Rumor has it the PS3's SIXAXIS ready to rumble this year

While it's indeed completely plausible -- even likely -- that we'll see rumble in the SIXAXIS this year courtesy of Sony's new deal with Immersion, it's also important to remember there are many kinds of rumor, and the type that originates from internet message boards, well, just don't say we didn't clarify where this one came from. According to a GameFAQs posting, the new issue of PSM itself is supposedly publishing what they too identify as a rumor that Sony's set to announce SIXAXIS rumble for the PS3 at E3 in July, which will have new controllers land on November 13th. So hey take this rumor within a rumor how you will, but Sony's got to announce something at E3, don't they?

[Via Joystiq]

[hartmania @ May 25th 2007 1:27PM]

here we go again with the false rumors. didn't learn much from the iphone did you...

[marc.federico @ May 25th 2007 12:51PM]

LOL are you freaking kidding me. This is news? A rumor, RUMOR about Sony putting rumble in their controllers. RUMBLE?! Every controller has had it since the N64 rumble pack what were they thinking. And now battery life = 1/2 for these controllers too. Sony you suck.

[Jeff Stoelker @ May 25th 2007 12:54PM]

Sony give up. PS3 has zero good games. Only good single platform games would be GT5, and Tekken 5.

Well they all got delayed. woohoo what else is new.

Xbox 360 FTW!!

[Jeff Stoelker @ May 25th 2007 12:55PM]

btw... only strength for PS3 is the bluray. until bluray drives come down in price what is the purpose of a 360 :-\

ps3 download rate is trash. takes too long to download simple patches, and demos or games.

[saboola @ May 25th 2007 12:55PM]

I wonder if there will be any kind of upgrade program for people that have the non rumble controllers, or if they will get shafted for being early adopters?

[paloooz @ May 25th 2007 1:00PM]

Buy new rumble controllers?

It's all software controlled... A firmware update + new controllers will surely be all you have to do.

[saboola @ May 25th 2007 1:22PM]

So buy four new controllers for something the PS3 should have had all along? Thats 160 bucks! Now you are only 90 dollars away from getting a Wii.

[Disposable Pet @ May 25th 2007 1:44PM]

You'll need to buy new controllers, not just wait for a firmware update.

Rumble works by using one or more motors with unbalanced weights. As the motors spin, the unbalanced weight shakes the controller. If the motors and their weights don't exist (as is the case with the Sixaxis), there's nothing to rumble.

Open up your wallets or grab your parents' credit cards. If you want rumble, you're going to have to pay.

[Nfinity @ May 25th 2007 1:00PM]

So, let me get this right, I have to spend addition $50 per controller just to get something that I already have on both Wii and X360?

Jesus, Sony just doesn't have a clue. But I guess they shouldn't worry as long as there are Sony fans that will shell out money just to support Sony even though it's completely idiotic.

[Ron Amadeo @ May 25th 2007 1:02PM]

Meh, PS3 owners are prolly used to being shafted. They paid $600, remember?

[dynamicD @ May 25th 2007 1:10PM]

I do think $600 is a lot for a console but, I do feel that I got wat I paid for. At the least $600 is very cheap for a BluRay player, combine that with video game player and now a full-on media center. Don't you have to pay for a monthly service with for online gameplay with xbox? The wii doesn't play DVD's. Again $600 dollars is a lot but, it also does a lot.

[Nfinity @ May 25th 2007 1:25PM]

dynamicD,

I have ALL three. the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 and I can tell you that first, with XBox 360 Live you don't have to PAY, Silver membership is free and you can do a lot of things. On the other hand if you want better features you pay. $50 for a year is not a HUGE deal.

PS3 has NUMEROUS problems. Maybe some will be fixed with 1.8 upgrade but, it's completely flawed machine. Yeah it plays Blu-Ray (that's what I got it for), but how would you describe PS3 then? It should be gaming console first right? And people are buying it for movies? There's something wrong there if it's true.

No games that I would get excited for 6 months after release. Hmm...pretty lame. I paid over $800 for PS3 with cables and crap and what do I get? BluRay player and I bought 3 games that are worth anything on PS3 console.

It takes freakin' 10 minutes going through menus to pair your bluetooth remote and other accessories + don't even get me started with controllers. Plain and simple ripoff. And how do they solve the battery thing, they force you charge controllers via USB cable.

