Report: Sony Working on PS3 Controller With Rumble

Good vibrations may soon be returning to the PlayStation 3

Rumbling controllers, a feature Sony introduced in its original PlayStation – later standard issue with all PlayStation 2s – suddenly disappeared on the PlayStation 3. The reason for that was Sony’s legal battle with Immersion over the patent rights to force feedback controllers. Immersion eventually won over the courts, forcing Sony to ditch vibration from its SIXAXIS PS3 controllers.

Understandably, Sony’s public stance was to downplay the importance of rumble in its controllers. Phil Harrison, president of SCE Worldwide, referred to rumble as not a next-generation feature, while Kaz Hirai, then-president and CEO of SCEA, said that it would have been difficult to incorporate both vibration and motion sensing technologies into the SIXAXIS.

Then everything changed when Sony and Immersion settled their legal differences and entered into a licensing agreement that would allow the use of force feedback technology in Sony controller products. Following the announcement between the two companies, SCEA’s Jack Tretton said in an interview that the company was open to changing the SIXAXIS controller.

According to a report on Innerbits, Sony sources are saying that the company has been working on new controller prototypes for several months. One challenge currently facing a possibly new controller is the issue of battery life. The current lithium-ion cell inside the SIXAXIS was never designed to have to power both the Bluetooth wireless as well as a set of rumble motors.

Technical issues aside, Sony may also be trying to solve the matter of how to present a revised controller to consumers, especially to those who have already purchased a PlayStation 3 and additional controllers.

Several game developers have expressed their longing for the rumble feature, even if that means giving up motion sensing. When asked about the motion sensing on the SIXAXIS, Pete Hines of Bethesda Softworks said, “I think that its value depends upon the game. It didn't make sense on Oblivion but I'm sure there are some games it does make sense on. To be honest I would rather have the rumble instead of the SIXAXIS motion stuff.”

Guy Wilday, head of Sega Racing Studio, said, “Tilt control's not difficult to do… Fundamentally, though, the whole tilt control thing is rubbish. It's no compensation for [the lack of] rumble.”

It’s still currently unknown when or how Sony plans to roll out its new controllers, though it might be before the release of God of War 3. SCEA Santa Monica studios game director Cory Barlog said to a crowd at the 2007 Games Developer Conference that the next-generation God of War on PS3 will be in 1080p with motion and vibration support.

Reference:Marcus Yam,dailytech