Rumor: Sony set to introduce 'break apart' PS3 motion controller

68 Comments by Randy Nelson Jun 13th 2008 5:15PM
Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

Note: please don't actually try this

GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Sony already has a third controller for PlayStation 3 in the works, one that will split into two parts for Wii-like remote / nunchuk style motion control gameplay. The site cites unnamed sources for their information on the device, which they claim is already in the hands of some PS3 developers, and may be unveiled at next month's E3 summit.

This "break apart" design, if real, certainly sounds a lot like one of the early prototype Wii controllers Nintendo was toying with before settling on the more simple remote concept. Kotaku has their own version of the rumor, in which it's not a controller, but a set of sensors one places on their body. We'll be the first to speculate that neither is correct! Instead, the new controller is like one of those beer can hats, only you place two Dual Shock 3 pads in it.

We've put in a call for comment from Sony, but have yet to hear back. If you're one of the "close development partners" who supposedly has one of these pads in-house, feel free to drop us a line. We'd love to chat.

[Update: SCEA's hardware PR rep, Patrick Seybold, got back to us with the following: "We haven't made any announcement of such a product, and anything circulating is purely rumor and speculation."]

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Tags: ps3, rumor, sony

Source

(Page 1) Reader Comments

NATO_Duke: Jun 13th 2008; 5:19PM

No patent filings on this one yet?

Vcize: Jun 13th 2008; 5:25PM

Time to undercut them on the patent.

NATO_Duke: Jun 13th 2008; 5:28PM

Awe yeah, lets get to it!

NoHitHair: Jun 13th 2008; 6:07PM

After everything Sony has announced since the first whiff of the PS3, if there is anyone that still believes Sony is original and doesn't blatantly copy others, I would honestly question their mental capacity.

It's not a crime to be mentally disabled but it's very important to address the issue so as to receive proper treatment. Please, if you or someone you know still hoists the Sony flag of ingenuity, get treatment.

Vidikron (FU): Jun 14th 2008; 2:14AM

Whatever... who hasn't copied?

NoHitHair: Jun 14th 2008; 3:01AM

Good comeback. Pool the notion of "copying" into an all inclusive field where inspiration and plagiarism mean exactly the same thing.

And this is why I spend little time arguing on Joystiq's comment sections.

Burnt Meatloaf: Jun 14th 2008; 8:52AM

It would only be copying if Sony's controller required you to buy your own AA batteries.

hotnutz: Jun 14th 2008; 9:26AM

Agreed, trying to argue a point on Joystiq is like getting an extreme left wing person and an extreme right wing person to agree on something. This site is mainly used to get rumours, some news and to do Human Torch impressions (FLAME ON!).

Then again, it does seem that some of the people on here have genuinely made some friendships with each other and like to banter back and forth for fun as well but when it comes to intelligent discourse, this is definitely not the place to do it.

xFenixKnightx: Jun 13th 2008; 5:19PM

Sony Fanboy: ZOMG WAGGLE FTL!!!

Rumor: Sony set to introduce 'break apart' PS3 motion controller

Sony Fanboy: Oh this could be great!!!

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw: Jun 13th 2008; 5:23PM

Hahaha fanboys are what make joystiq great.

xFenixKnightx: Jun 13th 2008; 5:30PM

That wasnt even a joke. Look here...

http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2008/06/13/sonys-break-apart-ps3-controller-in-the-works/

Are teh factz!!! :D

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw: Jun 13th 2008; 5:33PM

The best post from that article has to be this...

"I think this is a very good idea. Wii-like games with better graphics and a better all around system to go with it. This is a good move Sony."

Wii-like games? From the people who complain that all Wii games are just mini game crapfests?

Oh well, I guess that's what fanboys have to do. I'm sure anyone could think up of 2 or 3 things just like this that Wii and 360 fanboys have done...360 Bluray console being one of them.

Fernando Rocker: Jun 13th 2008; 5:34PM

Fenix

lol.. nice find =p

Same thin happens with LBP. Oh, cute kiddy graphics FTW.

samfish: Jun 13th 2008; 5:34PM

Replace Sony fanbboy with MS fanboy and that'll be you come E3, Fenix! :p

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw: Jun 13th 2008; 5:41PM

If there weren't fanboys this is what joystiq would be like. http://youtube.com/watch?v=F3gEUYwOi70

xFenixKnightx: Jun 13th 2008; 5:42PM

Samfish

When have I ever made fun of waggle? o_O Graphics, yes waggle, I don't recall. Hey, if MS makes waggle I dont care. Make Banjo waggle and I'll try it.

