We've heard of universal remotes that can control a variety of household devices. Sony's heard of them too, of course, but what they've recently patented is something that does the same thing for consoles. In short, a universal controller.

The patent describes it as a controller able to "emulate the controllers of popular game consoles, such as…the PlayStation, a controller made by Nintendo, Xbox game controllers made by Microsoft, Amiga CD-32 controllers, Atari Jaguar controllers, Gravis Gamepad controllers, Sega controllers, and Turbographics [sic] controllers."

To achieve that, Sony's concept involves a touch-screen LCD where the various gamepads' controller layouts would be displayed. Only one configuration can be active at a time, but up to three can be stored in the controller. Other possible features are rumble functionality and speakers.

The filing reads further: "It may now be appreciated that among other advantages, the controller provides for backward compatibility so that it may be programmed to emulate the key layout of an older controller that may no longer be available."

Via [GameSpot]

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