E3 Vox Populi: Will lack of rumble hurt the PS3? [update 1]

I notice on the top of the controller it only has 4 "lights?" Does this mean the PS3 will not support 7 controllers anymore, is that the next thing they stripped from the controller

Taking rumble out is like taking the shoulder button or taking the analog away. These have all become a standard in the industry and so has the rumble feature. You can't go saying that rumble was last gen, when it's been around for 2 generations of consoles. It may be gimmicky because you can play with out it; but at the same time it's necesary, because it adds immersiveness to the gameplay.

I'll rumble your dongle!! That's a bad idea. The rumble dongle.

It was a bad idea to nix rumble. They can't be too confident with their motion sensing tech if they scrapped rumble because it could interfere. The word is the Wii has a weak "rumble" which is better than nothing.

People say rumble is not neccessary, but I think a lot of you take it for granted. Honestly, I would miss it.

Just think of any games where rumble is good. GT4, or even non-sony games. What would Metroid be like without the charge-up blast rumble? Shitty, that's what.

God of War? good rumble effects
MGS? yep.
Even katamari (even though there won't be anymore)

Having rumble is like having a power light. You wouldn't notice it being gone right away, but it may make you say WTF down the line.

For those who think rumble is a gimmick, I think your very wrong. I probably would have agreed with you in the past but a recent experience made me realize how important it really is. Having rumble in my games for almost 10yrs has made me spoiled. I own an xbox and the last of my working Controllers just broke down (just like all my xbox stuff). I figured, why spend $40 on a new controller S so i bought a bargain wireless controller. I happily plugged my new controller in and began my session of Halo2. At first I didn't quite notice it, but the longer i played something felt out of place. At this point I hadn't acknowledged that my new contoller lacked rumble. Then it hit me, playing Halo with no rumble is a whole different experience, and not a good one at that. Your running, your back is turned to your enemy. You get shot in the back. With rumble you feel it, without rumble you've been shot six times before you even realize it. Now to anyone who thinks rumble is a gimmick, I say try some of your favorite games with the feature turned off, then come talk to me. However I do agree with David Reid, the lack of rumble is not to be the main concern for Sony. Their new console in my opinion is an insult to thier current consumer base and a joke to potential first time buyers. Gimmick or not, lack of rumble is a step backwards. Removing HDMI from their precious Blu-Ray player? what the hell is up with that? isn't that the whole point behind having this rediculously priced new technology? and who is ready to drop DVD's anyway? they're selling at all time highs right now. I'm not about to replace all my DVD's with blu-ray and neither is regular joe. No Wi-Fi and no save cards? Wow, I wouldn't really call that an option for the consumer (just like the 2 tier 360) it's more a slap in the face. I can honestly see this as being the begining of Sony's demise in the videogame industry. Peace.

for anyone that thinks that sony stole motion sensing from nintendo:

Sony didnt steal motion sensing in video games from nintendo, they stole it from xavix, and in that case nintendo stole it from xavix first and stole far more than sony did.

here are some links that show my fact.

xavix:
http://www.xavix.com/
xavix tennis:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3132850
xavix baseball:
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=3132849

Rumble isn't the most important facet of a gaming experience, no, but it is so damn useful. My problem is a lot of games are going to be crossplatform between 360 and PS3. If a good racing game or survival horror game or any game really that uses rumble to a good extent comes out, I'll have to choose 360 over PS3 for the rumble ability. There are far more likely to be games made for the two platforms that have rumble than have motion sensing (in which M$ would lose out). I'm sure if people really wanted rumble, Sony could figure out someway to add a peripheral to do it, or maybe 3rd party controllers would have it, minus the motion sensing, but that's not the point. This is just ONE MORE factor of me choosing X360 over PS3. Unfortunately, there are a lot of reasons these days, and it seems every day I find one more reason personally for me to opt not to get a PS3 and get an X360 instead. In the end, it's only going to be the game franchises that make me want to get a PS3. GTA has already moved over to the 360, and the Wii is going to have exclusive games all it's own. I've almost completely run out of reasons for me personally to care about the PS3.

"Your running, your back is turned to your enemy. You get shot in the back. With rumble you feel it, without rumble you've been shot six times before you even realize it."

this is a GREAT example of why rumble matters, snoopaloop. developers constantly talk about increasing the level of immersion, and now Sony is taking something away that's SO crucial to today's expectations of immersion.

Sony is doing some things right. i don't know if anyone else noticed, but look at the above picture and tell me the R2 and L2 buttons don't look extended and angled in a way that would make them incredibly useful as triggers :D. HOWEVER.. playing Killzone on my PS3 with a tilt sensing controller and buttons that feel like triggers is all in vain if i can't feel the impact of explosions or getting shot.

COME ON, SONY.. please don't sacrifice rumble to "make the controller feel lighter". just let me shake rattle and role all i want.

