Battery life proving problematic in adding rumble to SIXAXIS?

It's unlikely that we'll be the only ones thrilled to see this fiasco finally reach closure, and even though the dust has somewhat settled, the PS3 faithful are still operating sans a first-party rumbling controller. Rumors may have suggested that such a device was indeed getting ready to launch in the not too distant future, but according to a blurb at Inner Bits, battery life could be holding things up. While it doesn't come without a tad of salt, Sony is reportedly "facing some difficulties with regard to battery life," as sources supposedly mentioned that "the rumble and wireless support" were causing the batteries to "drain too fast to be acceptable for consumers." Of course, there's always the third-party alternative if you're not picky, but those holding out for the real deal could be waiting a tick longer if this proves true.

[Via Joystiq]

[INTERNETSAVIOUR @ Jun 17th 2007 1:36AM]

at first they supposedly couldn't get rumble to work because it interfered with the motion control. now it's the batteries?

well "somehow" nintendo managed to get wireless control+motion sensing+good battery life in their wii controller. maybe sony should hire some nintendo engineers if they can't figure such basic things out for themselves.

[riggs @ Jun 17th 2007 10:06AM]

thats because they had to give a BS answer towards their dispute with immerssion (as to why they couldnt use rumble) so who cares, companies do that so often its barely second guessed.

[idk @ Jun 17th 2007 6:56PM]

Did you forget that it uses IR for it's motion sensing and every other function? It's pretty simple why it takes so much less battery power. Almost every button on the ps3 is touch sensitive.
I say just forget about the rumble. I'd just turn it off anyway, it was an annoyance.

[INTERNETSAVIOUR @ Jun 17th 2007 1:38AM]

+rumble I forgot. the wiimote has rumble and the batteries last a long time.

[Matt @ Jun 17th 2007 3:07AM]

Don't forget its IR tracking, speaker, voice recognition, and internal storage for Miis and other data... Lots to power.

[Asterra @ Jun 17th 2007 1:55AM]

Since consumers regularly have to physically plug the Sixaxis into their PS3 for handshaking purposes anyway, maybe Sony can just throw their hands up and suggest that consumers simply keep the thing plugged in all the time.

Btw, the reason they couldn't get rumble to work was because the company whose rumble technology Sony illegally used for four years finally made some legal progress against them.

[Darren Tilley @ Jun 17th 2007 2:18AM]

Umm.. I never have to plug my controller in.. Except when updating the firmware. I think you are talking about an issue that has been long since fixed. But that wouldn't surprise me considering the amount of misinformation there has been regarding the PS3.

[shaun @ Jun 17th 2007 7:21AM]

I only ever have to plug it in when I'e installed an update, so that's like twice since I've got it

[Asterra @ Jun 17th 2007 11:54PM]

You guys had better not ever need to take your controllers to a friend's house. I think you'd eat some crow. And then eat some more once you got them back home.

[Dustin @ Jun 17th 2007 2:05AM]

The Wii doesnt use the same motion sensing technology.

[aaronlh @ Jun 17th 2007 12:00PM]

Exactly. The Wii's is better.

[peckerhead @ Jun 17th 2007 2:11PM]

I bet you do not own a PS3 so your comment of one being better than the other is unfounded.

[Big @ Jun 17th 2007 2:11AM]

This shouldn't be a problem for SONY. There have been wireless PS2 gamepads with vibration for years, why can't that same technology be renovated for the PS3?

If all else fails just copy the Xbox360's example.

I happen to like 360's controller better because of the left analog stick placement.

[KC @ Jun 17th 2007 3:24AM]

I don't know what you're talking about. The Wii is terrible with batteries.

[tekdroid @ Jun 17th 2007 3:52AM]

here's a concept: user-replaceable batteries.

[Mike @ Jun 17th 2007 4:05AM]

I don't see how ANYONE could say the Wii has good battery life. The days that I've spent playing Wii @ my friends house have been riddled w/ the changing of batteries. It got rather annoying.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jun 17th 2007 6:06AM]

I have Wii - with rumbling WiiMote.

This is 100% not-a-show-stopper feature. And rumble on WiiMote is pretty weak. Because if you make it strong, it would be impossible to target at anything. Some call it "realism" - I call it major annoyance. (Yeah, in past I had a steering wheel and joystick with force feedback - first thing which was turned off for it did more wrong than good.)

