Comments on: Study: If Vibration Feedback Makes Gamers Happy, Sony Makes Gamers Sad

By: CrunchGear » Blog Archive » Good Vibrations Dumped From PS3 For Cost Reasons

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 12:18:53 +0000

[...] Immersion, the company that designs the rumble technology (and sponsor of a little research on consumer reaction to Sony dropping it from the PS3 controllers) responded to the comments made by Hirai by claiming that the addition would not have cost the consumers much at all. [...]

By: LKM

LKM — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 07:12:59 +0000

Some games actually depend on force feedback… When I got a Wavebird for my Cube, a lot of games simply didn’t feel right without the force feedback, or actually put gamers without force feedback at a disadvantage (Mario Party, for example).

By: Raj Patel

Raj Patel — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 21:32:51 +0000

I’m definitely a strong “hardcore” gamer that will miss the vibration function. It isn’t just the lack of vibration that changes the experience, but the controller as a whole.

The vibrating mechanism that the PS2 Dual Shock controllers had added weight to the controls, made them feel more sturdy. You felt like you had something with a little bit of power in your hands. And then the vibration kicked in and it added to that experience.

You have lighter controllers with the PS3. You will also be moving these controllers around. Its like moving a mouse on a mousepad. Not only that, but every other company (microsoft and ninentdo) paid off Immersion. Sony is the only one that hasn’t.

It won’t convince gamers to buy another platform. But it does make gamers think: “Hey, if you’re going to justify charging $600 for a console, then it better have everything all cheaper platforms have AND more.”

By: Corvillus

Corvillus — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 21:22:35 +0000

The results of this study really aren’t all that surprising. Of course people are going to be disappointed with a feature present in all of Sony’s previous consoles suddenly being dropped. That said, the feature itself isn’t something I find to be a big deal (more often than not I find myself disabling it for many games because it can get annoying at times), and wouldn’t influence my decision on whether or not to buy the console. Now the price on the other hand, that’s another story…

By: MarkR

MarkR — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 20:01:09 +0000

Disappointing, but I’m not getting a PS3 anyway.

By: MarkR

MarkR — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:31:05 +0000

This study was funded by Immesion the company that holds all the patents regarding game vibration technology.

By: David Ulevitch

David Ulevitch — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:18:36 +0000

Is vibration ever a bad thing?

I don’t think so…

By: webonics

webonics — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:09:29 +0000

I have to agree with FimShady. I will definitely miss the dual shock vibration feature because it just adds another sensory dimension to gaming. However, the absence of such a feature will not persuade me to choose another platform or dissuade me from buying the PS3. I hope Sony comes up with an alternative method to create vibration response in the controllers. Either way, I still buying the PS3 because of the gaming experience.

By: FimShady

FimShady — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 18:31:15 +0000

Interesting study. I’ll miss Dual Shock, but not so much that I’ll pass up on Metal Gear Solid 4 or Final Fantasy XIII. Did the study ask participants about game choice, or was it like the one funded by Immersion?

If gamers haven’t picked up the xbox 360 the lack of vibration isn’t going to send them screaming to Microsoft’s arms like this study suggests. That’s like saying I’m going to get a bus pass because the car I want doesn’t come with heated seats.