The Zone

When the Sony PS3 SixAxis controller was presented at this year's E3, many players expressed disappointment not only at the controller reverting back to the old PS2 Dual Shock controller design, but also of the decision to remove the rumble feature of the Dual Shock controller.

In a recent interview from GameDaily BIZ, SCEA President Kaz Hirai said that the decision was made to make the controller more affordable. Quote:

"Is it technically feasible? Absolutely. But the balancing act that you need to do, is to be able to present the controller to the consumer at an affordable price."

"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"

So nice to see Sony thinking of the consumers' wallet! Especially a little while ago they said that the PS3 was "too cheap". But is rumble technology that expensive? Immersive CEO Victor Viegas says otherwise.

Viegas points out that a third party controller was able to incorporate both motion sensing and rumble features in their controller, for just USD5 more than the PS2 Dual Shock controller. Another quote from GameDaily BIZ, this time from Viegas:

"I was really surprised when they initially said it wasn't technically possible and I'm probably even more surprised now... [Kaz Hirai's] 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,"

While this latest news adds speculation as to the real price of the upcoming PS3 controller, I can't help but wonder how much of a fraction will our Jln Chow Kit version costs...

Via Engadget, Kotaku, and Joystiq