The 4 lights are for the controllers. Most likely, What is going to happen is that the other 3 channels are for other peripherals such as guns, psp, pda, etc...

Personally i would choose rumble over the tilt sensor in a second. Rumble has become an integral part of most console games imo... i own a gamecube and i DO think the wavebird is missing something. For games like re4 or sports games, i always pull back out the wired controllers, even when the wavebird is just sitting within arms reach. And i challenge anyone to say that they did not have a big silly grin on their face the first time they "felt" the elevator move in MGS.

Oh, and sony's claims that rumble interferes with tilt is absurd. How is warioware:twisted able to work so well then? Is sony admitting they cant do for their flagship console what nintendo was able to on a tiny little $30 gba cart? No, this is obviously sony being cheap and refusing to pay for licensing immersion's tech like microsoft does. As for why sony can still sell ps2 dualshocks, i am sure they are paying immersion behind closed doors for the little time remaining that they will need until the ps2 fades away. You don't pay $90+ million in damages if you didnt utterly and completely lose that lawsuit, simple as that.

Personally, i will wait until logitech comes out with their tilt + rumble ps3 controller (because logitech will actually license their stuff the legit way) before i even consider a ps3... rumble is that important imo.

Its not only the lack of rumble and price that are gonna hurt this system. Its the idiots running the company that will. I just read an interview at IGN with Kawanishi asking him if the power brick on the PS3 would be internal or external like the 360 and Slim PS2 here is an excert that should crack you guys up.


"Finally, one bit of controversy cleared up. IT Media closed up the interview by asking Kawanishi if the PS3 has its power source built into the system, like the old PS2 model, or if its separate from the system, like the slim PS2 and the Xbox 360. "It's of course internal," responded Kawanishi. "It's better that way. We of course do things the good way."

So the good way to him is having the power supply for the PS3 to be built in, which in turn will draw a massive amount of heat (think the 360 is hot just wait), and not only that increase the size of the PS3 to a full flegded Foreman grill (think XBox 1). Whats up with Sony people?

Ethan, give it up. Nobody would have dreamed of making motion control a standard feature without nintendo leading the way.

Same goes for rumble, and analogue, I believe. Sure the technology existed, but it takes nintendo majik to make it work.

Personally I use a wavebird, so rumble isnt an issue for me. However, I would be pissed if I didnt have the option.

Someone mentioned Rez, which reminded me of the Trance Vibrator. Sony could simply release a USB (or even wireless) device that is independent of the controller. It's not impossible...

baR_n1

The PS2 is going to be around for a long time my friend. They only JUST stopped making the PS1. So your argument as to why they are still selling the dualshock because it will be gone soon is shortsighted.

And for you and anyone that is going to wait for third party controllers to feature rumble, you will all be waiting for a long time.

Third party controllers like Logitech will not put a function into a controller that is not available in games. That would be like Logitech putting motion sensing capabilities into PS2 controllers. They can't/shouldn't do it because no games support it.

And I highly doubt developers will focus on programming for rumble function when only one third party controller supports the capability.

You think Kojima would have had so much fun with vibration in MGS1 if only Logitech had vibration?...I think not.

The only thing we can hope for (those that love rumble) is that at next years E3 Sony unveils a new PS3 controller that has both rumble and motion sensing.

I only have this to say.....rumble is nice....but if you have a sound system like me (7.1 surround sound with a nice subwoofer) then you already have your rumble !!! sometimes when i have been playin for a while and my hand is sweaty...it kinda messes me up when the controller starts shaking all crazy.....i can deffinately do without it...the PS3 rocks

I seriously doubt the lack of rumble in the PS3 is going to influence anyone's decision to purchase such an expensive machine. That $30 dollar hardware is just %5 of your commitment to Sony. In fact, they could get away without including a controller and still sell these PC's. Though that's kinda like buying a car without a steering wheel... boys would from Sony.

If you have the money to buy a PS3, you'll buy a third party controller that does rumble. With all that blu-ray space, I'm sure they'll continue to program in the rumble

I really can't see playing a game like Resident Evil 5 (when it's released) without rumble. I think it's silly and clearly denial to say it doesn't greatly add to the experience. I think a lot of people are scrambling to justify paying $600 for the system and still being cheated in a way.

There is a misunderstanding with the HDMI output. In an interview featured in gametrailers it was clear that the cheap PS3 will be able to play blu-ray at 1080p.

I love how people just repeat as if they knew what they are talking about...

He dicho.

I absolutely love the rumble feature. When you start playing a game for a while and really get into it the rumble adds another edge to it and really pulls you in. This is especially true in combat games like Black or Killzone or, my personal favorite, Mercenaries. The controller shaking in your hands really makes it feel like you're there as that charecter.

This actually makes me wish they would have kept the boomerang.

