Seguro que aún estáis disfrutando del último lío de patentes con Microsoft denunciando a Immersion.

Aún más os reiréis cuando sepáis que Midway tiene patentado el poner coches fantasmas en los videojuegos. Si, es lo que imagináis, eso que habéis visto en multitud de juegos, desde GT a PGR, pasando por Outrun 2006, NFS, o Ridge Racer.

Y todo por "culpa" de Hard Drivin´, un juego del ´89.



boring. For the most part. Sometimes, though, they're not boring, and can in fact be very, very interesting. This is one of those times. Did you know that Midway hold a series of patents that gives them practical ownership of the concept of recorded "ghosts" in racing games?

It's true! And for years now, companies wanting to include the feature in their own titles have been licensing the idea from Midway. Need for Speed Underground, Project Gotham Racing, Outrun 2006, Ridge Racer 6...all have employed patent #5,577,913, a "System and Method for Driver Training With Multiple Driver Competition".

It all stems from Midway's ownership of the rights to Atari's 1989 Hard Drivin', for which the patent was filed. And while many games pay Midway for the use of the feature, most don't because they don't even know the patent exists. So there you go. Patents can be fun! And interesting!

Después de esto, no me extrañaría que alguien demostrase tener registrado el uso de kimonos blancos en los juegos de lucha, para meterle un buen puro a Capcom por Ryu. Todo esto me recuerda a cuando alguien anunció que tenía patentada la barra de progreso de carga de los programas.