After having a bit too much wine and way too much tofurkey this Thanksgiving, I've decided to make my first ever blog in the history of the universe. Pretty momentous, eh? I can't think of a better time (or condition) to take on the world's greatest dilemma today: did Sony and MS copy Nintendo's motion waggle?

Nintendo did their own thing with the Wii and people made stupid puns and innuendos about the name till-- come to think of it, I don't think that ever stopped. And now 3 years later, Sony and MS are suddenly talking with a different vocabulary, all about intuitive controls, 1:1 motion, immersive gameplay. So a lot of people (including Ninty) alleged that they were copying Ninty; once they saw the success of the Wii and that motion controls are the future, they wanted in.

But allegations that everyone's been ripping off Ninty extend far beyond motion controls to controller design, button placement, etc. In fact, according to Ninty, they are responsible for every single innovation that has ever been made! They've never copied anyone! Sony and MS have ripped off their every move, and motion controls is just part of the pattern. Let's check out what this "pattern" actually amounts to...

~~~~~~~~~~ Exhibit A: Removable Cartridges ~~~~~~~~~~

Just shy of 1980, the Milton Bradley Company released the first ever handheld to feature removable cartridges: the Microvision. Nintendo was still just making Game & Watch handhelds. It wasn't until 1989 that Nintendo finally managed to rip off Microvision with their Game Boy system featuring the innovative removable cartridge!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exhibit B: The D-Pad ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The very first company to ever put a true four-directional d-pad on their controller was again the pioneering Milton Bradley Company with their Cosmic Hunter Microvision handheld in 1980/81. Nintendo was quicker about ripping them off with this one, and featured a D-pad on some of their Game & Watch handhelds by 1982.

~~~~~~ Exhibit C: The Modern Stick Control Thingy ~~~~~~

Nintendo was already paying close attention to the Microvision, eager to rip off the next new design feature. It should come as no surprise then that when the guy who designed the Microvision went on to design the Vectrex with the first ever modern self-centering analog stick, Ninty was ready with their tracing paper. Well, apparently not quite so ready, because it took them 14 years to get their rip-off out the door, and it had inferior non-analog technology (not to mention poor placement) on their N64 controller.

(Ninty also ripped off the gamepad that the Vectrex had with their NES controller. Oh hey, check that out. Analog stick on the left and buttons on the right. Hmmm... interesting design choice. Where did we see that later on in history?)

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exhibit D: 3D Virtual Reality ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another rip-off of the Vectrex. The Vectrex 3D Imager. It beat out the Virtual Boy by over a decade.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exhibit E: The Light Gun ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In 1936, the Seeburg Corporation released the "Ray-o-Lite", which was a light gun game that allowed you to shoot ducks.

In 1984, Nintendo released "Duck Hunt" for the NES, which was a light gun game that allowed you to shoot ducks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exhibit F: Rumble ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In 1997, CH Products released the Force FX - the first controller with rumble. Later that year, Nintendo released a rumble pak add-on to their N64 controller. Sony shamed them both some months later by releasing the DualShock, which not only had built-in rumble, but had two different types of rumble motors to give a wider range of force feedback. It took Nintendo 4 years after Sony to release a controller with built-in rumble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ Exhibit G: Touch Controls ~~~~~~~~~~~~

People were tapping their styluses on PalmPilot touchscreens to play games way back in 1997 - long before they picked up a DS.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Exhibit H: Motion Controls ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here we are! Moment of truth. It makes no sense to talk as if Sony recently copied the Wii's controls after seeing its success. After all, Sony was already giving press interviews about a motion controller that recognises gestures with a camera in 2003, and filed a patent in 2004.

The one who is truly getting ripped off here was Microsoft. That's right. Microsoft.

Back in 1999, Microsoft released the Sidewinder FreeStyIePro, which reviewers received as a highly innovative and first-ever motion-sensitive game controller.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Conclusion ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So I guess this Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for all the companies who came up with the innovative ideas that Ninty ripped off and now pretend that they invented.

Maybe if we all realised just how much every company copies others, we wouldn't get so resentful and bicker-y over whether the Wand and Natal are a copy of the Wiimote and who's copying whom, and instead, come to a common agreement that --- regardless of who started this --- it's a stupid direction we're going in.