Nintendo of America has been ordered to pay a small east Texas gaming company $21 million. Apparently the US heavyweight was infringing on a patent while designing controllers for Wii and GameCube.

The Associated Press reports that a federal jury ruled in favour of Anascape Ltd. (quiet at the back).

The lawsuit was originally filed way back in 2006. A Nintendo spokesman said the company will seek an appeal and expects the court to reduce the award "significantly."

Looks like the whole thing's about motion control too, with the jury finding that Nintendo infringed on Anascape's patent while designing its Wii Classic, WaveBird and GameCube controllers.

Nintendo said it was pleased no infringement was found with the motion-sensing technology used in its Wii and Nunchuk controllers. Though they may have reminded Anascape where to look next.

Anascape also sued Microsoft for patent infringements on game controllers but reached an agreement with the company before the start of the trial against Nintendo. Terms of that deal are still being kept under lock and key.

Courtesy of CVG.

May 15, 2008