Following a ruling in May ordering Nintendo to pay 21million USD to Anascape, a Texas company, a judge denied Nintendo's appeal for a lesser penalty.

This must come as an unfortunate surprise for Nintendo, considering Nintendo spokesman Charlie Scibetta was quoted saying he expected the courts to "significantly" reduce the penalty during appeal.  However, on June 26, a Texas District Court "denied the defendant's motion for a reduced verdict, finding that the jury's award is supported by the evidence."

The lawsuit was originally filed in 2006 against both Nintendo and Microsoft "for twelve different game hardware and controller related patents, primarily centered around the use of force feedback and analogue sensor technology within games controllers," according to Gamasutra.  Microsoft opted to settle with Anascape, but details on this arrangement have not been made available to the public.

Anascape Ltd. sued Nintendo over the technology utilized in GameCube and WaveBird controllers, with the Wii Classic Controller and Wii Remote joining the list of infringements later.  Needless to say, the plaintiffs are pleased with the court's ruling.

"We appreciate the Court's thoughtful consideration in upholding the jury's decision. Although not a giant corporation like Nintendo, Anascape has every right to protect its technology," stated Anascape's lead counsel.