K sweetcheeks.

samfish: Jun 13th 2008; 5:44PM

Oh, I kid, I kid. You know I tolerate you.

I'd say I LIKE you, but..well...y'know...that whole Ninja Gaiden being better than God Hand thing...

Hala Madrid!! (PS3 owners prefer exclusives on their systems): Jun 13th 2008; 5:50PM

I guess If you can't beat 'em, copy 'em

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award): Jun 13th 2008; 5:50PM

For me? Sorry, not convinced it would be a good idea. Okay, let's put it this way.

Few games have taken advantage of Sixaxis and made it work. This is a very basic function, yet people botch the hell out of most attempts. Just as most people botch the hell out of rumble. If both Rumble and Tilt are a fucking mystery to majority of the developers out there, and many of those same developers have shown the whole Wii concept is a fucking mystery as well, why would I want this?

Work on your community style games, more user created content, etc. That is the strengths Sony has and needs to deliver on. Waggle, for the most part, is largely misused and I highly doubt it's going to be Sony who gets it right.

xFenixKnightx: Jun 13th 2008; 5:51PM

You keep that fanclub going. :D Nobody outside them thar blogs knows what that game is lol. It's cool I also tolerate you.

xFenixKnightx: Jun 13th 2008; 5:56PM

Botched rumble Fiddy? When? Oh, must be those DS3's that are "compatible" with most PS3 games now. 360 rumble works great. AND it doubles as a sextoy for teh lovely senori...oh wait. :P

Which reminds me, I need a DS3 when I buy MGS4.

*sees $100 flying away

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw: Jun 13th 2008; 5:57PM

I think the camera is more gimmicky then the wiimote. It looks to me like it's going to repeat exactly what the PS2 eyetoy did, be useful for a few minigames and to put your face on something.

Shagittarius: Jun 13th 2008; 6:07PM

Waggle sucks on any platform punks.

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award): Jun 13th 2008; 11:06PM

Yep, botched rumble. Said it before, I'll say it again. A vast majority of developers never go beyond "hit = shake." I found it annoying when it debuted in Starfox 64 (well, okay, by the second playthrough, I was digging the fuck out of it the first play). Some developers even downright abuse the functionality. Take, for example, Lost Planet. Play it with rumble turned on. Does it ever stop? I don't know, by the thrid stage I disabled it.

Now, there ARE examples of some devs who do it right and use it for more than a damage indicator, but they are rare. Just as developers who worked out how to use Sixaxis, touch controls, and wiimote controls are rare.

So yeah, I said it before, I'll say it again. Rumble usually just annoys the piss out of me so I don't use it most of the time. Sixaxis wasn't a loss of the function if I primarily disabled it anyway. I am going to have to cave sometime and get one of those Dual Shock 3's for another MGS4 playthrough though. But I'll wait til Play-Asia has another sale so I can import one of those white ones.

GearSecond!! (a.k.a AwesomeStuff): Jun 14th 2008; 9:29AM

@ xFenixKnightx

EXACTLY!! LMFAO!!

tmacairjordan87: Jun 13th 2008; 5:22PM

DO NOT want

Mr Khan: Jun 13th 2008; 6:32PM

Shh!

Do you hear it?

That sound. That scraping sound. Like a deep hole being dug...

Shovelware gods! They are upon us! Quick! Hide your copies of MGS4! They are coming to seize your PS3 and make it their own!

Burnt Meatloaf: Jun 14th 2008; 8:56AM

I shouldn't rate that up, but I had to laugh.

DangerMouse: Jun 13th 2008; 5:26PM

Bring the 80GB down to 400 and i'll start taking Sony seriously.

NoHitHair: Jun 13th 2008; 6:14PM

After designing the "first television for men...AND women", how did anyone ever take them seriously?

why not the LS2LS7?: Jun 13th 2008; 9:18PM

Go buy one at Wal-Mart right now.

You can get an 80GB w/MGS4 for $500, with a free $100 gift card. That's $400, and you get MGS4 also.

unfriendly_cat: Jun 13th 2008; 5:29PM

"not a controller, but a set of sensors one places on their body"

People playing Wii already look quite silly, but this would take it to a whole new level.