There's even more and more problems, but it will take me a while to go into all of them. PS3 is nothing more then a slapped together multicore PC with Blu-Ray drive. You can see this because you have to INSTALL games, you have to RESTART and INSTALL updates and patches and so on and so on.

But all this aside. The bottom line is, I am NOT enjoying PS3 at ALL. Is it a smooth experience? NO it's not. Is it a smooth experience with Wii? YOU BET, but the only quality with Wii lies in the unique controllers! is it a smooth experience with X360? HELL YES!

Having all 3, I can say that X360 takes the first spot in everything. Graphics, games, accessories, online service etc etc. All in all a well rounded system and a true GAMING console. Yeah you pay for more things but the console is $299 to boot, you don't have to buy ANYTHING to play quality games and that's all that counts.

I still have a bitter taste in my mouth after spending money on PS3 that gave me nothing but super slow downloads (why? who knows why), lack of titles, lack of vibrating joysticks :) , lack of quality service (I'm waiting for Home to evaluate, but it's still not out) and so many small other annoying things.

And on top of everything, they are saying, oh we'll include RUMBLE after they were BSing everyone how vibration is completely OUT and the new motion sensor is in. Complete stupidity.

I don't know, me personally, I have Xbox 360 in my room, the Wii, the PS3 and the media center PC connected to everything and I'll tell you, I actually prefer having X360 + Media Center combination then having PS3 for everything. You just get a lot more X360/separate PC combination.

[Ordeith @ May 25th 2007 1:16PM]

The 360 was a media center from day one. It still has better codec cupport than the PS3, although with transcoding that isn't the big deal it could be.

The 360 has integrated messenger support, a VOD marketplace, and Live.

Live is < $4/month.

[dynamicD @ May 25th 2007 1:55PM]

ok..how much is the xbox 360 or xbox elite? I'm not bashing any consoles. I have a wii and a PS3. I'm just saying, I do feel that it does what I paid for it. If you think about it if some one was really into High definition, and wanted to get a bluray player. Why wouldn't you get a PS3? It's cheaper than a stand alone player and does so much more? Ok live is $4 a month. If you plan on playing online for the life of the console does that come out the price difference of the xbox and PS3? Say, they don't come out with another console for about 10 years, that's about $480 to play online...

[dynamicD @ May 25th 2007 1:38PM]

why did you buy both? You've point out which is better in your opition and if money is obviously not an issue, why are you complaining...I see the PS3 and Xbox kinda the same. High Definition entertainment system. I totally disagree with the fact that people will avoid the PS3 as a bluray player. If I wanted a bluray player, saving a few hundred out weights me saying, I want a blureay player only.

[hartmania @ May 25th 2007 1:26PM]

here we go again with the rumors from an unreliable source. didn't learn much from the iphone story did you....

[Totalfixation @ May 25th 2007 1:31PM]

I am such a 360 fan boy but you have to admit, they were kind of shafted when it came to the immersion dispute. i think immersion was asking a little too much from Sony simply because Sony is a big company, but then again Sony was too uptight about paying up for something they infringed on. And to reiterate, bad mistakes Sony has done, betamax, minidisc, memorystick(depends), rumble pack dispute, and i hope bluray.

BTW I wanted to point out if anyone of you guy think there is a catch 22 with Sony and blu-ray. Suppose blu ray's cost of production were to drop, but sony's ps3 is set at $600 and they don't plan on dropping the price because of the lost for each console sold. Since Sony wants to sell more PS3 and one of the best selling point is that it is the cheapest blu-ray player around. So Sony doesn't want single blu-ray players to be lower than the PS3 anytime soon or else causing them to lose sales to single blu-ray players. If they went that route it could cause an over all lost of sales to HD-DVDs. but if they do allow single players to be lower then there PS3, they could lose a lot of potential sales on the PS3. Some of you will say well its not just that but games will help the sale of ps3s, i just don't see it doing enough, I'm just thinking this in the immediate future, as many are speculating that Walmart will be selling dirt cheap HD-DVDs Players, So any thought guys?

