sixaxis
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Downhill Jam vs. Project 8
With the upcoming November retail battle between Sony and Nintendo as they release their respective consoles just days apart, it's truly a wonderful time to be alive (and a gamer). With Sony's cheap knock-off motion-sensing Sixaxis controller, will Tony Hawk's title be superior on the PS3 to the legendary skater's Wii installment in Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam? Why not take a look at the side-by-side comparison of each title's gameplay in the embedded video, available after the break, and let us know![Via NeoGAF]
In2Games' "Fusion" controller spices up next-gen motion sensing
Hoo boy, now it's really on. Sure, motion sensing controllers have existed in some sense or another for a while now, but ever since Nintendo got into the game with their Wiimote, and Sony followed suit with the SIXAXIS, a good bit of interesting tech is starting to surface. Case in point, the new motion-sensing tech from In2Games, codenamed "Fusion," takes things to a whole new level, providing for accurate on-screen representation of your motions, not just an approximate like on the Wii or the PS3. The tech apparently works with "sound waves and other technical wizardry," though those dots on the various controller remind us a bit of a motion capture setup. The benefit of all this is that your motions are tracked just as they happen in real space, and you don't need to have the controller pointed at the sensor for it to work. Of course, as demonstrated by video demonstration of the unit, this also means you'll need a good bit of room to swing your arms, and might make things like same console multiplayer quite difficult. There's also the fact that software support will be relatively minimal, but In2Games is making things as easy as possible, since the sensor connects via USB, and therefore should be interoperable with the next-gen consoles. They should be launching Fusion Q3 '07 for "sub-£30" (around $56 US), so that shouldn't be too hard to swallow either. Along with tennis, baseball, lightsaber, golf and bowling controllers pictured above, the Fusion controller also comes in a version shaped like a traditional next-gen controller, but which can be split apart for performing motion-sensed moves. It's pictured after the break.[Via Joystiq]
SIXAXIS batteries not swappable, but Sony will replace controllers for free
After having printed so many negative stories about Sony lately -- concerning its battery debacle, Blu-ray delays, and factually-questionable marketing, to name a few -- we're overjoyed to report on a company policy that will be sure to please gamers planning to pick up a PS3. Yesterday it was revealed that the wireless (and rumble-less) SIXAXIS controllers would not sport user-replaceable batteries, and given the fact that lithium ion cells only have a finite number of charges in them, it seemed that users would have to shell out $50 every time one of their gamepads crapped out. Not that this is necessarily a huge deal in a world where $300 iPods are also considered disposable, but it would still be kind of a slap in the face after throwing down $500 or $600 for a console with a purported 10-year life span. Well Sony feels for you starving gamers, so even though the party line is that "it'll be many years before there's any degradation in terms of battery performance," a spokesperson confirmed to Gamesindustry.biz that "we will be providing a service to exchange these items." Unless the service consists of an CSR giving you directions to the nearest GameStop, it would seem like Sony is planning on replacing dead controllers for free, which is a pretty nice feature in this world of planned obsolescence. Congrats on making the right decision here, Sony -- now is there any way we can get you to reconsider tossing a few decent cables into the box as well?[Via Joystiq]
PS3 Peripherals officially priced for the US
Well, we knew it was coming... so we'll make it quick. Kind of quick. The Gamer's Day event brought about the announcement of the PS3's pricing for their peripherals. We of course mean the SIXAXIS, the memory card adaptor, and the remote control of bluetooth awesome. Just like the XBox 360 controller, the SIXAXIS is going to run you $50. Now, it may seem like a lot, but you're getting extra motion sensing capabilities! Well, it depends on if you're into the motion sensing thing. But it does seem like a good deal unless rumble and motion sensing are the exact same amount to incorporate. The controller is also $10 cheaper than the Wiimote + nunchuk controller (c'mon, you've practically got to get the nunchuk for some of the games). The memory card adaptor is $15 bucks -- so you and two friends can split the cost quite nicely at $5 each. The remote control is $25 -- but it's not coming out at launch so you can recoup some of those funds before deciding whether or not to get it. What do you guys think? Are these prices as ridiculous as some may claim? We don't think so -- don't get us wrong, $50 for a controller is expensive, but it has become the norm and there's nothing we can do about that.[via Joystiq]
