Upon the unveiling of the PS3 at this year,s E3 convention, one feature of Sony,s next gen machine was glaringly absent-the rumble feature in the game controller. In its place was a motion-sensing capability. Sony later explained the situation by saying that their new motion-sensing feature was incompatible with the rumble feature. However, industry watchers suspect that the missing feature was due to a lawsuit that Immersion Corp filed and won against Sony for patent infringement of their rumble feature. Sony was ordered to pay $90 million in back licensing fees and to halt production of all Dual Shock controllers.
Ironically, the company that sued them may have answered the incompatibility issues that Sony has voiced about their controllers. Immersion Corp has announced their new “TouchSense” rumble element, which was developed for next gen gaming. The new technology uses a single motor as compared to the dual motors used for present gen controllers. The single motor will use less power, save internal space, and provide a more accurate and wider range of vibration modes to make gameplay more realistic. But most importantly, the new technology will be motion-sensing compatible.
PlayStation fans have voiced their disappointment concerning the lack of the rumble feature in the PS3,s new controller. The omission is seen as a serious issue as gamers have become so accustomed to the feedback, that the absence of a rumble feature will diminish the overall experience of the games. However, with the arrival of Immersion,s TouchSense, Sony has a way to incorporate this back into their controller. But the move by Sony to embrace the new TouchSense feature will be awkward, as Sony has not paid the fees associated with the Dual Shock case.
Christophe Ramstein, vice president of Immersion said the new TouchSense would help developers make better games, “Immersion Studio allows developers to deal in objects and inter-relationships like any modern programming language, freeing them from tedious low-level mechanics and letting them concentrate on integrating the vibration effects with graphics and sound. They can finally focus on the art of creating even more compelling vibrations."