People, (1st) forget rumble and (2nd) get a life.

[riggs @ Jun 17th 2007 10:06AM]

*applauds* i also think rumble is pretty friggin useless.

[Rommulus @ Jun 17th 2007 6:09PM]

Yeah, so what's the big appeal of rumble? It was cool for about 10 minutes when I got my first PS2, but come on already, who cares at this point!? Worry less about the rumble and worry more about getting Guitar Hero over to PS3 dangit!

[c.Lake @ Jun 18th 2007 1:53PM]

Well who the hell cares about SIXAXIS? Which is completely slapped on at the last minute -- That's useless. Almost all PS2 games use the damn rumble feature, including Final Fantasy "if it AIN'T broke" -- Sony should have left well enough alone.

[Michael @ Jun 17th 2007 6:08AM]

I have the 2nd gen Logitec Cordless Controller for my PS2 and the battery life is outstanding even with rumble. The difference is the Logitec isn't rechargable, just drop in standard AA batteries. Myabe Sony should drop the lithium battery and allow regular batteries.

[imaballa @ Jun 17th 2007 6:14AM]

"INTERNETSAVIOUR @ Jun 17th 2007 1:38AM
+rumble I forgot. the wiimote has rumble and the batteries last a long time."

Sounds like some cracker heads talking out the the a-hole.
The wii mote sucks battery life you ignorant monkey.
Also Sony didn't illegally use anything, they purchased the patent from Logitec who turns out didn't have the rights to sell Sony the patent they co-dev with Immersion.
Immersion tried to Sue Nintendo also but Nintendo had patents dating back to NES remember the rummble back pack?
Its just a case of small arse company trying to make $$ by suing the bigger company happens all the time. its pathetic, now Immersion reported a 91million increase in profits i wonder how they are going to explain the 91million drop in revenue next year when they don't have anyone to sue.

[darkstar @ Jun 17th 2007 6:41AM]

there was a time when Sony's motto was: "sony...its no baloney"
times have changed

[Keff @ Jun 17th 2007 7:35AM]

Well... Wii doesn't rumble, dumbass...

[fistpittingnork @ Jun 18th 2007 2:15PM]

If by "Wii doesn't rumble" you mean "Wiimotes do not vibrate" then you, sir, are the dumbass.

Either I spend too much time being physically active or I happened upon the ultimate pack of Duracell batteries, because I replaced my batteries in my Wiimote and with "rumble" turned off and the speaker volume cut down to half, I've been using the same pair of batteries since February. I put on average probably 5 hours a week on my Wii with Wii gaming, Virtual Console gaming, internet browsing, using the wiimote, nunchuk, and classic controller, all where applicable.

So considering that, the battery life isn't all too bad.

As for adding rumble to Ps3, I'm not sure who these people are who outnumber those of us who don't care for/want rumble. Everybody you ask seems to be happy without rumble or with it disabled.

With a $600 price tag, it's safe to assume most Ps3 purchasers are moderate to hardcore gamers, who most will agree rumble adds more annoyance than it does interaction, so who demands this crap?

[Calvin @ Jun 17th 2007 8:24AM]

What the hell are you people talking about? The Wii's battery life is terrible.

As for rumble on the PS3 controller, I really don't care whether they introduce it or not. I have never found that it was a necessary (and in most cases even worthwhile) on games. Do people need their controllers to shake when they hit the guardrail or someone shoots them? no and it really adds nothing to the game experience.

[Ricardo @ Jun 17th 2007 8:46AM]

I don't think Wii has bad battery life.

You have to consider it has: Bluetooth turned on and transmitting 100% of the time (that is a battery killer for any cellphone), an infrared camera, and 6 accelerometers (considering the Nunchuck).

30 hours a standard batteries is a pretty respectable time for those features, especially Bluetooth.

Besides, I don't think that's an issue. Batteries are very very cheap, I have 4 of them for the Wiimote, and they are recharged and ready for use in 15 minutes. Since I still only have 1 remote, I always have a spair pair ready.

[Phil @ Jun 17th 2007 8:55AM]

If we get rumble and motion, cool!!