[Jimmy @ May 25th 2007 4:10PM]

@Totalfixation
"And to reiterate, bad mistakes Sony has done, betamax, minidisc, memorystick(depends), rumble pack dispute, and i hope bluray."

Please can we put these stupid comments to rest? Of the items you list the only one that can in any reality be called a mistake is the 'force feedback' issue and even that is arguable. If you want to say that Sony made mistakes with these technologies then I will support you.

Betamax did not beat out VHS as the dominant home recording device this is true; however, it cannot be classified as a mistake. Betamax was manufactured by Sony for 27 years. Betamax technology lead to Betacam which was the industry standard for video recording, production, and presentation throughout the 80s and 90s. Betacam is still being used and sold today but is starting to be replaced by hard drive solutions. Also you can thank Betamax and Sony for giving you the ability to legally time-shift your television shows.

Minidisc is now in year 15 of production. Last year they sold about 150 million blank discs and over 4 million players. On top of this let us remember that this device was allowing users to compress audio from CDs onto very small players nearly a decade before the iPod was released. The ATRAC encodings still compare very well with both AAC and MP3 even though the format is considerably older. Finally there is Hi-MD which allows for lossless CD encoding. I know its a hard concept but a long time ago - last century - MD was a revolutionary product that is still being used.

Memorystick was introduced in 98 and is now available in several variations. The only other major flash memory devices that have been around this long are CF and SD. At this point Sticks are being made by Sony, Sandisk, and Lexar. Compared to many of the other flash formats that have come and gone - the Memorystick is doing just fine.

Criticism is great but unjustified criticism pisses me off.

[Grey Acumen @ May 25th 2007 1:33PM]

Normally, I'd be kinda laughing at this too. But I have to admit, the sony bashing has almost gotten redundant at this point. Sony is off to a really bad start, but I'll admit they're at least working to address the issues that people have with the system.
Bluray hasn't flopped yet, it's actually doing surprisingly well, even if it's not dominating the market as some would have you claim, it's at least keeping up neck and neck with HD-DVD, and shows potential for expansion(which may or may not be taken advantage of)

As far as this whole rumble thing goes, my only concern is with the games already released for PS3... but then again, there's not much of an exclusive library just yet, so it may even be possible that the whole lack of content thing is to Sony's benefit, since the games that are actually looking good, but haven't been released yet won't suffer the lack of rumble feature's issue.

I have two main questions here. One being that if the developers have been including rumble features with games for the PS3 (after all, many of them are ports of 360, or vica versa) would we know? I'm wondering if maybe some of the games already released will show up with rumble, now that it's actually an option.
The other question is will this allow PS2 games on the PS3 to make use of their rumble features?

I do feel like Early sony adopters are getting screwed out of all of this, but you could say the same thing for early 360 adopters now that the elite has come out. Of course, you could also say that DS adopters got screwed too when the DS lite came out. So far Wii hasn't, but there was that whole article about eventually having plans for the Wii to be able to play DVDs, though that's not as big of an issue, since most people have a DVD player anyway.

Either way, I can see why people are bashing the fact that there's a problem like this in the first place, but I'd just feel kinda lame bashing someone when they're FIXING a problem. I think if you find yourself doing that, then maybe you really are biased against a system.

I'm still not going to pay $600 for 1080p when I still have a regular 20" CRT TV, but it looks like Sony is actually working to fix their problems and may actually be competitive by late 07 to early 08. At least with the 360. Wii is still going to own everyone.

[paloooz @ May 25th 2007 2:48PM]

Maybe you should re-read my comment. :-)

[paloooz @ May 25th 2007 2:51PM]

Well, now that I look at it that could be taken two ways. The question mark is what throws it off ...


Question, "How do I get rumble?"

My response, "I don't know ... buy new controllers and update your firmware?"


Do you see what I meant now? :-)

[Polo Man @ May 25th 2007 1:44PM]

Hmmm. Sounds interesting...

[Totalfixation @ May 25th 2007 1:55PM]

To comment on "Grey Acumen"

I do feel like Early sony adopters are getting screwed out of all of this, but you could say the same thing for early 360 adopters now that the elite has come out. Of course, you could also say that DS adopters got screwed too when the DS lite came out. So far Wii hasn't, but there was that whole article about eventually having plans for the Wii to be able to play DVDs, though that's not as big of an issue, since most people have a DVD player anyway.


