Showdown for PS3 Controller Rumble

Will Sony pay up and put in rumble? Who knows, but it sure sounds like Immersion wouldn't mind making up.

It's almost like a classic Western standoff. At one end of the dusty street stands Sony, with the PlayStation 3 controlling now deficient in rumbling abilities. At the other end stands Immersion, a technology company with a new solution seemingly tailored to slot into Sony's controller in one hand and a court-decision against Sony for patent violation in the other. By our reckoning, it's nearly high noon.

Let us explain. Sony stunned many people when it revealed that it would include a tilt-sensor but would completely drop rumble from the PlayStation 3 controller. Sony and Immersion, which supplied rumble technology for the Dual Shock, have been stuck in a court battle for some time over patent violations. Rather than settle with Immersion, Sony is fighting the company in court, and it's not going well. The end result of the legal wrangling is the now rumble-less PlayStation 3 controller.

But here's where it gets interesting. Immersion has announced new rumble technology, and the press release is worded almost like a call to Sony to reconsider its decision.

Immersion's press release says that its new technology is, "compatible with motion control and tilt sensing that allow players to control certain game actions by moving or tilting a handheld controller." It even offers engineering services to help add it to "a particular system".

Both sides have something to lose. The head of Immersion, Vic Viegas, told Next Generation that losing Sony's business would have some financial consequences for the company.

It would be in Sony's interest to get back in bed with Immersion too, because as it stands, no backwards compatible games or new PlayStation 3 games would be able to use rumble - a feature found in both the Xbox 360 and the Wii.

But this is all just talk right now.

"It's not too clear what Sony's position will be on the rumble," Viegas told Next Generation. "Obviously, if Sony and Immersion resolve their differences, it would be best for the industry and for the gamers. They could help bring about this change quickly, and we could have this deployed very quick."

Sony has answered with silence and refused to comment for this story.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games