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On Gear Live: 10 gadget sightings in Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance music video

Konami: MGS4 On 360 Is Speculation

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: PlayStation 3, Rumors, Xbox 360

Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer

They should have just said, “No comment.”

Website Digital Spy tried to squeeze an answer out of Konami regarding an issue that’s pretty significant to the console wars and (much less importantly) the fanboy wars: is Metal Gear Solid 4 coming to the Xbox 360? While they were unsurprisingly not able to get a straight answer out of Konami, they were told that the rumors are “speculation.” That’s not a rounding endorsement that the game will be seen on Microsoft’s console anytime soon, but it also isn’t the typical, “We currently only have plans to bring game X to the PlayStation 3.” This is bound to only add fuel to the flames of the already rampant rumors.

While Hideo Kojima has time and time again said that he wants rumble, the game is also being designed specifically for the PS3. But, that still doesn’t shoot down the possibility of an Xbox 360 port – my guess is that this is an issue of timed exclusivity. The game will be released on the PS3, and then at a certain point – maybe six months – Snake and company will be released on the 360.

Read More | Digital Spy

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Gran Turismo HD Update Hits US PSN Store

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Driving, Hardware, Internet, PlayStation 3

GT HD European owners of the PS3 have been able to get a rumble-enabled version of Gran Turismo HD since launch. Now, US owners can get the free update from the PlayStation Store, according to IGN. The update adds a world-wide ranking system, so US gamers can now compare their times with others across the world and adds rumble support for owners of Logitech’s Driving Force, Driving Force Pro, and Driving Force EX wheels. The quick addition of rumble support gives hopes to PS3 gamers that rumble support in other PS3 games as well as in new controllers will be coming soon.

Read More | IGN

Sony And Immersion Kiss And Make Up

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3

SIXAXIS Immersion and Sony Computer Entertainment have officially ended litigation and reached a settlement regarding the use touch feedback technologies patented by Immersion Corp. According to the press release, it appears that Sony has decided to stop any appeal process and pay the full amount of the judgment against them. In addition, the two companies have entered into an unspecified business agreement to explore including the technology in future Playstation products. This may well mean that there will be a new Dual Shock SIXAXIS controller on the horizon, as Sony miraculously figures out a way to combine rumble and motion-sensing technology into their controllers.

Read More | PR Newswire via Yahoo Finance

Kaz: PS3 Motion Sensing + Rumble “Possible”, But Would be Expensive

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Hardware, PlayStation 3

PS3 Controller image

Oh Kaz, will your quotes ever cease to amaze? This week, Kaz Hirai of Sony talks to Kikizo about a combo motion-sensing / rumble remote, and while he says it’s “possible”, he says it would just make those PS3 controllers (which are currently going to cost you $39.99) too darn expensive.

“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. We have one controller in the box, but many consumers will want to go out and get an extra controller. To isolate the vibration from the sensing, if that means that the controllers are going to be so expensive, then we’re doing the consumer a huge disservice.”

That’s quite the choice quote, given that Nintendo has managed to offer the package Kaz is talking about, a wireless controller with motion sensing and rumble (need we mention the speaker too?), for the very same price of $39.99. And Nintendo is notorious for not taking losses on their on hardware!

Read More | Kikizo

Survey Says: Rumble Important To Gamers

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, Nintendo, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360

Nintendo 64 Rumble PackMarket research company Ipsos Insight released the results of a survey conducted on behalf of Immersion Corporation indicating that gamers prefer to have vibration feedback in their gamers. Immersion, of course, is the current holder of a number of patents for vibration function in controllers, and recently won an injunction against Sony for their use of rumble technology. Some have suspected that this may be the reason that Sony’s Playstation 3 controllers will not feature rumble support.

So, the ground-breaking news from this survey is that 72 percent of gamers believe that vibration feedback enhances their game experience “most of the time.” According to their report, 74 percent of gamers were also unaware that Sony had removed rumble support and 58 percent were disappointed. Somewhat shockingly, 5 percent of the gamers polled would not buy a PS3 if rumble was not included. While many people like the rumble feature, it is hard to believe that this would end up being a deal breaker, despite Immersion’s wish that this would be true.

Ipsos also makes some interesting conclusions about the rumble/vibration feature. They claim that gamers are “unaware that this capability must be present in the console to experience vibration feedback with any gamepad controller…” Ipsos doesn’t seem to be aware of the genesis of the vibration feedback function. First, there is no indication that this support has been removed from the Playstation 3. Second, if this kind of support had to be built into the console then rumble could never have been added after the fact to the Nintendo 64 or the original Playstation. Certainly, one would have a hard time adding interactive rumble to a game that previously didn’t support the feature, but vibration feedback falls into the realm of support for software and the peripherals, not the base console itself.

Still, the survey does feature some interesting numbers about next generation console adoption. Separating the numbers from the vibration bias, it does appear that fewer previous generation console owners are going to be adopting the Playstation 3. The survey showed that among those owners, the marketshare numbers shift to 48 percent Playstation 3 owners, 37 percent Xbox 360, and 15 percent Wii. Ipsos doesn’t indicate if the option to purchase one or more consoles was given. Overall, the survey gives some interesting material for discussion, but given the relatively small sample size and the focus on vibration feedback, it is hard to give the survey a lot of weight.

Read More | Ipsos

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