Neowin.net

Sony's Dual Shock controllers are doing more than just rumbling around in gamers' hands these days. They're also shaking up a few corporate accounts. Earlier this week, a new court ruling in favor of technology company Immersion sent shock waves through the hallways of Sony.

San Jose-based Immersion, which owns the patent on technology used for the rumble feature in Sony's Dual Shock controllers, successfully sued the electronics giant for patent infringement in 2002. A jury ordered Sony to pay Immersion $82 million for three years' worth of damages.

On Monday, a California judge ordered Sony to pay Immersion a licensing fee of 1.37 percent per quarter based on the sales of PlayStation units, Dual Shock controllers, and a selection of PlayStation 2 games that use Immersion's technology.

Microsoft, which employs the same rumble technology in the controllers for its Xbox console, avoided a similar lawsuit in 2003 by signing a licensing deal with Immersion in an out-of-court settlement.

News source: GameSpot

SYMPTOMS
After you upgrade from either Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) to Windows XP, the game port devices may not be available.

CAUSE
This problem can occur because the upgrade process has not automatically upgraded the game port devices. The drivers and the configuration of game port devices is different in Windows XP in comparison to Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me.

RESOLUTION
To resolve this problem, add the game port devices after the upgrade process is completed. In Control Panel, double-click Game Controllers, click Add, and then add the devices.

STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION
This problem is known to occur with Microsoft SideWinder Game Pad (a game controller).