First off the elite, is nothing different from the premium, your paying more, so your getting more. Similar to that of a buying a computer. your paying more to get a larger hard drive, having it black, and HDMI. The actual game play is what is important. nothing has changed on the game play of the 360 elite. Your comparison to the DS and DS lite, again your paying more for a better monitor if you compare it to a computer. Game play hasn't changed, just that its brighter and longer battery life. And again the WII when they release a new DVD player for the WII, its software based. So that doesn't limit the current owners. What Sony is doing is changing the actual gameplay of the user.

[Andir3.0 @ May 25th 2007 2:05PM]

I'm not going to buy new controllers because I don't want rumble. I say Sony ships the new consoles with whatever new feedback system Immersion sold them on and anyone that currently has a PS3 just needs to justify the cost of feedback. Is it worth it to you? Does it improve your game play by $50 or whatever the controller costs? Nobody is forcing you to buy new controllers. Only YOU are doing that.

Quit all your bitching. If your Sony, your damned if you do and your damned if you don't.

[Phil @ May 25th 2007 2:43PM]

Oh boy.....what a truely hilarious bunch of comments! Way to go 360 guys!
It always amuses me how venomous some of the comments are regarding this so called 'Next-Gen War'. Oh dear. Let's face it, all giant corporations have 'issues' that wind us up. I for one love my PS3 but I'm not going to defend it as if my life depends on it. As for E3, I think there will be an announcement about a little game called Killzone........just saying, don't mean anything by it....just saying....now take a deep breath....and relax. :)

[Evan @ May 25th 2007 2:58PM]

I must admit that I am increasingly impressed with Sony. They are steadily improving everything that people complained about in the PS3, and they are able to do it without core hardware changes -- this shows good design work on the console itself. Microsoft, on the other hand, has still not fixed the things I dislike most about the 360, namely the deafening fan noise and the frequent hardware problems. And Microsoft's fixes will require changes to the core console itself -- this shows sloppiness in the basic console design by Microsoft.

[Mark Gillespie @ May 25th 2007 4:01PM]

It's no big deal (despite the XBots making it out to be). There will always be a market for non-rumble SixAxis for owners who want to double up controllers.

Sell the non-rumble on ebay, buy new rumble. Lose $20. No big deal. The price difference would would have paid extra for in the first place...

[Totalfixation @ May 25th 2007 4:37PM]

The point i was making wasn't That betamax is not better as VHS or that minidisc is still in production and still making money for sony, or even the memory stick being produce by many companies such as sandisk, lexar. The point I was trying to make was that its proprietary to every other device out there. Why do we have this issue with DRM ? because we cant use them on the device we like to use, clear example is the apple ipod, music purchase on itunes cant be played on anything else other then apple's ipod though its doing very well people are beginning to complain alot about the DRM issues. I know you cant completely compare it to what Sony is doing but, reason why i do no like any of the media format Sony has been offering is that i have to put out more to get the same thing as a open format. reason why I and many others do not like Sony. I use to be enjoy buying sony's products because of there style, but when a company tries to squeeze more money of you for the simply extra, I just hate it.

[jou @ May 25th 2007 5:37PM]

"So, let me get this right, I have to spend addition $50 per controller just to get something that I already have on both Wii and X360?"

Yeah, but $50 shouldn't be too much for you if you already paid $300 for a Gamecube in a new case.

[Stephen Lang @ May 25th 2007 5:49PM]

So wait, was that Sony PR at work when they said rumble wasn't a very important feature?

Good luck to them, it's better to add it than not. But it seems dubious to do it after you launch, in terms of how you advertise how great rumble now is, and hopefully don't alienate early adopters at the same time.

I'm wondering if they should just stick to their guns and skip rumble for this generation. It's actually not that big of a deal IMO anyway.