God rumble sucks. I _always_ turn it off.

sony have to include rumble, im sure the entire industry is hinting to them that rumble in important.

the analouge on playstation is much better than nintendo. the entire purpose of analouge is for it to be free and rounded, nintendos ones are made in this hexagon shape.

the ps2 controler is the best, if you see how many companies copy the design, there must be a reason huh?

I've read several of the comments here, and
i am kind of dissapointed in them. I watched the E3 show on G4 tv and all the video footage on gamespot and IGN. The rumble thing does not seem to be the biggest thing. I have a Wavebird and the rumble missing does not make or break that awesome controller. Will some people miss the rumble, of course. But in the end it is an extra feature. It will not make or break the purchase of the console. They had a different design for the controler, and nobody had ever played with it but blasted it anyway, while Nintendo comes out with something looking like my vcr remote and everyone jumps for joy. Why is that? So Sony went back to the tried and true that everyone knows. Stop all this PS3 bashing please. If you like the games they have and are going ot have, then buy it. As soon as all the early adopters get theirs and sales slow down, the price will drop. Same goes for the XBox 360. And do not compare game comanies at E3 because I was at last years E3 and Microsofts booth sucked. Very few games were playyable and the final hardware was not done. Sony's was probably the same way this year. Next year we will be able to compare apples to apples.

From day one I never liked the rumble feature. It reminded me of the theaters in the 1950's that had the buzzer underneath the seats and would buzz you every time something scary happened. At times the rumble feature had it's useses, but for the most part I always shut it off.

they said that when there were two hdmi ports saying they could have two tvs running. so without the two ports there could only bew one tv so only 4 players. something sony tried to make people wow and they took that away without even opening their mouths about it.

"This "wireless" controller has a mini-usb port on top..."- #2 Amos

wow... ever heard of charging the controller? maybe headsets?

"Not having the motion sensing at all, that's a huge problem. I'd be much more worried about Microsoft, frankly. Rumble has never mattered to me that much. I think it'll hurt them, but I don't know how much. I don't think it's a huge deal. People want to move, though. Not having [motion sensing] when others do have it, will be a huge disadvantage."

It'll hurt when everyone who has a 360 doesn't shell out $600 for the PS3. Think about everyone who has a 360 and was on the fence for PS3. If MS ships 10 mil. 360's by the time the PS3 comes out and the Wii comes in at $200, Sony will get hurt. The 360 owners will be able to get more for $200 than they would for $600!
MS has almost made exclusivity between themselves and Sony almost non-existent. So they get to "feel" the games w/ XBox 360, and "play" the games w/ Wii.

One more thing....

Try playing Halo 2 online or off with the rumble turned off.

It has a completely different feel. Like its missing something.

The N64 didn't originally come with rumble, but it had great games. True it may be a disadvantage but marginally at best.

"PS3 motion/rumble TOGETHER could happen!"

"The head of the company currently suing Sony for PS2 vibration patent infringement (Victor Viegas of Immersion) had this to say Monday:

"Viegas said that if Sony wants to discuss the problem, he's sure his company could eliminate any technical conflict between having both the motion sensitivity and the vibration effect in a PS3 controller and that Immersion also is ready to provide a "next-generation" level of force feedback for the console."

from: http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/mike_antonucci/index.html

"PS3 motion/rumble TOGETHER could happen!"

"The head of the company currently suing Sony for PS2 vibration patent infringement (Victor Viegas of Immersion) had this to say Monday:

"Viegas said that if Sony wants to discuss the problem, he's sure his company could eliminate any technical conflict between having both the motion sensitivity and the vibration effect in a PS3 controller and that Immersion also is ready to provide a "next-generation" level of force feedback for the console."

"PS3 motion/rumble TOGETHER could happen!"

"The head of the company currently suing Sony for PS2 vibration patent infringement (Victor Viegas of Immersion) had this to say Monday:

"Viegas said that if Sony wants to discuss the problem, he's sure his company could eliminate any technical conflict between having both the motion sensitivity and the vibration effect in a PS3 controller and that Immersion also is ready to provide a "next-generation" level of force feedback for the console."

Without rumble I will not buy the PS3 and will buy the xbox 360. This will really cost sony in the long run wait and see. I've been a gamer for 20 years and this is a huge mistake to take something that should be standard. If we'd never had it we may not have known the difference but once people have rumble they won't go back. Some may think they don't care but when they are playing a racing game and hit the wall or playing a fighting game and hit an opponent they will say, hey, something isn't right here. I think I'll play my 360 because it just seems more fun.

That such a question even needs to be asked makes me wonder if some whiny console gamers should be locked in a room with nothing but an Atari 2600 (with only the Combat, Adventure, Superman, Circus Atari, and Super Breakout cartridges) for 6 months... and then see what they think about "rumble".

Aside from 1 game I've ever played (REZ), rumble has to be the most useless gimmick in videogaming history, next to the R.O.B. toy that came with my NES.