i called it last week when Sony patent showed up. MS always responds someway.

These have never happened;
3 MGS in 2 years
3 FF in 2 years (lucky for one in 5 years)

Mario and Halo is milked for the same reason there are no other franchises on their systems as popular(both are mascots as well).

Halo 1 was great when it released in 2001 to me the game is outdated now even Halo 3. I give credit to Halo for making FPS possible on console but the genre has evolved past Halo in my opinion. Even COD4 outperformed Halo 3 on XBL until W@W released and split the COD fanbase.

There is Halo hate for the same reason people hate on Killzone 2, Fanboy irrationality

There is Halo hate, because of a few reasons.

1) Everyone uses the sales card.
2) Halo 3 is considered to be an awesome game and it is, but so many flaws are over looked by everyone.
3) Some people just are fanboys.

Halo games are great games, just they're given too much credit sometimes.

Ah, I see the douchebag fanboys who don't read articles have already arrived.

All of those are very poor reasons to hate a game...which basicly boils down to envy and jealousy...for example I myself think th whole FF franchise is overated, admittedly I'm not a huge fan of jrpg's but I have sat down with a few friends over the years and played several FF and other jrpg's, I actually thought Lost Oddysey was OK but FF just never kept my attention YET I don't feel the need to rant about how much I hate it in countless FF threads....for the most part I totally just ignore FF news altogether....is it overated?..maybe, maybe not...but in truth millions think its the greatest...In reality nothing does so well for so long without being very good at what it does, so its a little known concept called personal preference. Halo is as good as they say.

JOY

haha, this just goes to show how quickly the gaming industry is moving.

Good times to be a gamer indeed.

It doesn't mention Natal, but this would be perfect for all of the motion control systems. The "explorer" camera mode would be used with the controller), then combat could use the motion controls for aiming. This solves the problem of moving around in game while having to be facing the TV screen, but also incorporates the precision and/or immersiveness of the motion control systems. Or it could just be how the camera is going to work for Halo (is it ODST that's rumored to be sandbox?).

I didn't know you can patent such things? Techniques!? That's like patenting certain camera angle...whaaat!?

If MS decides it's best to patent everything short of breathing then the gaming industry is doomed. Patents last so long that if this patent holds up, no other dev will be able to use a camera system even remotely close to theirs without paying a licensing fee. This includes not only Sony, but also third party devs and indys as well.

If ID had patented DOOM's camera system, the entire FPS genre wouldn't even exist except for what ID produced. They would literally own half of the current gaming industry. Imagine if ID had to be paid royalties for every FPS that has ever been on the market to date, they would become as rich as MS overnight.

This patenting trend, if continued, is going to become the biggest bane to innovation in gaming. Hopefully, the legal system wakes up and starts to think more critically of how patents are approved and enforced before it becomes illegal to plug in a console without having to pay some third party...
... hmmm I might have to see if the idea of an on/off switch on consoles is actually patented

In lamens terms the general rule is you can't patent just anything, its *suppose to be a brand "new idea" or "new technology" or "new invention" that hasn't been done BEFORE, the problem is its very complex when it comes to deciding whether or not a patent is justified based on the merits of the product and UNfortunately all too often people are successfully able to patent a broad but vague "concept " which causes alot of "OMG They Copied My Idea Lawsuits"= BS....in many cases the original patent was *unfocused and never actually used for anything practical or product.= lol, just some guy/group/business who had *future plans but never had a solid product developed because they had NO IDEA HOW to use this "idea" correctly, then years later some SMARTER guy/group company releases a product that works and is NOT based on their idea but is of a similiar concept, they see $$$ signs and of course file a lawsuit claiming thats exactly how their idea works, yet they never even crafted a legitimate product/pratical use for this "idea"....if its indeed a great product/idea most of the time its just easier to settle and go ahead with the product since you know it will make a fortune anyway.

I don't think this is the case with micro's patent in this situation because its very descriptive(hit the link theres alot more info) and it suggests that micro has in fact "developed" a "new technique" for 3rd person camera control.(No matter how detail or descriptive this could translate to a very small difference in control or maybe something really ground breaking, you just can't tell from words until you see how it works) Either way the KEY DIFFERENCE between some of those "BS patents" and this one, is that there its obviously more than just a "concept" that will go unrealized, it was most likely already developed and is designed to be in a actual product(game) that they themselves will at least participate in, in other words its NOT some dead idea/patent only on paper waiting for some other company to use it first just so they can say "OMG you stole my idea." On the positive side patents are great because they do protect those who have a legitimate new idea/product/technique...other wise the "unknown inventor" would never be "known" because big companys would reproduce and sell his creation long before he could WITHOUT a patent and big companys like say Goodyear would never invest in the R&D of "Run Flat" tires if theres nothing to stop Firestone from "copying" the idea without at least paying Goodyear to do so.

In reality Patents actually promote innovation.

JOY