BornOfFire
07-28-2007, 02:20 PM
Trolling the United States Patent and Trademark Office (http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html) website has numerous benefits. Not only does it kill time and enrich the mind, it also occasionally reveals curious monstrosities like this:
http://www.thegamehabit.com/imagehosting/146aba4aaa41cc.jpg
Sony Computer Entertainment America filed the patent application for the "control docking unit (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20070174531&OS=20070174531&RS=20070174531)" on September 22, 2005, but the patent application just appeared online yesterday. According to the abstract, the docking unit is designed to "provide alternate control operation of the portable processing unit" and "can be a wired or wireless communication link."
What does this all mean? Kotaku, who broke the story, speculates that the link will allow the PSP to dock onto a PlayStation 2 controller, but the mention of it being either a wired or wireless connection makes us think the PlayStation 3 Sixaxis controller is involved. Connecting the charging port of the Sixaxis to, say, the TV output port on the new PSP Model could theoretically allow gamers to control specially-designed PSP titles with a pair of analog sticks. Sadly, all of this is speculation, as the patent application and the above image raise many more questions than answers. As the image is merely a mock-up, the actual product (should Sony follow through with such a plan) may not even resemble that stack of plastic in any way. At the very least, this proves that Sony is continually exploring its options for brand synergy, and we're curious to see what comes of it (if anything).
http://www.thegamehabit.com/imagehosting/146aba4aaa41cc.jpg
Sony Computer Entertainment America filed the patent application for the "control docking unit (http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PG01&s1=20070174531&OS=20070174531&RS=20070174531)" on September 22, 2005, but the patent application just appeared online yesterday. According to the abstract, the docking unit is designed to "provide alternate control operation of the portable processing unit" and "can be a wired or wireless communication link."
What does this all mean? Kotaku, who broke the story, speculates that the link will allow the PSP to dock onto a PlayStation 2 controller, but the mention of it being either a wired or wireless connection makes us think the PlayStation 3 Sixaxis controller is involved. Connecting the charging port of the Sixaxis to, say, the TV output port on the new PSP Model could theoretically allow gamers to control specially-designed PSP titles with a pair of analog sticks. Sadly, all of this is speculation, as the patent application and the above image raise many more questions than answers. As the image is merely a mock-up, the actual product (should Sony follow through with such a plan) may not even resemble that stack of plastic in any way. At the very least, this proves that Sony is continually exploring its options for brand synergy, and we're curious to see what comes of it (if anything).