Talk about insane and frivolous lawsuits, one company is suing Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo for supposedly using analog joysticks without their permission since the idea of the analog joystick was a patent this company had took out. None of the information really seems to back the company up though, so it seems like someone just trying to cash in big with what they deem to be a clever scam.

From the article:

Were you aware that every single major console maker operating right now is a dirty, criminal enterprise? It's true, if you believe a suit by Fenner Investments (PDF link) which claims that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo are all violating its patent for "a low-voltage joystick port interface," specifically one that converts an analog joystick input into machine-readable digital form.

Never mind that the patent was filed in 1998, years after both Sony and Nintendo had introduced analog joysticks into their PlayStation and Nintendo 64 controllers (and filed patents for the same). Never mind that Microsoft had patented an interface for Windows-based analog controllers in 1997. Never mind that the idea of an analog joystick on a video game console goes at least as far back as the German VC4000 from 1978.

Read the full article over at joystiq.com