Wed 14 Mar 2007
It is not news that Sony has settled its disputes with Immersion over the rumble features in the PlayStation controller products. According to an interview taken at the God of War II release party, God of War III should have rumble features on the PS3 (see the 9:40 entry). It is good to hear that rumble is no longer “last-gen” technology and that it will be compatible with the acceleration sensing features of the SIXAXIS. I couldn’t find information on who makes the accelerometers for the SIXAXIS, but it looks to me like a Analog Devices package (more so than Freescale or ST). If this assumption is correct and the chips are a derivative of Analog’s ADXL line, then they should be a set of DC sensitive MEMS devices so it may be possible to determine controller tilt just from a time-averaged accelerometer signal. Furthermore, if the rumble design is the same as in the DUALSHOCK controller, it may be possible to band-block the motion artifact due to rumble features from the acceleration signal to retain both the slow tilt components and the quick jerky movements. So all in all, I am not convinced that the two systems are wholly incompatible beyond the fact that any appreciable rumble feature would eat battery life resulting in a heavier controller, but I figure some people might actually enjoy that. This and the PlayStation Home features might turn the PS3s into more than a BlueRay player. I guess I will keep sticking to my view: there is nothing better for the consumer than a console war between several companies. (Controller pictures are from IGN.)
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