Immersion Corp, the patent holders of rumble technology for game controllers, and the winners of a lawsuit filed against Sony Corp. for infringement of their rumble patent, has posted a survey on game site Game Daily. The questions of the survey are revealing as it pointedly asks questions concerning the lack of the rumble feature in the PS3 controller. Sony has explained the lack of this feature as a result of an incompatibility issue with its motion sensor technology and the rumble feature being in the same unit. The real reason is most likely connected to the court order in the lawsuit, which has ordered Sony not to make any more controllers with Immersion,s patent.
Among the questions asked on the survey was:
Sony recently announced that the new PS3 controller will not have the rumble capability that the earlier PlayStation DualShock controllers have.
If rumble is removed from the PS3 console, your PlayStation or PS2 games also may not have vibration when played on the PS3. How would the lack of rumble in the whole console affect your decision to buy the PS3?
– I would definitely not purchase a PS3 without rumble.
– I would be more likely to purchase an Xbox 360 with rumble.
– I would be more likely to purchase a Wii with rumble.
– I would buy a PS3 anyway, but I’d be disappointed.
– It would not affect my decision at all.
– Other, please specify.
Other questions on the survey queried gamers on their reasons as to why a rumble feature was important to them and which game console they would buy if it boiled down to one machine having the rumble feature and the other not having the feature. The reason for the survey seems to focus on the impact of the lack of a rumble pack feature on the Sony controller. Earlier this month, Immersion Corp announced their new TouchSense technology, which was developed specifically for next gen game controllers and is compatible with motion sensing features. The present survey may be an attempt to assess how serious of an impact a rumbleless PS3 controller would have on sales.