But if not, then get a good bass bin for your surround sound...mine works wonders and shakes pictures off walls. :-)

[cduran01 @ Jun 17th 2007 10:25AM]

A 200 WATT powered sub does wonders :)

[ian16 @ Jun 17th 2007 11:21AM]

my friend has a wii and he wishes there was some way to charge the controller rather than change the batteries all the time. im not sure on the batteries used in the ps3 controller but y not use lithium ion batteries. i use em at work with cordless drills and they make a world of difference.

[dougpy @ Jun 17th 2007 12:08PM]

Seems like all you PS3 people do is wait. Get an xbox.

[Paul @ Jun 17th 2007 1:24PM]

seems like all xboxes do is break get a ps3

[Asterra @ Jun 17th 2007 11:57PM]

Seems like somebody is bitter about having a $600 paperweight. Get your money back.

[John @ Jun 17th 2007 5:09PM]

Woah, woah woah, people bought PS3's?

[KozmoNaut @ Jun 18th 2007 4:12AM]

That would be IR in conjunction with accelerometers for the pointing and motion sensing abilities.

Don't forget the speaker, the built-in Mii storage, the expansion port and of course the rumble.

I use regular alkaline AA's in my wiimotes, and the usually last for a bit more than 3 weeks, with daily usage.

[joseraulnova @ Jun 17th 2007 8:50PM]

1) Wii uses AA batteries, Ps3 uses lithium ion so dont compare
2) Wiimote does not have the rumble feature and it has sucky battery life
3) Bluetooth, Motion Sensing and Rumble altogether are battery life killers so give Sony some credit.

P.S. rumble sucks

[stitifier @ Jun 17th 2007 10:41PM]

What are you, stupid? The Wiimote rumbles all the fracking time. That's a big reason for the diminished battery life-- which, I might remind some people, actually, isn't that bad with rechargeables. I manage to get about a week's worth out of a pair playing Madden nonstop and then it's another night in the charger for them. And might I remind you that the Wiimote actually has Bluetooth, IR, motion sensing, and rumble all together-- so apparently either Sony can't figure it out or else they're just giving a BS answer.

[Benjamin Heckendorn @ Jun 18th 2007 12:02AM]

The PS3 battery is Li-Ion but it's also not very big. I wonder if there could be a capacitance problem.

Keep in mind with the 360 and Wii they're removable AA's (you know, in case you didn't know this). Point being, if they die the user can replace them or get some sort of "charge play" kit. Whereas with the PS3 your only choice when the battery dies is to hook it up to the very short USB cable and play 4 feet from the console. A good analogy would be a gasoline car (fill it up anywhere and go) versus an all-electric one (come to a dead stop and charge it for a while)

So BS excuses nonwithstanding, Sony has to make sure they get the most bang for their buck out of that battery since it's the user's only option. That said, is it just me or is lack of rumble only apparent in the controller's lack of weight?

[capagotks @ Jun 18th 2007 4:07AM]

if you had the fat bastard xbox controller, you could pack in shitloads of batteries.

[Karl Viklund @ Jun 18th 2007 4:53AM]

What the he** is SIXAXIS? Must be the worst acronym ever...

[Jice @ Jun 18th 2007 2:37PM]

Logitech managed to deal with this pretty well for their last ps2 controller. It lasts me about 30 hours on 2 AAs.

[Solomon @ Jun 19th 2007 4:58PM]

Consider this: Sony offers the only platform with NO monthly fees. Xbox Live is like MSN, they use the same Live network for chat. But to PLAY Xbox Live, you have to have a membership! And, for Wii, they do not even HAVE online gaming yet.
Replacing batteries counts as a fee. Though, even the internal one will die eventually, so in a year, I bet they will release internal replaceables.
Also, being a pro-environment person, I am GLAD that they do not induce alkaline purchases. Of all batteries, alkaline is the ONLY major kind that goes into landfills, no matter what. There are even some less common permanent batteries that DO recycle, but alkaline just does not.
And, there is NEED for more rumble power in Sixaxis. The Wiimote is primarily single handed. Playstation style controllers use both hands. Double grip holds more than twice as sturdy as single, so to be noticeable, more than twice the rumble force would be needed. And maybe, just maybe, Sony has stereo rumble coming... (drool)