Nintendo has dropped some money in a company called Gyration, Inc. Who are they? How much, and why?
Nintendo has invested some money into Gyration, Inc. It's all about Motion sensor technology baby! You know, like Kirby Tilt N' Tumble? Well sort of. It's going to go a lot deeper than that. Gyration recently sent a list of FAQs to the press, which you'll find below. Read on!
How much money did Nintendo invest?
Gyration: Nintendo has respectfully asked Gyration not to disclose financial details of investment.
Was the investment made by Nintendo of America or Nintendo of Japan?
Gyration: Nintendo of Japan.
Which patents did Gyration license Nintendo?
Gyration: US application Patents 5,898,421 and 5,440,326 which deal with tracking human motion and translating it into linear movement of computer graphic images.
Will the patent licensing agreement have any effect on the availability of Nintendo's Game Boy Tilt motion feature that is currently available in Japan, but unavailable in the US?
Gyration: Not specifically, but the patents that Gyration has licensed Nintendo encompass this particular Game Boy feature in the US.
Has Gyration ever had to legally defend its patents?
Gyration: Yes, Gyration has successfully litigated patent infringements against other major manufacturers and all have settled with us. Since each of these cases settled by arbitration out of court, we are not at liberty to disclose details about these cases.
Does this agreement include a gamepad development contract?
Gyration: Unlike accelerometers used by all other motion game manufactures, gyros can track the yaw axis motion that is critical for intuitive game control. Yaw axis tracking allows users to naturally point and move objects left and right much the way screen objects move on their TVS without having to tilt the game controller. Gyros also provide a superior quality of tracking performance over tilt sensors because they are very accurate rate sensors.
What game applications benefit from a Gyration game controller?
Gyration: The ease accuracy of moving a cursor or crosshair across a screen by pointing makes Gyration technology an excellent choice for 1st person shooters and other action games that require fast and precise targeting.
