, higher-frequency signal for motion control input. GET's assertion was that no device was simultaneously capable of receiving both signals until it solved the problem with its '730 Patent.
To cut a long and rather dry story short, the judge ultimately ruled in Sony's favour. In a memorandum seen by GamesIndustry, they said that GET had "failed to raise a dispute of fact" and granted Sony's request for summary judgment of non-infringement before declaring the case closed. GET previously filed a similar lawsuit against Nintendo, which again went to the platform holder, but the US Court of Appeals reversed this decision in 2022 and is still ongoing.
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 29
All three console manufacturers should instead be sued for releasing subpar easily breakable controller sticks, I have had to buy two extra PS5 and Xbox controllers because of the stick drift garbage. They have such talented engineers but can't seem to figure out how to make durable sticks going for 30 years now!
@Tecinthebrain Yes, we definitely need a Sueance.
Ahh thank god that's sorted..now I can get some decent sleep at night.
Genuine Enabling Technology’s Head office is totally not a storage unit.
@Tecinthebrain Agreed. This gen has been the worst. 2 Switch controller sets, 2 PS5 controllers (yet to have any Xbox ones go - although these are cheap and nasty so possibly designed to last?) and they are the most expensive controllers ever. Wonder if its by design? Make £60 controllers that break and force users to by new ones every year or so...
@StonyKL ive been through about 6 of them. the ps5 era is definitely the worst playstation gen across the board.
@nomither6 @StonyKL weird I’m
Completely the other way. 0 new ps5 controllers, yet on a 3rd for series S in around 14months despite using ps5 more.
But the Xbox controller does feel very cheap, plasticky and clicky. Luckily stick placement doesn’t bother me either!
@PsBoxSwitchOwner how long you’ve had a dualsense , the amount of hours you play/use it, and the type of games you play is a factor in that
@PsBoxSwitchOwner wonder if its the type of game that causes it. My son broke a relatively new PS5 controller bashing the buttons for Patapon. He was only about 8 years old so not the strongest and managed to get the button stuck. I've banned that game plus any other rhythm based games from now on.
PS5 gets a lot more use while the Xbox is mainly for shooters - maybe shooters are less damaging? The switch is just painfully bad. They are actually my favourite controllers if its wasn't for the drift problems. I'm still waiting to buy a proper controller for it so I can finally get on with Zelda without him continually just self walking off cliffs!
@StonyKL it is most definitely the games you play on it. See how many controllers people that play Fifa, NBA 2k, COD go through. It's insane.
I bought 3 controllers when I got my PS5 and have experienced stick drift only on the one that came with the PS5. The other ones, especially the black one still going strong.
@Tecinthebrain I don't think anyone has patented the easily breakable controller stick. But I'd love to see console manufacturer lose a case over a patent like this. Can you imagine? A patent infringement that forces them to make sturdier controllers.
@Tecinthebrain
I hear this a lot, but in nearly 40 years of gaming, pretty much daily other than during some study periods, I’ve had exactly one controller with any issues. A switch controller with drift. I’m really not sure what so many people do to their controllers to cause these problems, as it doesn’t seem to be an inherent problem to me. Been confused by this for years.
@thefourfoldroot1 Went through many a quickshot 2 back in the C64 years, but have also been fortunate with ps4 & ps5 controllers. Would love to be able to blame my poor gameplay on stick drift!
@Panic_Attache quick shot 2's were odd, some lasted years, some were crap from the get go.
@Tecinthebrain you and everyone else in this comment section should look into Hall Effect joystick replacements. I do not believe they are compatible with PS5 controllers, unfortunately, but I do know, for a certainty, they work with Switch and almost certain with Xbox. Its a $15 part that you can install yourself and stick drift is a thing of the past. I've used it on my Switch controllers.
@thefourfoldroot1 Same boat for me. I had one develop drift after years on the PS4, but so far so good on my launch duelsense. It has developed a couple of other issues after three and a half years though. The battery doesn't hold its charge as well as it used to, expected, and the spring in the R2 failed. It still works but it's a hair trigger now.
@Panic_Attache All that waggling in Daley Thompson's Decathlon set me up for my teenage years...
@JuiceboxMeister The Nacon Revolution Pro 5 is compatible with PS5, if you can live without adaptive triggers and other features of the dualsense. Quite pricey though.
@Intr1n5ic
Oh, I forgot, the same thing happened to the trigger of one of mine too so I had to replace it. This was the result of me knocking it off the arm of the sofa onto a hard floor though, so not counting that as a fault.
The fact that the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast had hall effect sticks makes this whole problem even more baffling.
All the cool things the DuelSense can do differently put more wear and tear on the controller faster.
I hope Sony implements hall effect sensors for their next controller as it almost completely eliminates stick drift. I wonder if they keep the traditional sensors due to cost or purposeful degradation?
To be fair I have been pretty lucky with stick drift. I only got it with one PS4 Dualshock and one Xbox One Controller. Both times I dropped the controller so it was my fault. If you drop the controller on a hard surface it messes up the sensors. I expect the majority of in warranty stick drift is due to people dropping their controllers.
I brought a new Dualsense today as I like to have a back up controller just in case, plus I never keep the same controller more than 2 years (I sell it and get the new one for about half price).
@thefourfoldroot1
I have always found it weird too, but this gen I have had 2 PS5 controllers. The white one that came with the system and a red one later when that colour came out. I used them interchangeably so I always had one charging. Well, wouldn't you know but the red one got stick drift on the left analogue stick. This blew my mind as it had never been an issue before. And for the NEWER one to be the problem. Nobody else uses my PS5 and I feel that I have used the white one more as I have had it longer. Anyway, I have no hard evidence to prove anything I just thought it was interesting.
I’ve been hearing about “stick drift” for a while and I just looked it up. The consensus seems to be that most of the time it’s caused by dirt and grim finding its way into the joystick. I’ve never experienced it. But I also wash my hands with dish soap to clean the oil and grim off every time before I play or let anyone else play. I cringe when I see people eating pizza and chips while playing. Keep your hands and joystick clean and your chances of stick drift become almost nonexistent. At the end of the day don’t take my word for it and do whatever you want. AND YES I DO LOG IN A LOT OF HOURS ON MY SYSTEMS.
@Tecinthebrain
If you do that, you'd also have to sue all the automobile manufacturers and any other company that makes planned absolescence a centerpiece of their business model.
Good. Patent Trolls can get #%!¤ed.
@Tecinthebrain I was looking for this exact comment coming in here. There needs to be a class action lawsuit about these controllers and stick drift. If they have the technology to create controllers WITHOUT stick drift (the new PS 5 pro controller) then why is stick drift still happening in all controllers a couple months after buying them? Really pisses me off. I have 2 controllers that I need to replace but I hate that I have to shell out like $150 almost for 2 controllers that should last a long time.
Well, I’ve been gaming for several decades and the white OG PS5 controller was my first stick drift experience (and used it with another controller for battery life). Always thought this happened because some people manhandled them. I have always been very careful with my stuff, so I was very surprised getting a stick drift controller and it changed my mind that even if you careful with your possessions, it can happen to anybody at this point.
Sony controllers aren’t cheap so I really wonder what the reason could be since so many people experienced the stick drift part (and also with other brands). There should be an easy and cheap solution in place so people wouldn’t mind that much (cost part). I hope the new PS5 controller has had an update concerning stick drift!
The drifting isn't the main problem for me, more that Sony flat out refuses to repair them out of warranty even though I'd pay for it. Very frustrating.
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