Now we're caught up in the timeline, what is the latest development? The patents for a number of applications for haptic technology, including those used in the Sidewinder FF, have finally expired after being extended by the holding company. No console had haptic feedback, favouring the rumble technology instead, and immersion continued to produce technology aimed towards industrial production and military products. Eventually it all closed down and while it never really made any big headlines, even those outlets following the situation lost interest.
The court cases went on for a number of years, during which they were appealing a court decision that would have ceased production of the PlayStation line until the patented technology was removed. There were a number of court cases, Microsoft settled early paying a dividend and purchasing a portion of the company. It would be easy to see this is a patent troll manoeuvre, however the truth is that without these licenses, innovations would probably be fewer and far between.
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The company Immersion Technology had developed the technology and owned the patents to it, and Microsoft and Sony were not paying to license the patents. So why, if this controller was as legendary as its fans would tell you, did it die off? Patents. I had never had the experience of fighting the winds before and it was obviously something that Microsoft had spend time refining. I was even more impressed when I fired it up in my first flight simulation haptic experience. It might be nostalgia, but I definitely recall being impressed by these demonstrations. This allowed you to feel simulated experiences such as a something similar to dragging a pencil over corrugated cardboard (intermittent resistance), feeling a difficult spot within the joysticks range of motion, resistance in one direction, etc. So what were some of the features that this provided? It's been a long time since I let mine go, but I do remember the demos which were part of the joysticks toolkit. This controller is now much sought after by a relatively small group of people, and although haptic feedback is not widely supported, it is still incorporated into some of the more detailed flight sims even after 20 years. Probably the most famous haptic controller in this community will be the Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback 2, which hasn't been available commercially since 2003.
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In their blog post, Sony detailed the "variety of powerful sensations" haptic feedback can bring to gameplay, like "the slow grittiness of driving a car through mud." Haptic feedback is the same technology behind the Nintendo Switch's HD rumble and we know the Xbox Series X controller will make use of it as well. and it looks like they've replaced the usual rumble pad with actual haptics and force feedback. Sony has recently revealed their new controller.
Is immersion, and are haptics, still relevant?