Bzzzz Bzzzz. Buy Me!

[nelg]

Purchasing Behavior May Be Influenced By Vibration Feedback Technology

The study highlights the importance that many active console gamers place on rumble/vibration feedback in their gaming experience across a wide range of game genre. The study also highlights current gamer expectations and desire that the rumble/vibration feature be present in Sony’s PS3 and for the PS3 to include the feature when playing PS1 and PS2 games. The study results indicate that Microsoft may gain share in the next year at the expense of Sony among these active console gamers, with possibly greater gains as consumers learn about the lack of the rumble/vibration feature in the PS3 controller and possibly the console.

 

[one]

The study, sponsored by Immersion Corporation (Nasdaq: IMMR),

How unexpected!... NOT!

 

[nonamer]

What's next? A report from Microsoft saying Windows is better than Linux? Unbelievable!

 

[MatchMade]

well its true i prefer rumble, but as a real laps racer with some of my mates . . . u just have to turn it off

 

[cthellis42]

I bet additional testing would reveal that women are more affected than men by vibration technology, amirite?!!

 

[vazel]

I'm definitely going to miss rumble on the PS3.

 

[bRoNx]

And I thought Immersion were quiet because they had struck a deal with SONY for the PS3's rumble function! I guess I was wrong.

Tune in next week for an Immersion sponsored doco on the History Channel about how the lack of Rumble Tech. cost Germany WWII!

 

[cthellis42]

Ironically, I'm playing Okami--which is so artistically engrossing it's making me want to lick the screen--and the one element that does NOT immerse me anymore is... well... the Immersion tech.

I've made the complaint before, but now I'm really starting to notice it; vibration may be nice, but until they really work on the mechanics of it and developers actually do something other than "stick it in a game," it's distinctly unimpressive anymore. (And, like a low-rez texture here or there, can indeed stick out like a sore thumb when it doesn't measure up to the rest of the game.)

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I can actually add one good experience to rumble. In CON, like many games, I turned it off by default. But I thought I'd give it a go, and when your health gets low, it works as a convincing heart-beat. It wasn't anything like the terrible 'Buzzzzz-you've been shot' or 'Buzzzzzzz, you've hit another car' that I've always found, and I didn't know it could be used with that control. Still, the feeling was so subtle it didn't convey the lack of health. I was playing along, aware health was low because there's a gauge I look at, and just became aware of a pulsing in the hands.

I don't care one jot for the loss of rumble, but at least now my experiences of it do include something a little better than a buzzing that sends the controller crawling across the table if you put it down.

 

[London Geezer]

They might just as well have made huge posters to hang around the world saying "Hey look at us! We're Immersion, we're the guys who got vibrating controllers into your houses a few years ago! Well... We're needed in the industry. You need us!" and they would have looked a lot less stupid.

I hate sneaky advertising. Just the thought of (probably) having to do it in the future makes me sick. If you want advertise something, just be upfront about it!



Hater of the Small Print(TM).