Dear Future Gamer

Is it me or are Sony being completely stupid over this whole third party controller affair? I mean, come on. How can a company possibly sue another just because they use the same shapes? If that happened I could quite happily run around and accuse anyone who has a similar zit to the one on my left cheek. What are the third party hardware companies supposed to do - banish the square in favour of a dodecahedron? Or take a third look of a prism just to make Sony happy that they aren't using a circle?

Once companies have to start changing their designation for each button then the instructions mean nothing unless you use a Sony licensed pad. I could understand it if they were kicking off because the ergonomics of the pad were similar, but to start suing companies over shapes is just bonkers. It just sounds like a "Pull the ladder up and sod the rest, Jack" approach. Sony want all the money for themselves and don't want to let anyone else in on the fun.

Now I'm off to take my next door neighbour to court after he raised his eyebrow the same way I do.

Rob Wilson

FG: There's a fine, fine clause in the UK Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988 called 'passing off', which has the following classic definition: "Nobody has the right to represent his goods as the goods of someone else." Whether Sony could argue that third party joypad manufacturers using the familiar PlayStation symbols on their pads are therefore 'passing off' would be down to the copyright solicitors, but it's not an argument I'd like to find myself in the middle of.