Personally, I'm waiting for Virtual Virtual Skeeball

Fernando Rocker: Jun 13th 2008; 5:30PM

But maybe its not just about motion. Maybe they are adding a camera, like the Wii remote, to add some kind of pointer functionality.

Maybe they are more interested in some kind of IR pointer for the FPS games.

Alistair judson: Jun 13th 2008; 5:38PM

you and your IR pointers ferdinando ;)

Fernando Rocker: Jun 13th 2008; 5:40PM

Oh, IR pointer is definitely the best feature in the wii remote.

It would be imposible to do this, for example, with analog sticks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQeJ-bMinVw

Sir Fidlious Wong (Justin T. McElroy Memorial Burn of the Day Award): Jun 13th 2008; 5:45PM

PS3 has a camera, a fairly competant one at that. Considering the tech can detect movement and body position in conjunction to being able to detect location based on sound in the mics, I'm more disappointed the only thing making use of those functions are screensavers.

John McPoop (PSN:johnnynumber5): Jun 13th 2008; 6:00PM

Well you know they could incorporate the current camera to give better depth to video games and actually make them true 3-D ... Sony and Microsoft have been rumored to be making a similar Wii-mote like device for more casual games ... That would make for the most diverse input devices in the industry ... You got the Eye Toy, DS3 w/6 axis, Keyboard and Mouse and now a waggle + IR thing ... The majority of the Wii games I have play better without the Wii mote so this will only be as good as the developers make it ... I think the only game that supports the Key board and Mouse on the PS3 is UT3 ... hey there is also the guncon 3 from time crisis which is actually a pretty slick controller sans the on TV sensors ... Maybe another game that doesn't suck will actually use that controller

Ninjakamster (PS360 FTW!): Jun 13th 2008; 5:33PM

Already three controllers for a system? Jeez.

Lone Starr: Jun 13th 2008; 5:41PM

It goes with the name.

DangerMouse: Jun 13th 2008; 5:45PM

No to mention that the Dual Shock 3 is already $55. What next, 60? 65?

el serpiente: Jun 13th 2008; 11:45PM

ONE MILLION DOLLARS!

Grimble Crumble: Jun 14th 2008; 12:42PM

Five-hundred-ninety-nine U.S. dimes.

Anticrawl: Jun 14th 2008; 8:33AM

Funny thing is we all thought Nintendo would be the one abusing the whole multiple controller setup.

samfish: Jun 13th 2008; 5:37PM

I some how doubt this rumor is true at all. It's a month before E3 and it's suddenly popping p out of nowhere. It has FAKE written all over it (although I have no doubt it my mind that Sony is coming up with their own Wiimote).

Although if it is true, I hope THIS version is correct and not the one on Kotaku. A break apart controller could actually be kinda cool.
But the Kotaku one...holy crap does that sound stupid!

samfish: Jun 13th 2008; 5:41PM

ALSO!
Completely off topic, but WOO HOO! Mega Man 9 (unofficially) confirmed! I'm so excited!

Lone Starr: Jun 13th 2008; 5:39PM

This is one of the problems with the Wii. If one of the other consoles can successfully implement a motion controller, it loses a big selling point.

One thing Nintendo has done really well to mitigate this though is garnering so much popular press for the Wii.

It will be interesting to see if a)Sony or MS actually come out with a workable answer to the Wiimote and b) if it will actually hurt the Wii.

gb: Jun 13th 2008; 5:45PM

and the price

Mr Khan: Jun 13th 2008; 6:06PM

It wouldn't hurt them at this point, because anything at this juncture would be a console add-on, and we all know how add-ons work

Now, if they implemented them as a standard, it could become a significant threat

Shagittarius: Jun 13th 2008; 6:10PM

Yeah we all know how add-ons do...like the wii wheel, and the wii zapper, and the scale, and the plastic toiletries.

CTC XBL-supapaypamawio PSN-ctclaw: Jun 13th 2008; 6:25PM

The funny thing about your comment is that the Wii accessories are the ones that seem to be working. Of course the wii wheel was just a free add in with mario kart so of course it did good, but the balance board is selling well and seems to be getting lots of support. I think I've even seen the zapper in the top 20 a few times.

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.