Sony boss defends lack of rumble in PS3 SixAxis controller

26 October 2006

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Posted by:Ferry

Sony’s Phil Harrison told Eurogamer he has no regrets at all about not including rumble functionality in the PlayStation 3 SIXAXIS controller. Without a second thought he said:

“I think that the next generation interfaces that can be created built on SIXAXIS motion sensitivity give tremendous gameplay benefits that far outweigh a reactive vibration function. The vibration function is the game sending a single channel of feedback to the player – six axis of input puts the player in control in a much richer, deeper way. So, game design can go in much more interesting directions as a result of that than from receiving a single input from the game itself.” Yes, any direction except physical feedback to the player that is. If it wasn’t clear by now, Sony made the choice for you, but why didn’t they include both? Immersion, which makes rumble and force feedback technology, has said its easy and cheap.

Mr. Harrison responds: “I think the caveat to that statement always has to be based on the fact that when we make a pad, we’re making maybe 150, 200 million of them,” Harrison explains. “So it has to be done at a price, and it has to be done at a volume that fits our production requirements. I think the decision that we’ve made to build in the SIXAXIS functionality, and Bluetooth wireless, and great battery life, and all the other functionality that comes with it, far outweighs the chatter that we’re getting on vibration. And, it’s incredibly light! Just pick it up!”

Does that mean 110 million PS2 owners don’t “feel” rumble makes the games they play more immersive? Because the staff here sure do, even after the PS3 arrives I’m holding on to my PStwo for old games because of that. Well, that, and because the PStwo is so tiny! So rumble will be missed.