Comments on: Guitar Hero Involved in Patent Dispute

By: Olivia Fox

Olivia Fox — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:28:56 +0000

I am very confused about the guitar hero dispute but all i know is if they completely stop making the game i wont care cause i already have it. but anyways it is a good game and i hope they settle the dispute.

By: Microsoft Mum on Alleged Patents Violated « Firefox Extension Guru’s Blog

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 01:24:14 +0000

[...] same could be said for the way they are making these public accusations. When Gibson Guitar claimed patent disputes against Activision’s Guitar Hero series games, they disclosed which patents were [...]

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 02:56:51 +0000

iain010100 wrote:

Doesn’t a patent have to be something very specific, with blueprints, user flowcharts, and applied uses? If so, then the lawsuit hinges on how similar the game is to the Gibson patent. Well, maybe not. Amazon has the “one click” patent. “Click big button once. big thing happens. Duh, I own that.” - Amazon.

The only problem is that patents that are vague are tougher to defend, and I think that is where they will run into a problem.

By: iain010100

iain010100 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 19:17:08 +0000

Doesn’t a patent have to be something very specific, with blueprints, user flowcharts, and applied uses? If so, then the lawsuit hinges on how similar the game is to the Gibson patent.

Well, maybe not. Amazon has the “one click” patent.

“Click big button once. big thing happens. Duh, I own that.” – Amazon.

By: Ashley

Ashley — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:02:11 +0000

Mike wrote:

I would be willing to bet that Gibson’s patent goes back to the days where virtual reality was defined by those devices that wrapped around your head and visualized alternate 3D universes.

Their patent was filed back in 1999 so it's been almost 10 years! A lot has changed since then...

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 23:11:59 +0000

I’m an expert, just not at Guitar Hero I love the games, including Rock Band — which arguably would be more applicable to this lawsuite — but I’m very disappointed with Gibson registering such a superfluous lawsuit. The “music video game” fad is a boon for Activision and MTV Games, but to a lesser degree it is also a boon for guitar manufacturers like Gibson. People who have never considered playing guitar before are going out an buying low-end guitars to play around with because of the natural high they get from playing songs successfully. Granted, playing these games is nowhere near “making music”, but the point is valid. Beyond that, Gibson is going to have a tough sell on this. All Activision has to do is define the term “virtual reality device” and capitalize on the fact that gaming consoles are not, in fact, virtual reality devices. I would be willing to bet that Gibson’s patent goes back to the days where virtual reality was defined by those devices that wrapped around your head and visualized alternate 3D universes.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:46:49 +0000

I’ve played it several times, but for some reason am not all that intrigued by it. I don’t know why, but I was pretty surprised that I didn’t want to rush out and get it like you Carl.

By: CArl

CArl — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 20:33:07 +0000

I am not an expert, but my wife and I love the games. Neither of us was really interested in it until we played a few games of it at my brother’s house over the holidays. We were immediately hooked and we purchased Guitar Hero III around Christmas with a gift card we received. Shortly after that, we purchased the Guitar Hero I and II double pack. We have logged countless hours on all three since then.