According to some…
Clearly, gaming is d0med.
I fear what is going to be said about the Wii controller though… I predict early experiences will leave people frustrated but once they get into the groove, they’ll dig it.
Unfortunately, people often write about their early experiences and rarely revise afterwards
I’m sure it won’t suck - like the article says, the PS2 did a good job, they can’t fuck it up THAT bad - but I’m equally sure its acceleration sensing capability will be pointless and unused. Eventually they’ll start releasing controllers without it, and throw the rumble feature back in.
That’s my prediction, anyway.
By the way, I initially said I wouldn’t miss the rumble feature really if it were removed. I was playing GRAW the other day… I can’t imagine that game without rumble. Just wouldn’t be the same when you’re under cover and getting shot at repeatedly.
Assuming incompatibility with the motion sensor was in fact the reason they removed the rumble. The Dual Shock 2 I bought a few months ago has no rumble mechanism. And it was still $30, so there was no pass-the-savings-on-to-you happening. I just assumed they removed it because of Immersion’s lawsuit.
When I got to play with a PS3 at Digital Life last week, the controller felt very small and light. After getting used to the 360’s jumbo controllers. my big hands felt awkward on the sixaxis. I really do wish that Sony hadn’t caved under the pressure of that boomerang controller backlash. Seems like it would have been great for adult hands.
I think it would have been folly to change the controller. With the PS1 they chanced upon one of the most popular controller designs of all time; they refined it with the PS2. The PS3 doesn’t require anything radically new or different of its controller, so why mess with a winning formula?
It was really dumb to take the rumble feature out, but for only one reason: the added tilt feature. The feedback is really, really, really important to giving the user a sense of how far they’re tilting it, and so they know if they’re tilting it by accident. Either one on it’s own is pretty worthless.
I was a big fan of the Dual Shock until I started playing the Xbox more than the PS2 a few years ago. I’m not sure exactly when it happened but at some point I grew to like the Xbox Controller-S feel a lot more than the Dual Shock and my like for the Controller-S carried over pretty directly to the 360 controller, which is my current favorite. When I try to play PS2 games these days, the Dual Shock feels kind of flimsy in general and the analog sticks feel way too loosey goosey… and I hear the PS3 controller is even worse in the ‘feels light and flimsy’ department…
I’m sure that the rumble coming out has a lot more to do with Immersion licensing fees than any issues with the tilt feature.
I played with a PS3 at Activision’s offices a couple of weeks ago and the controller felt fine.
Same with me. Now that I’m used to the XBox Controller-S, the Dual Shock feels too small and light.
Just looks like IGN’s staff have their bipolar pole-flipping clocks all in sync.
The PS3 controller is fine. It’s no 360 controller, but it’s the best Sony controller so far.
How are the triggers on the controller? How come no one really talks about it? Well, except IGN(?) which pointed out that they curve the wrong way, so your fingers can slip out. How does it compare to the Dreamcast or the Xbox 1 triggers?
At E3, I wasn’t impressed with the triggers. They’re very short and the hinge is sort of on the “corner” if you can imagine it. So it feels like you’re rotating this short square piece of convex plastic on a 90-degree axis. I got the impression that they took the Dual Shock and realized that analog triggers are awesome in racing games and the like, and make a quick retrofit. They’re not nearly as “trigger-like” as the Dreamcast or Xbox 1 triggers, or the 360 triggers for that matter. And they’re not concave, which they should be.
I’m also not a fan of having rumble removed. It’s one of those things that, when done right, really adds a ton to almost any game. Even Uno - that little soft “buzz” when it’s your turn to play is fantastic. When you’re in a car running over zombies in Dead Rising, there’s a very soft “thump” for each one you hit. There’s a really solid WHUMP in the controller (a very very short, very strong vibration) when you hit with the overhead swing of the sledgehammer, and it totally makes the weapon feel right. There are just too many games that feel lifeless with rumble turned off.
Of course, as with any developer tool, poorly executed rumble is a curse. I hate it when developers just kick off the max-strength vibrate for damn near every effect (I’m looking at you, Lego Star Wars 2!).
The rest of the PS3 controller feels fine. It’s super-light, which doesn’t bother me as much as some people - I can see why some folks think it feels cheap because it has really no heft at all. The D-pad is the same as the PS2, still light years better than the crappy 360 D-pad.
I agree, losing the rumble on the new controller is a major fuck-up. There are just too many nice applications for it to ditch it.