[nynja @ May 25th 2007 7:31PM]

Rumors are part of the business. As for PS3, all I have to say is:SOCOM, KILLZONE, HEAVENLY SWORD, GOD OF WAR, METAL GEAR SOLID 4, FINAL FANTASY XIIIONLY on the Playstation 3 can you play all of these games.If I want to play 360 games, I'll get Windows Vista. No need to buy the console when I can get the Live service on my PC and play the same games on it as well. I can't play SOCOM, KILLZONE, RATCHET & CLANK, MOTORSTORM or GOD OF WAR on PC. The only HD console anyone needs is a PS3

[Key @ May 25th 2007 9:49PM]

I was actually quite pleased that the ps3 didn't have a rumble feature. I've yet to see a purpose for it. Was somewhat displeased when it became a standard for the ps2 controllers, but at least i could turn it off for most of the games.

[matjet @ May 25th 2007 10:07PM]

it's called "choice" people. now where have we heard that before..

[Steve @ May 26th 2007 9:11AM]

ps3 haters.......you have no idea what you all are missing.....sounds more like jealousy to me.

[Lol. @ May 26th 2007 11:17AM]

Damn, you're all fuckin pathetic losers lol!

Get a job, freaks. Maybe then you'll have some cash to buy a PS3 haha!

[crazymonkey @ May 26th 2007 11:23AM]

It is hard to let every one pleased. But what i like about SONY is there eager for new technology. That is how new and cheap technology can be available to us sooner other than later. They help to push the evolution of technology. If the don't push blue-ray technology it may not be about to reach normal consumer soon. And blue-ray is technically more advance than HD-DVD. If blue-ray can win the format war the computer user can benefit as the price of bland disk and blue-ray writer will goes down. And you can save 50G of data in one disk without considering the fact that multi layer blue ray disk are already possible, a single disc can save more than 100G data. I like SONY because they take risk for technology. I don't like Microsoft because they are thinking how to dominate(monopoly) the market. I see SONY as a warrior and Microsoft as a governor. Try to install Linux and then Windows in one computer, the windows will just prevent Linux from booting. If you install Linux and then Windows you will find the Linux will let you choose which system to boot from. That is the trick to dominate the market, they are not using brightest way to compete but using most effective way(no matter how nasty it is, the bottom line is not against the law). More competition means more benefit for consumer. I am not saying xbox should lose the battle, but just don't want PS3 to lose the console battle, as Wii is not a real contender for this generation of gaming due to the lack of power. And I don't want Microsoft to dominate the home entertainment market as well. That will leave the consumer not choice!

[the knowledge @ May 26th 2007 12:11PM]

ive got all 3 also, but looking at things objectively i can c they all got there bad points. i find that wii- has too many games aimed at children + wheres the online games?
xbox 360- overall good but there are huge hidden costs. i got it the day it came out and id had to settle 4 the core.(i paid 350 £ with 3 games) ok so then i bought ; hdd, xtra controllers, hd cable, remote, wireless adapter,12mths of live - who said the xbox was cheap? chump.( oh and 2 add 2 the insult a new better xbox elite is now out)
ps3- im liking it, but obviously not as a games console/ more of a multimedia function 4 me.

so i have 2 say they all flawed but im most pissed with the 360 4 costs and how they treat their customers.

[MC Double Def DP @ May 26th 2007 1:45PM]

I bought a ps3 and took it back after a month. GT-HD sucked without feedback. I'm sure motorstorm would be better with it also. I'll wait for the new stick bundled with a ps3 and the best part is the games I want to buy will have dropped price by then. :-) btw, imho to me Xbox 360 is still crap :-p
I almost got a elite before the true specs came out. Still not worthy. Maybe if it had built in hd-dvd and true hdmi (1.2? wtf!)

But hey you don't have to love the ps3 either. The 360 will be showing its age alot faster in the long run.

[Steve @ May 26th 2007 2:21PM]

not to alienate early adopters.........have you heard of the Elite? and you have an issue with a controller?

[Erik @ May 29th 2007 1:17PM]

I thought Sony didn't include rumble because it interfered with the motion sensing and that consumers didn't want it anyway. Oh... that's right... this is the same company whose console is 4D!!!

[Jared @ Jul 4th 2007 12:32AM]

I only have the one controller Sony provided me with in the PS3. I don't mind shedin out 50 more bucks for a rumbling controller. By the time it comes out I'll be in need of a new controller anyways.

Though, to be honest, I don't really care about rumble any more... now that its gone I don't really notice it.

However, I do hate the motion control in these controllers. All the games thus far besides that duck game seem like the motion is just tacked on.

I'd rather of just had rumble from the start.