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Forums - Nintendo - Judge halves $30 million patent damages against Nintendo because 3DS isn't profitable

The 3DS hardware has been breaking even since last July:

http://www.destructoid.com/nintendo-no-longer-selling-3ds-at-a-loss-231943.phtml

There's no way the hardware is not currently profitable. How much is anyone's guess, but in any case this reasoning is just weird to me. Perhaps the lawsuit's validity only accounted for a certain time frame when the system wasn't profitable? Who knows...

EDIT: Just read BlkPaladin's post and that actually makes a lot of sense. That's got to be the case.



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They built a high quality durable system, what the hell else did anyone expect? They expected this thing to have a software attach rate into the stratosphere, where they'll make their ROI. Toss in downloadable games and the fact that Nintendo titles don't get traded in often to gamestop which means they'll print Mario Kart 7 for a decade after they made the title.

They know what they're doing, this news isn't anything worth while.



kupomogli said:
Didn't Nintendo make a statement that the Wii U is the only console they've sold that they lose money on each console and it's required to sell atleast one game to make a profit?

I think the judge was ruling it based on the money that the 3DS makes alone and they're not including the software, which is a bit ridiculous since Nintendo is making money on everything, not just the console.

@bolded: No, it's not ridiculous at all. The lawsuit was regarding the 3-D display technology patent regarding the hardware, not Nintendo's software.



archbrix said:
kupomogli said:
Didn't Nintendo make a statement that the Wii U is the only console they've sold that they lose money on each console and it's required to sell atleast one game to make a profit?

I think the judge was ruling it based on the money that the 3DS makes alone and they're not including the software, which is a bit ridiculous since Nintendo is making money on everything, not just the console.

@bolded: No, it's not ridiculous at all. The lawsuit was regarding the 3-D display technology patent regarding the hardware, not Nintendo's software.

Software that takes advantage of this 3D technology, the selling point of the console.  While many didn't buy the console for the 3D, Nintendo was pushing it as a selling point, so it's a selling point, and since Nintendo infringed on a patent, the owner of the patent should be compensated for everything that makes use of that patent, including the games that utilize that 3D effect.



kupomogli said:
archbrix said:
kupomogli said:
Didn't Nintendo make a statement that the Wii U is the only console they've sold that they lose money on each console and it's required to sell atleast one game to make a profit?

I think the judge was ruling it based on the money that the 3DS makes alone and they're not including the software, which is a bit ridiculous since Nintendo is making money on everything, not just the console.

@bolded: No, it's not ridiculous at all. The lawsuit was regarding the 3-D display technology patent regarding the hardware, not Nintendo's software.

Software that takes advantage of this 3D technology, the selling point of the console.  While many didn't buy the console for the 3D, Nintendo was pushing it as a selling point, so it's a selling point, and since Nintendo infringed on a patent, the owner of the patent should be compensated for everything that makes use of that patent, including the games that utilize that 3D effect.

I disagree.  I'm sure it was argued that the 3D selling point was for the 3DS hardware.  The software is not reliant upon the 3D panel to run, selling point or not.  And as you said, there's no way to prove that the 3DS was bought solely for the 3D.  If word around the internet is to be taken seriously, it largely was not.

Furthermore, it also depends on how the lawsuit was filed.  From what I've read, Tomita sued specifically for patent infringement - probably because he knew he had a case for that and wanted to win.  If Nintendo infringed on a patent for a specific technology then they should pay up for that, but fortunately in this case it was limited to that, as it should be IMO.



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3DS is not profitable? Holy shit.



kupomogli said:
archbrix said:
kupomogli said:
Didn't Nintendo make a statement that the Wii U is the only console they've sold that they lose money on each console and it's required to sell atleast one game to make a profit?

I think the judge was ruling it based on the money that the 3DS makes alone and they're not including the software, which is a bit ridiculous since Nintendo is making money on everything, not just the console.

@bolded: No, it's not ridiculous at all. The lawsuit was regarding the 3-D display technology patent regarding the hardware, not Nintendo's software.

Software that takes advantage of this 3D technology, the selling point of the console.  While many didn't buy the console for the 3D, Nintendo was pushing it as a selling point, so it's a selling point, and since Nintendo infringed on a patent, the owner of the patent should be compensated for everything that makes use of that patent, including the games that utilize that 3D effect.


If you would take your Sony goggles of for just a second: ", and the vast majority of games designed for it do not use technology covered by Tomita's patent."

Right in the op !



How the fuck is the 3DS not profitable?



DamnTastic said:
How the fuck is the 3DS not profitable?


It is.  Don't listen to Nintedo's lies.