PS3 peripherals priced: $50 for a Sixaxis
Today at the Gamer's Day event in San Francisco, Sony revealed the prices for various peripherals. The Sixaxis controller will be $49.99, which is the same price as the wireless Xbox 360 controller and $10 more / less than the Nintendo Wiimote (depending on whether or not you include the nunchuk add-on). The age of $50 controllers is very frackin' nigh.The PS3 memory card adaptor, that allows you to transfer PSOne and PS2 memory card data to the HDD, will only be $14.99. The BD Remote Control, which is "coming soon" (read: not available at launch) will be $24.99.See Also:PS3: Dual Shake is dead, long live Sixaxis
Immersion wants Kaz to understand -- rumble + motion = possible
Immersion CEO Vic Viegas sat down with GameDaily to talk about the whole rumble vs. motion sensing vs. both issue between Immersion and Sony. What did he say? He said that Kaz Hirai is "really saying two things. One is that it's technically possible but that the cost is prohibitive-which again I find astounding-and the second thing he's saying is that they're making a decision to go with this tilt control in place of rumble because they think that's what consumers will appreciate in their gameplay. So, on those two issues again I'm very surprised and shocked because I don't believe either to be the case." Yeah, yeah. We know it's not exactly what everyone wants. But... what's the price issue?Viegas assured GameDaily that "our engineers in less than a day had come up with three solutions; one is filtering and the other is processing and neither one is incrementally an increase in the cost. Both are using software to filter out the different commands-tilt vs. vibration-so that both can work side by side, and neither solution will add an increase to the cost of the system... We knew how to technically solve their problems and now we know how to do it without adding any incremental cost." So... it can be done and not be costly? Well, if Sony won't listen, why not go through a third party?In regards to third party controllers, Immersion says they aren't entirely in control... they're at Sony's mercy, in a sense. To quote: "It appears that Sony has not yet ruled out a third-party solution... but if [developers] don't support vibration in the game, that's going to cause a problem. The controller would have no commands to receive from the gameplay. Sony's in some control there and Sony's also in control of the console, so they can filter out vibration commands; essentially if they don't want vibration they can shut it down and it appears that's what they're doing..."So, those three quotes show us a few things: If Sony stops being stubborn, we could see a rumble/tilt controller that would cost nothing extra... maybe marginally more. Also, third party controllers won't matter unless Sony and game developers decide to implement vibration into their software, or else it's useless. It is sad, but give it a year or two and we can probably see some sort of agreement. You can't possible be stubborn forever and ever, can you?
Sony says no, Immersion says yes
Our colleagues at GameDaily BIZ spoke with Victor Viegas, CEO of force feedback patent holder Immersion, about Sony VP Kaz Hirai's recent comments on the PS3 controller's lack of rumble. Hirai told Kikizo in a taped interview, "If we have to come up with technology ... to isolate the vibration from the sensing, but if that means that the controllers are going to be so expensive, then we're doing the consumer a huge disservice by coming up with a controller that is not very affordable."Viegas responded that his company "knew how to technically solve their problems" and they now "know how to do it without adding any incremental cost." He even cited a third party PS2 controller, the G-Pad Pro, that "incorporates both motion sensing and vibration and goes for the retail price of just $29.95." That's only $5 more than a Dual Shock.We can't help but be shaken, rumbled even, by the irony of proclaiming cost sensitivity as the purported rationale for excising the controller's force feedback functionality when the console it will wirelessly communicate with has been criticized, by most everyone below the 35% tax bracket, for being extravagantly expensive. Note to Sony: We're pretty sure anyone ponying up $500-$600 for a PS3 would be more than willing to shell out an extra $5 for force feedback.With Nintendo's rumbling, motion-sensing controller combo going for a princely $60, and Microsoft's rumbling, motion-free 360 gamepad going for a steep $50, how should Sony price their lightweight, rumble-free Sixaxis? They've already said it's got to be affordable.Other peripheral pricing:PS3: Dual Shake is dead, long live SixaxisRead - Hirai: No Rumble in PS3 Controller Due to Cost Read - Immersion CEO: Rumble + Motion Not Cost Prohibitive
As Stephen Colbert would say, "We called it!" SIXAXIS awakens...
