Sony/Immerssion settle: Expect rumble in your PS3 controller?

[Zenien]

SAN JOSE, Calif. and FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Immersion Corporation, (Nasdaq: IMMR - News), a leading developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced the companies have agreed to conclude their patent litigation at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and have entered into a new business agreement to explore the inclusion of Immersion technology in PlayStation® format products.

"We are pleased to have put this litigation behind us," said Immersion CEO Victor Viegas. "Our new business agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment is specifically intended to enable advanced vibration capability for the benefit of the PlayStation gaming community. We are happy to provide our technology in this regard and hope to make technical proposals very soon with respect to use of our technology in the PlayStation products."

Immersion will receive the amount of the judgment entered by the District Court, which includes damages, pre-judgment interest, costs, and interest, in addition to retaining compulsory license fees ordered by the District Court which were already paid. Terms of the business agreement between the parties provide SCE with certain new rights with respect to Immersion's patent portfolio. Additional financial terms are not being disclosed. The conclusion of this litigation and the agreement will have no material impact on Sony's consolidated earnings forecast announced on January 30, 2007.

"We look forward to exploring with Immersion exciting new ways to bring the largest and best range of gameplay experiences to our customers," said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group Chief Operating Officer, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. "We are very excited about our new partnership with Immersion and the potential for new and innovative products incorporating their technologies."

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070301/sfth075.html?.v=79

 

[kytrigger]

Interesting. Hopefully rumble will be included soon on the PS3

 

[The Guardian]

AWESOME NEWS, GREAT FIND AS USUAL ZEN, THINGS COULD GET VERY INTERESTING INDEED!!!

 

[THE LIZARD#1]

Damn I bet this is the big news they are going to release on tuesday!

I thought it was going to be Kill Zone releated at GDC, i'm very disappointed now.

Still pretty tight though, but honestly after playing games for a while without rumble I really don't see what the whole big issue is. I mean dude if you play Resistance with rumble your controller would not stop vibrating and then you would get so annoyed you would just turn it off.

 

[Havok83]

hopefully they will add it to the PS3 before I buy the system

 

[BatMatt]

Damn I bet this is the big news they are going to release on tuesday!

I thought it was going to be Kill Zone releated at GDC, i'm very disappointed now.

Still pretty tight though, but honestly after playing games for a while without rumble I really don't see what the whole big issue is. I mean dude if you play Resistance with rumble your controller would not stop vibrating and then you would get so annoyed you would just turn it off.

Actually the big news is Wednesday and who knows, could be something else.

 

[Zenien]

There's a leaked alleged transcript on what he'll be covering during the keynote. I am NOT reading it (don't want expectation versus reality thing happening) but if you go to neogaf you should be able to find it. If you do post it here I only ask that you spoiler tag it.

So bets on seeing a new rumble controller before the end of 07?

I could see them just packing the new controller in a doing a "call to trade in" option for everyone who has the old controller.

 

[Mr. Credible]

if they included the rumble in the sixxaxis, it'd be my favorite controller by far. i'm downright sick of playing games with the wiimote already, and the 360 controller is great, but it's... normal... no tilt. so, yeah, give me rumble-ness, and it's all good: awesome looking games+tilt function=booya.

 

[BatMatt]

I don't miss rumble but I wouldn't mind it being back either. If I have to repurchase my two controllers without some sort of compensation, I may hold off for awhile

 

[Avalanche]

Personally, I think rumble is a great feature, particularly when games cater for it well. When its used to immerse you in the atmosphere, or as a gameplay mechanic. I hope to see it in future PS3 controllers.