Sony Europe announced this morning that the DualShock 3 will release in the land down under over there on July 2 and in the UK on July 4. The rumble-licious controller will cost £40 -- there is currently no price given in Euros.

So, happy American Independence Day merry ol' England! Crack open a can of Bud, prep some barbecue and go down to your local games shoppe and pick up a DualShock 3. Yes, it's everything the Sixaxis was supposed to be.

Short version of our DualShock 3 impression: It's like a Sixaxis. Oh yeah, but it has sweet, sweet, rumbles.

More poetically speaking, Joni Mitchell's words that "you don't know what you've got till it's gone" were never truer than in describing what happened when we went from the PS2's DualShock 2 to the PS3's rumble-less Sixaxis. When you get your hands on a DualShock 3 for the first time, your general expectations of controller feedback from a PS3 game are fulfilled. After giving the heftier controller (193g vs. Sixaxis' 138g, even though it "feels" heavier) a little charge time with the USB cable, it was time to test some games.

PlayStation 2 titles (for those who have backwards compatibility) control and give feedback just like you remember -- minus a pesky cord. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune feels like a totally new experience with every gunshot, punch and explosion letting your hands know something is happening on-screen. We had a little hiccup updating MotorStorm, one of the few titles that requires a rumble patch (make sure to go to the online option -- it doesn't auto update), but other than that, the DualShock 3 performs like one would expect. For those who don't want the rumble functionality on, there's always the option of turning it off by hitting the PS button ... but, why would you do that? The DualShock 3's suggested price is $55 and should be available as soon as the box from Sony arrives at your local store.

This shouldn't come as much of a ... shock, but Sony is discontinuing the Sixaxis in light of the DualShock 3's arrival, according to MTV. A Sony rep says that you can likely expect them to all be gone by summertime.

The practical upshot is that if your hands have become so atrophied from a lack of physical activity that you can no longer support the DualShock's heft, you may want to stock up on featherweight Sixaxises (Sixaxi?). Good night, sweet, almost comically light prince. And flights of angels (controllable with aftertouch) sing thee to thy rest.

Let's get ready to rumble! Sony's PlayStation Blog announced today that DualShock 3 controllers are currently shipping to North American stores and should be available next week. The controller originally had an April 15 release date attached to it, but can now be sold as soon as retailers receive them.

We've placed the full list of DualShock 3 compatible titles after the break; games with an asterisk require a patch (which will automatically download if you're connected online). Sony has also added a page to its official PlayStation site dedicated to listing titles with rumble. DualShock 3 compatible titles will have an icon on the box and the controller's suggested retail price is $55. For those who truly don't care about rumble, keep an eye out for falling Sixaxis prices.

Update: Edited piece after Sony let us know that the DualShock 3 compatibility page is live and confirmed the controllers can be sold as soon as retailers receive them.

Never one to cast judgment upon any potential customers, Sony has announced a new PlayStation 3 color aimed at Japanese kids in service of Satin. Packing a 40GB hard drive and a matching SIXAXIS wireless controller, the "Satin Silver" model is scheduled for release on March 6th at the price of ¥39,980, or approximately $666 $376.

Those hoping to feel Satin's rumblings in their idle hands can also pick up a similarly colored Dual Shock 3, which releases on the same day for ¥5,500 ($52). If you were foolish enough to pledge your allegiance to that Ceramic White model, consider this your chance to repaint.



[Via Engadget]

Adding to earlier claims from an Ars Technica mole, IGN reports various sources have told the website that a recent Gamestop conference call reportedly confirmed the death of the 80 GB PlayStation 3 model. The sources also allege that in its place Sony will release a 120 GB version packaged with ready-to-rumble DualShock 3 controllers.

Sony told IGN that any talk about new consoles iterations is rumor and speculation, and therefore no comment. We haven't seen any patents filed for a new PS3 model (each one has a different model number; see our fancy SKU chart), but the circumstantial evidence is starting to add up.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Even if your PS3 doesn't work with PS2 games, apparently your fancy, imported DualShock 3 controller will. And that doesn't just include letting you spin two (count 'em!) two analog sticks while you're catching monkeys with a net. No, friends, you'll also be able to feel the visceral thrill of rumbling as you whack the monkeys with your stun club. ... Or, you know, play other PS2 games that don't involve catching monkeys. The DualShock 3's rumbling abilities with PS2 games, which only a few would have noticed by now, was apparently added by the PS3's 2.0 firmware.

So the DualShock 3 is the newest gen of a next-gen peripheral now reaching back through time to accommodate a last-gen feature on last-gen games. But the only PS3s that support it will be those that play last-gen games, a feature that itself has become last-gen. We've honestly lost count of the layers of irony. Help us out here, Alanis.

Have you ever seen anything so ... boxed in your entire life? What wouldn't you give to see that hot little piece of rumbling plastic shed its outer layer to reveal the deliciousness within, like some sort of be-dual-sticked piece of electronic corn?

... OK, so we can't claim to understand unboxing fetishists entirely, but we can at least try to make up for it by appealing to their basest desires. Engadget Tokyo has one of the first retail DualShock 3s and they're taking the clamshell off ... slow.

