I bet, the day before Phil Harrison’s performance evaluation he said something like this to himself, “Oh dear God, why did I have to go and say rumble was a last-gen feature… I knew good and well one day we’d get rumble back. I bet I can kiss that raise goodbye… actually, I hope I get to keep my job!”
Sony settled with Immersion Inc. this year and paved the way for rumble to return to the PS3. Only, we’re still getting last-gen rumble, so maybe they did that just to spite us. You see, rumble in the new DualShock 3 controllers is the exact same technology used by the DualShock 2 and not the new TouchSense technology Immersion said would be cheaper and more versatile to use.
Read more after the jump…
I’m still quite puzzled about how that party works into the equation, but if I had to guess, I’d say the settlement entitled Sony to use the last-gen rumble in some unlimited fashion, but to use TouchSense they’d need to settle their lawsuit and then, completely separately, license the TouchSense rumble. Money’s always the root. Well, with Sony, I’d occasionally suspect hubris, but in general, it’s usually money.
At the end of the day, who frickin’ cares? By all accounts, the DualShock 3 addresses most complaints people had with the SIXAXIS controller short of “making it look, feel, and work exactly like the 360 controller.” The “squeakiness” is gone, the “loss of signal” issue is reportedly not an issue anymore, the rumble (and dozens of new and patched rumble-supporting games) are being applauded by gamers… it looks like one of those situations where the consumer finally won (if you ignore that whole “buying new controllers again” part) and we got what we wanted even though it cost Sony 14 truckloads of cash.
I think the lessons learned are:
- License the appropriate technology if it needs licensing.
- Don’t remove established technology that gamers like.
- Don’t make up goofy-assed reasons for said remova,l if it’s unavoidable. (”we’re in a lawsuit and can’t use the rumble technology” is a completely valid and understandable reason, “it’s last-gen technology” is not),
- And for God’s sake, if you’ve got the option to improve on technology at the same time you’re re-implementing it, DO it… Are we to expect DualShock 4 with TouchSense in 2009?
One last thing Sony… don’t screw with the pricing. Drop the SIXAXIS to $30-$40 and price the DualShock 3 at $50. If you raise the price higher than the already BOHICA-priced $50 mark, you’ll just go and piss people off again.
That’s why the Sony Bringing Rumble Back to the PS3 clocks in at #27 on the Sarcastic Gamer Top 100 Gaming Moments of 2007.
Click here for the rest of Sarcastic Gamer’s Top 100 Gaming Moments from 2007 all in one place!
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9 responses so far ↓
1 Harag // Dec 28, 2007 at 7:48 pm
any one know a release date in north america ?
2 commander121 // Dec 29, 2007 at 6:20 am
i realy find it hard to believe that there is not at least one person looking at what the sony guys are going to say and think of any possible negative effects.
i mean they just say whatever they think is right they dont look how anyone else will interpret what they say now or in the future and by doing that they just shoot themselves in the foot
3 John [Cain141] // Dec 29, 2007 at 1:03 pm
That picture is amazing…
4 Feanor // Dec 29, 2007 at 8:19 pm
Greetings, I’m new.
I don’t see why it’s such a big deal. I always thought rumble was just an annoyance and turned it off. Now a PS3 Turbo Controller… That would be worth buying.
5 Charles // Dec 30, 2007 at 2:41 am
Feanor, you are the FIRST person I have ever heard of that dislikes rumble…
I wonder when the new dual shock 3’s will make it into new ps3’s.
6 Sean "rothbart" Workman // Dec 30, 2007 at 3:22 am
A lot of people are indifferent to rumble and I’ve heard other people say they actively dislike it.
I definitely fall into the “it’d probably take me a while to realize it was gone” crowd… it’s not _that_ important to me. Given the option to have it or not, I’d certainly choose to have it, but it’s no deal breaker to me.
7 Lono // Dec 30, 2007 at 10:08 pm
rumble is a must. IMO. BTW Rothbart, props on the pic. It’s freaking hilarious!
8 Keith K // Dec 31, 2007 at 6:02 am
I dont get it.. is holding a vibrator in each hand arbitrarily appealing to the male population? (Obviously I see the appeal to the ladies…)
I dont see the point.. All rumble has ever offered my gaming is numb palms.
Thanks but I’ll pass.
9 Kermi // Jan 1, 2008 at 4:22 am
Rumble was an annoyance at first, but after dealing with it for six or seven years you adjust. Anyone who picks up a SixAxis controller to play a game and says they prefer or don’t notice the lack of rumble is wrong. Yes, I *am* going so far as to invalidate your opinion, because the fact is a shaking controller helps you in the game. Downplay it all you want by making pointless remarks about holding a vibrator or what have you, but you know . We have been trained to respond to certain stimuli. Remove rumble from that equation after growing accustomed to it and it will be like going colour blind, or turning down the sound effects and listening only to the music.
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