A new patent filed by Sony has been uncovered, describing a fluid-filled electronic device which can be folded or rolled up, yet can be flattened out and made rigid when electric current is applied. The patent suggests it could be used for PDAs, cell phones, remote controls, and clocks, as well as game systems. This is the example they give:

"The electrorheological fluid device can be applied to, for example, part of a controller of a home-use game machine as another example of the electronic apparatus of the present invention. A user touches a control section of the controller by fingers, and the feeling of touch is controlled by the electrorheological fluid device. For example, if a game player is defeated in a fighting game, the electrorheological fluid device is controlled to become soft in order to improve the realistic sensations in the game."

And to be honest I don't know what the hell that means. You get beaten in a fighting game, so your controller goes squishy? How is that useful? This undoubtedly has some cool applications, but games aren't one of them. Sony's probably just stretching to cover all the bases they can so they can sue anyone who tries to use anything remotely similar in the future.

Source: Gamespot