Sony, Immersion in talks to get SIXAXIS rumbling

Man, hasn't this one been a rollercoaster? After months in the courtroom, large sums of money being resentfully exchanged, and Immersion laughing all the way to the bank, it seems like the two firms have finally got over their beef with one another and are ready to make things happen -- officially. This slowly developing friendship has been waiting in the works for some time now, but according to a reported blurb by Sony's US PR head honcho Dave Karraker, the company is "currently in discussions with Immersion on how it can incorporate their technologies into Sony's products," but unfortunately, he concluded by informing us that "no timetable was set." Still, the inclusion of rumble features on PSOne and PS2 dual shock controllers in the latest PS3 firmware all but substantiate the post-lawsuit relationship, so we can't imagine (okay, so we can) this debacle dragging out too much longer.

[Via PS3Fanboy]

[Andrew Baisden @ Apr 27th 2007 10:19AM]

YAY that is great news maybe with the replace your remote if batteries die plan will work if i let my remotes batteries die then i can get a free rumbling sixaxis

[Fuzz @ Apr 27th 2007 10:23AM]

Buh Buh Buh . . But Sony said that it was IMPOSSIBLE too have motion sensing AND rumble, and that the lawsuit had nothing to do with it. Could Sony have lied? Umpossible!

[Joshua Campbell @ Apr 27th 2007 9:14PM]

Gotcha Bitch

I HAVE A PS3 AND YOU DON'T LALALALALA

[Frankenstein Black @ Apr 27th 2007 10:27AM]

FREE UPGRADE? Hey man, I paid a GRIP for that PS3! The least you can do (Sony) is comp us early adoptors ;^)...

[nigel @ Apr 27th 2007 10:36AM]

Its always nice to see smug corporations eat crow :)

[Matt @ Apr 27th 2007 10:40AM]

If they can filter the rumble out (i.e. low-pass filter on the accelerometer(s)) they can have rumble and motion sensing.

[Andrew @ Apr 27th 2007 11:02AM]

@fuzz

Sony will HAVE to have SEPERATE controllers, or something not attached to the controller its self. I remember Sony C L E A R L Y stating that it was indeed unpossible. haha Nice to see them slowly pulling their heads out of their...

But yeah, I knew PS3 wouldnt last long without rumble, thats why I bought one anyway, BEFORE they took out the PS2 chips (hoorah for backwards compatibility!)

[Keith @ Apr 27th 2007 11:47AM]

Sony: "No rumble for the PS3"
Internet: "OMG NO RUMBLE WTF ADD RUMBLE SONY!"

Sony: "We are bringing you rumble for PS3"
Internet: "OMG RUMBLE WTF SONY!"

You just can't win versus the internet. The last boss is too hard.

[404error @ Apr 27th 2007 11:57AM]

I thought rumble was last gen?

[ssuk @ Apr 27th 2007 12:07PM]

RUMBLE IS SO LAST GENERATION

[Manuel @ Apr 27th 2007 12:36PM]

and still kicks ass on gears of wars !!

[Revels @ Apr 27th 2007 12:28PM]

Rumble added, +1 sale.

[louie @ Apr 27th 2007 12:39PM]

Rumble was so annyoing. It also killed the battery life on the wireless controllers. I was very happy to find out the new controllers had no rubmle to turn off.

[Andune @ Apr 27th 2007 12:59PM]

Sony introduces Mumble!
This revolutionary invention is the product by over ten years of engineering to combine Motion and Rumble.

Everybody knows that plain old rumble just doesn't work.

Name may have been inspired by a web comic, http://www.fanboys-online.com/comic.php?cid=85

[Fatass of Kickassness @ Apr 27th 2007 2:55PM]

Fanboys Online = teh suck.

[Brian @ Apr 27th 2007 2:14PM]

Actually, despite a contentious beginning Sony has shown a willingness to listen to customers. They have been much more fluid then they normally are. This shows that they ARE listening to their customers and trying to improve their relationship with their fans. I think it's admirable.

[Keith @ Apr 27th 2007 6:58PM]

I agree 100%

[Thundernad @ Apr 27th 2007 2:29PM]

@louie & Brian

Whatever helps you guys sleep at night.

[Aaron @ Apr 27th 2007 2:49PM]

What should Sony have said??? PS3 doesn't have rumble because we're locked in a legal dispute. Not exactly a marketing strategy FTW. Instead, they tried to stress the motion-sensing capabilities of the SIXAXIS, in the hopes that everyone would forget about rumble. Well, it didn't work...Sony got taken to the cleaners, and most everyone hates SIXAXIS and wants rumble. A calculated risk, but that's what happens in business. You XBots are to Sony as the Democratic Underground is to Bush. Sony LIED, kids DIED!!!!! Let it go already.

[Lamond Lee @ Apr 27th 2007 2:57PM]

Don't know what Sony was thinking when they decided to take the rumble out of the SIXAXIS in the first place, but hey what do I know? I'm just a crackhead anyway. LOL.

[James @ Apr 27th 2007 5:15PM]

INCONCEIVABLE!

I do not that that word means, what you think it means.


Seriously, I wonder what amazing technological breakthrough Sony made that granted them the ability to graft rumble into a motion-sensitive controller. Maybe they took apart a Wiimote?

[myscrnnm @ Apr 27th 2007 6:50PM]

"Buh Buh Buh . . But Sony said that it was IMPOSSIBLE too have motion sensing AND rumble, and that the lawsuit had nothing to do with it. Could Sony have lied? Umpossible!"

They didn't say that having both is impossible. They said that including both motion-sensing and force feedback would cause interference with the motion-sensing when the controller rumbled.

[wyatt.smith @ Apr 27th 2007 8:04PM]

Keith - great comment!

Hopefully it will be a selectable option. I for one would love to see rumble for certain games. For example, I can't imagine playing any baseball game without rumble now that I've experienced how well it integrates with the pitching (the closer the invisible aiming point is to the outside corner, the more it rumbles).

Of course, there are plenty of offerings in which the rumble does nothing for me and I'd rather turn it off to conserve batteries.

I just hope that a third-party vendor will offer Bluetooth controllers with rumble that synch to the PS3 for less than the inevitable $60 that the OEM will charge.

[icepop4who @ Apr 27th 2007 11:31PM]

Sony is taking a XBOX360/HDMI approach to this problem. I guess we'll see a new PS3 Platinum or something a year later with 200GB hard drive, a silver finish, and rumble.