We've said it once, we've said it twice, but now it's completely and utterly official -- the PS3 controller is the SIXAXIS. Now we have the Dual Shock and the SIXAXIS... a match made in heaven (now if only they could "get together" and have a child with both motion and rumble capabilities... if only). Each SIXAXIS has a lithium ion battery built in that can be recharged by plugging it into the PS3 via USB. A charge takes about 30 minutes. Yeah, you can still play whilst the controller recharges. Isn't the Playstation 3 badass? These should all be standard ideas, but it's nice to know they didn't go the Wavebird route and require AA batteries. That's a pain.
Nintendo Fusion Tour kicks off in the O.H. [update 1]
The Nintendo Fusion Tour kicked off a couple days ago in Columbus, Ohio. The tour will bounce around various U.S. cities until it concludes in Chicago on November 11. The bands on the tour are perfectly respectable, however the real draw is the ability for the general public (after paying for a ticket) to try the Nintendo Wii a full month and a half before launch.The Gaming Nexus sent intrepid reporter Ben Berry to write about his experience at last nights launch in the O.H. Although Berry hated the music, "The sounds of two cats fighting on a dumpster may not be far off from what I heard, except cats can't swear." He certainly walked away with some warm feelings toward the Wii.The 32-year-old Berry is not a Nintendo fan, as he starts his piece calling Nintendo "the gaming platform of choice for children." He writes a few thousand words of description about all the Wii games he played and in conclusion says, "I am now definitely going to buy a Wii. The Wii remote is truly a step ahead of what the other consoles are offering."What about the Sixaxis Berry?[Update 1: Added actual end date][Thanks btboy500]
Immersion survey suggests Sony better get ready to rumble
Press releases are boring. We go through literally hundreds of them a day, and for the most part, they're self-serving documents full of half-truths and inflated claims about products and services. So imagine our delight when we stumbled upon this little doozy of a release from marketing firm Ipsos Insight, which details a study done on behalf of the Immersion Corporation concerning gamers' preferences and purchasing plans with regards to the trio of next-generation consoles. You probably remember Immersion as the company that successfully sued Sony over the use of computer-controlled vibration technology in its PlayStation and PS2 Dual Shock controllers, and since Sony has apparently neither paid Immersion the $90 million it owes nor licensed the rumble tech for its SIXAXIS PS3 gamepads, the release comes across as a thinly-veiled reminder that gamers really, really like playing with input devices that shake and buzz in their sweaty hands. Not only does the (completely unbiased) poll report that 72% of the 1,075 respondents agree vibration feedback enhances their game experience, it goes on to note that 59% of those surveyed would prefer rumble on the PS3 controller, while only 8% care about motion / tilt sensing (sorry, Nintendo). As if these numbers didn't paint a clear enough picture of the message Immersion is trying to convey, two further questions spell it out even more explicitly: when asked if the lack of rumble capabilities would affect their buying decisions (apparently 74% of those polled weren't even aware of the "no rumble" policy -- clearly no Engadget readers amongst that bunch), 5% said that it would definitely cause them not to buy a PS3 and 32% claimed that they were less likely to pick one up for this reason and this reason alone. Now obviously Immersion knew exactly the results that it wanted before it conducted this "study," and probably phrased the questions in order to get the most desirable data set, but even non-statistics majors like ourselves could have figured out that gamers accustomed to the fun of Dual Shock would be in for a letdown the first time they picked up a rumble-free SIXAXIS controller. Okay, Sony, the cards are on the table, and even if these numbers are skewed, you know full well that you can't be the only player in the game without a little vibration action going on. So what's it gonna be: are you going to keep hoping that some appeals court finally overturns the numerous prior decisions against you, or are you going to shell out some dough just like Microsoft and Nintendo did, and finally give the majority of your target audience what it wants? To us, it doesn't really seem like much of a choice at all.