Import retailers are warning non-Japanese consumers that the DualShock 3, Sony's contrition controller, will be in extremely limited supply when it goes on sale Nov. 11. Importers like Play Asia say they've already pre-sold their expected supply. Sony obviously doesn't like import retailers, but they should take it as a good sign that consumers are keen to import the new DualShock 3 controller before its spring release in the States and Europe early next year. Importers are allegedly charging about $80 USD (£40) for what will probably be $50 (assuming it's the same price as the Sixaxis when it comes across the ocean).

But, but, but why would you want to import the DualShock 3 when the rumble won't work with many old games? Well, Resistance: Fall of Man is patched to accept rumble and we're expecting hoping that other games have rumble added onto them soon. We're not going to make any "rumble is last generation" cracks because we're just happy Sony is bringing back the rumble. You really don't know what you've got till it's gone.

If you want to experience rumble with your PS3 games as soon as possible, you're going to have to go on a quest of sorts. First, time travel into next month (or wait a couple of weeks) and import a DualShock 3 from Japan. Next, you're going to need the PS3's new firmware, 1.94, but sadly, it isn't available for download yet.

But don't be deterred. Shacknews is reporting that if you pick up Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction (the first retail game with built-in rumble support) you'll be able to find 1.94 right there on the disc. Imagine the convenience. Now, unless you have obsessive compulsive disorder, we have no idea why you'd need the firmware weeks before the controller's even out. But at least we know a certain former Double Dare host is going to sleep well tonight.

OK, so the video above is silly showing that an injection of the steroid/hallucinogen "Nectar" from the game Haze will cause the Sixaxis to rumble like it's the recently announced DualShock 3. But it is nice to know that Haze will ship with rumble in the coding -- even if we can't use it at launch.

Looks like the Japanese, who will have the DualShock 3 this year, will be the only ones to enjoy rumble with their Haze at release. Everyone else on this little blue planet has to wait until early '08. Many of the games currently in development for the PS3 are being designed with rumble in mind and older PS3 games will supposedly receive patches. The guys at PS3 Fanboy tell us that if you really need to rumble with Haze you can always import a DualShock 3 from Japan and it should work fine. We'd prefer to wait for Sony to make some minimal-cost customer-friendly Sixaxis to DualShock 3 exchange program, but we're not holding our breath.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

It seems that the DualShock 3 came equipped with more than just last-gen tech. Also found within its molded plastic curves? Secrets. PS3 Fanboy spotted some unfamiliar titles in the controller's recently distributed compatability list, titles that we'll now pass along to you for your rampant speculation pleasure.

• N-Cube -- Creat Studios
• Warbit -- Creat Studios
  
• To End all Wars -- Ghostlight
• TNA Wrestling -- Midway
• Cops (codename) -- Pyro
• Planet One (codename) -- Pyro
• The Crucible -- Sega
• Rat Race -- SCEA

What do they mean? We just don't know. Will that stop us from making wild, unfounded guesses? Let's put it this way: Judging from the last title, we've confirmed that the PS3 will soon get a visit from digi-Whoopi. Con-firmed.

Remember when Sony's Phil Harrison called rumble a "last generation feature?" Well, can't call the man a liar because he was absolutely right! GameDaily BIZ confirmed with Sony today that the technology in the recently announced DualShock 3 is identical to that in the DualShock 2. So anybody expecting Immersion's next-gen rumble technology can just let those dreams pass into the ether.

As for battery life, the DualShock 3 will last approximately 15 hours with the rumble feature on, and 30 hours (the same as the Sixaxis) with it off. As for the DualShock 3 replaces the Sixaxis, Sony Corporate Communications' Kimberly Otzman says, "Nothing has been decided yet, stay tuned." The natural assumption would be the DualShock 3 will replace the Sixaxis across the board by holiday '08, but don't expect any announcements like that until early next year.

Following the not-so-surprising announcement of a rumble-ready PlayStation 3 controller, Sony sent out a press release to list all of the titles that are compatible with the new controller. The list features pretty much every title in the console's library except for flOw and Lair.

Also mentioned in the press release is that "PS3 titles that are already in the market may become compatible with the rumble feature through software update." It sounds like a no-brainer, but we're hoping this means Sony will set the trend by updating all first-party games from Resistance to Heavenly Sword. For sake of being complete, we've alphabetized the list of compatible titles and posted it after the break.

Kaz Hirai has come to the Tokyo Game Show bearing good news indeed: Sony's finally putting out a SIXAXIS with rumble, the DualShock 3. The controller will look exactly like the SIXAXIS, and is going to be hitting Japan this November, and North America and Europe in spring 2008. A few games in development have the function already, including Metal Gear Solid 4, and existing games can be updated with rumble over the PlayStation Network. Of course, the beans were spilled by EA earlier today, and Kaz says Sony let developers know about the controller as soon as it was decided upon, which would explain all the other leaks over the year. What Sony has constantly described as a technical difficulty stemming from the motion sensitivity of the controller has apparently been overcome, but it's still hard not to pin it all on that Immersion lawsuit no matter how much spin Sony puts on things. There's no word on price for the DualShock 3.