The Wii Remote, the Wii Balance board, the Wii itself, Wii Fit, Wii Fit Plus, the Wii Wheel, Wii MotionPlus, Wii Nunchuck and Wii Zapper. What do all of these have in common, other than the word "Wii"?
If you answered that Nintendo are currently being sued because of all of them, then you should award yourself a self-adhesive star, as a company called IA Labs (or Powergrid Fitness) have filed a lawsuit against Nintendo, claiming patent infringement.
Courtesy of Gamastura come details of the suit, which covers just about every peripheral Nintendo have ever released.
Apparently, Nintendo and IA Labs were in discussions over licensing the latter's fitness based technology in 2007 - specifically, the "Computer interactive isometric exercise system and method for operatively interconnecting the exercise system to a computer system for use as a peripheral" and "Force measurement system for an isometric exercise device." Pretty serious stuff.
IA Labs have produced several fitness based controllers in the past, including one known as the Sqweeze, which was intended to come out on the Wii. Concentrating on full body workouts, the company certainly isn't a slouch, as its products have previously won awards at the Consumer Electronics Show, in Los Angeles.
The Sqweeze. Doesn't exactly strike us as being the most Wii Fit-like peripheral out there, in all honesty. Looks pretty fun though - just look at how impressed the one on the right looks. You can't fake that sort of a smile.
IA Labs is seeking an injunction, and damages against Nintendo - and though we don't expect this will really cause Nintendo that many problems, it'll probably hit them in the pocket, in the form of an out of court settlement.