The latest PS3 developments, condensed
With next-gen console news being released at such a fast and furious pace these days, it's starting to feel a little bit like Joystiq around here, so instead of reporting and analyzing every little snippet of new information in separate posts, we've rounded up the latest and greatest PS3 revelations into one tight bit of prose. Since pricing is such an important issue to most consumers, we'll start there -- but unfortunately, the news ain't good. You probably already heard that those lucky gamers in Japan will be able to pick up their 20GB boxes for the equivalent of $428, but despite all the hoping and praying you've been doing, Kaz Hirai has reaffirmed that the recent price cuts apply to Japan only -- though he threw the rest of the world something of a bone when he also announced that everyone will be getting an HDMI port on his/her low-end system. Speaking of high prices, Impress is citing "multiple sources" in predicting that most Japanese PS3 games will cost in the neighborhood of ¥8,800 to ¥9,800, which is between $75 and $85 here in America -- ouch, that's like a whole month's allowance for us, and well above the going rate for 360 games. As long as we're dwelling on the negatives, we should also mention that not only will HDMI cables be absent from the box, both Hirai and Ken Kutaragi are leaning away from even including component action with either package. Now on to the good stuff (sorry, there's not much). First of all, it's been confirmed that all PS3 games will indeed ship region-free (though it's up to the developers to code in multilingual support, and Blu-ray movies will remain region-locked) and secondly, the inclusion of Dolby Digital and Dolby TrueHD (7.1 channels) is a done deal. Finally, and perhaps least importantly after all these downers, is the fact that the Wii-inspired, rumble-free controller has officially been dubbed "SIXAXIS" -- though without the shakin' action, we imagine that many of you could care less what they chose to call it. Anyway, that's all for now from the exciting PS3 frontier, but keep your broswer tuned to this channel, as we'll have just a little more Sony-related amusement for you later today.Read- No price drop [Via Gamesindustry.biz]Read- Japanese game speculation [Via IGN]Read- Region-free, no component [Via PS3 Fanboy]Read- SIXAXISRead- Dolby
It's almost official -- PS3 controller dubbed SIXAXIS
If you were there, this ain't groundbreaking, folks. It's stamped on every single PS3 controller your grubby hands touched. We're talking, of course, about the PS3 seemingly being dubbed SIXAXIS, as was generally agreed upon a while back. Not that we'll say to our friends, "Yo, toss me my SIXAXIS," but it's good to know if you weren't able to make it to Tokyo for a couple of days. Why? Because it's a decent name and we should nod slightly to the, er, controller naming division of Sony. Good call, guys. Now we just have to wait until November to get our SIXAXIS action satisfaction reaction.[thanks, Karsten Fouquaet and Shizzle Games!]
Get your hands off my SIXAXIS -- er, PS3 controller
Personally, the name Boomerang would have worked better if they kept the original model (even if it looked kind of odd, but it's still missed) than the rumored "SIXAXIS", or "S-AXIS" as we'll call it for short, for the final PS3 controller. Besides, S-AXIS floats off the tongue better, though not a palindrome. Someone checked the patent records for the term "sixaxis" and came up with a bunch of neon-colored Sony signs (not really). Sony representatives said they've not yet announced a name for their new controller, but this influx of information does point to SIXAXIS as a fine guess. What think you, avid readers? Does SIXAXIS work well for you?
