It’s now official: Sony will be adding rumble to the Playstation 3’s Sixaxis controller. The confirmation came from Kaz Hirai during his Tokyo Game Show Keynote address yesterday.
Now dubbed the Dualshock 3, Sony’s new controller will essentially be a weighty version of the current Sixaxis, with rumble technology embedded safely inside the unchanged plastic housing. This, of course, is the very same feature that Sony described as "last-gen" up until the legal battle with Immersion was resolved.
Hirai had this to say:
"SCEI will continue R&D efforts to accommodate to users’ demand. As part of such efforts, SCEI today announced DUALSHOCK(R)3 Wireless Controller, a new controller for PS3 incorporating a rumble feature, to become available in Japan in November as a separately sold accessory. It inherits the basic design and functionality of the popular PlayStation controller, while keeping the motion sensitive six-axis sensing system. Introduction to North American and European markets is expected in spring 2008."
So here in the U.S., it will be about 15 months after launch that PS3 owners finally get the controller that SHOULD HAVE been included from the start. Oh, and we have to pay extra for it. Nice!
