News > Kaz Hirai argues rumble controller cut helped PS3 fans
October 5, 2006
Content taken from 1UP:
In a video interview with the head of SCEA Kaz Hirai, Kikizo got the man in charge to comment on why exactly Sony opted to drop the rumble functionality on the PS3 controller for the new tilt motion sensors. The primary reasoning behind the decision, as Hirai explains, was money.
"The issue... is trying to isolate the vibration feature from the motion sensors," he said. "Is it technically feasible? Absolutely. But the balancing act that you need to do is to be able to present the controller to the consumer at an affordable price." Hirai went on to explain that if Sony had to develop the technology, that would have definitely bumped up the price of the controller "doing the consumer a huge disservice by coming up with a controller that is not affordable."
"We felt that ultimately, the vibration feature, which is a feedback feature, as compared to the motion sensing, which is an input functionality," he said. "When you compare the two, we decided that the input device or methodology is a lot more important than feedback, and that has been a strategic decision we've made."
The SIXAXIS PS3 controller is retailing for 5000 Yen in Japan ($43), along with the prices of other PS3 accessories.
On the coin's other side, is Immersion's somewhat vitriolic response: Rumble is cheap, the company told Next-Gen, saying that adding rumble to the controller wouldn't cost the consumer much at all. The war of words between Sony and Immersion continues, with Immersion's CEO Vic Viegas again asserting that the company could've helped Sony rumble: "[Hirai's] saying that [combining rumble and tilt in a controller] isn't a technical problem any longer, so I'm glad their engineers figured that out -- even though we knew the day after [Sony's press release] how to do it."
If only that pesky lawsuit between Sony and the rumble-tech company were settled, eh?
