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Sony announces at TGS a new PS3 controller, new PSP feature to turn off and on PS3

On the first morning of this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. President and COO Kazuo Hirai took the stage to deliver the event’s keynote address.
 
Perhaps the biggest news to gamers is the official return of force feedback to the classic PlayStation controller form. Dubbed the DualShock 3, the new PS3 controller adds vibration motors inside the shell – just as it is in the DualShock 2 for the PS2.
 
Hirai said during his speech that vibration was the single most popular request from PlayStation 3 users. Rather than mentioning the company’s previous legal position with Immersion, Hirai simply said that Sony had found a way to integrate rumble with SIXAXIS motion control – a feature that he said was not previously technically feasible.
 
The outward appearance of the controller is identical to the SIXAXIS, with the only hints of the added rumble feature being the new DualShock 3 logo and the additional weight. The omission of vibration motors in the SIXAXIS made the controller unsettlingly light, but in the DualShock 3, the added weight returns the controller to a more familiar feel.
 
It was rumored that Sony’s new agreement with Immersion had given the games company access to a more advanced form of force feedback, but Hirai made no mention of any advancement in vibration. DailyTech’s hands-on experience with the DualShock 3 found that the force feedback was no stronger or subtle than the DualShock 2.
 
Games playable on the show floor already supporting rumble on the DualShock 3 include Devil May Cry 4, Metal Gear Solid 4, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Ratchet & Clank Future, echochrome and others.

The DualShock 3 will be available in Japan sometime in November, with the U.S. and EU release slated for sometime during spring 2008. Pricing and exact date will be revealed at a later date.
 
Another individual took the stage during the keynote to reveal a new PSP Remote Play with PS3 feature. Upcoming firmware updates will enable the PSP to turn on and off the PS3 console – a huge convenience for those who do not wish to waste power by leaving their home consoles running the entire day.
 
Hirai resumed his spot behind the podium to explain further future applications of Remote Play. For example, the PSP will be able to act as an additional display for PS3 games – a feature seen before in the GameCube and GBA connectivity options. Future games will also enable multiple PSPs to connect to a single PS3 for additional game play opportunities.
 
At the end of the speech, Hirai participated in a Q&A session. The top question on everyone’s mind is the state of the PlayStation 3 price, especially after the $100 drop in the U.S., but Hirai said there would be no price drop for rest of the year.

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Battery Life?
By Torched on 9/20/2007 9:58:55 AM , Rating: 2
No mention of battery life from Kaz? It would be nice if they would increase the battery capacity on the DualShock3 so we don't have to charge more often.




RE: Battery Life?
By V2K on 9/20/2007 10:47:27 AM , Rating: 1
it would have been nice if they had made the effort to redesign the thing with better triggers and a removable battery.


RE: Battery Life?
By wolrah on 9/20/2007 12:56:45 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
it would have been nice if they had made the effort to redesign the thing with better triggers and a removable battery.


and then they can fix the stick layout to be more comfortable.

oh..wait....Microsoft already did that.


RE: Battery Life?
By wolrah on 9/20/2007 1:03:32 PM , Rating: 5
note: i'm not an Xbox fanboy, I currently have a full set of consoles from this and last generation except for the PS3, which I will buy when a game that interests me finally comes out for it (GT5 if they deliver damage as promised).

The Dual Shock is just a terribly uncomfortable thing to use, has been from day one. The analog triggers on SIXAXIS fixed a long-standing complaint I had about them (seriously, play Forza for a few hours, then play GT4 and realize how bad it is trying to provide varied throttle and braking input on that POS), but the sticks being side by side just feels wrong after using the far more comfortable offset layout of the Xbox, Xbox 360, and Gamecube.


RE: Battery Life?
By Bioniccrackmonk on 9/20/2007 2:50:48 PM , Rating: 3
Your entire statement is a matter of opinions, I have liked the layout since the PS1. Besides, when the Xbox first came out, I do recall that the controller was freaking enormous and only after people complained did they release the smaller more comfortable version. Not everyone likes the same thing and not every company gets it right on the first try.


RE: Battery Life?
By woof69 on 9/20/2007 9:11:03 PM , Rating: 2
I kinda liked the original xbox controllers, I only thing i didn't like was the placement of the white and black buttons. The playstation controllers are my fav.


RE: Battery Life?
By afkrotch on 9/20/2007 10:35:30 PM , Rating: 2
I've been throughly happy with the Playstation Dualshock design since it was first implemented in the PSX. Course I don't have giant gorilla hands.

I do know that the original Xbox's controller was utterly horrid. Those stupid black/white buttons, the lack of shoulder buttons, and it's sheer size. Like when attempting to play a game like Halo and having to take your thumbs off the analog sticks constantly. The ones required to look around, run, and strafe. It took a whole new console to fix the scheme.


RE: Battery Life?
By Flunk on 9/21/2007 5:22:53 PM , Rating: 2
I fully agree, I find the dual shock to be tiny and the sticks just tacked on the bottom. I would have hoped Sony would have at least tried to improve the design with the PS3.

My favorite controller right now is the Xbox 360's (I do not own one however). If it had a more comfortable, ergonomic controller I would be buying a PS3. But because of this I still haven't decided which system to buy.


RE: Battery Life?
By Myrandex on 9/24/2007 9:49:24 AM , Rating: 2
I give the Nintendo 64 controller my vote of Fav!


RE: Battery Life?
By BansheeX on 9/21/2007 1:24:11 AM , Rating: 2
Complaining about about the sixaxis design, which is tried and true and almost universally loved, is just plain stupid. There is absolutely no need to redesign that controller. It's durable, supremely comfortable, has perfect button and joystick sensitivity, and it even looks great. I have a gamecube and xbox1 sitting next to me, so let's compare:

Gamecube:
-almost useless d-pad. Has barely any give.
-unorthodox button layout is more confusing
-cheap feel to buttons, you can feel them shifting around.
-terrible shoulder buttons that are concave, overly arched, and take way too much effort to push in
-rotate the sticks in little circles... feel the lack of smoothness from the overly strong re-recentering? Not there on the sixaxis.
-Start button in the very middle of the controller requires uncomfortably long thumb reach

xbox1
-way, way too thick. I feel like I'm gripping a gamegear. Really ugly to boot. A joke of a design, but still not as uncomfortable as the dreamcast's batman controller.


RE: Battery Life?
By KentState on 9/21/2007 1:29:54 PM , Rating: 2
So you are comparing a "new" gen controller to the Xbox1 controller which has been replaced and updated and the Gamecube controller which has also been replaced. I don't even see how you can make the statement that the controller is universaly loved when plenty of people state they hate it. Then again, I used to feel that way until I purchased a 360 and found out how much better a controller can be.


RE: Battery Life?
By afkrotch on 9/21/2007 10:54:38 PM , Rating: 2
The design is, for the most part, exactly the same. The only real difference is the more trigger-like L2 and R2 buttons and it has motion sensing capability. Aside from those two things, it's still got digital buttons, d-pad, analog sticks, analog stick buttons, and overall design.

We are talking about a controller that has only had 3 major exterior design updates since. They added in the analog sticks, they made the L2 and R2 trigger-like, and they add in the PS button on the Sixaxis.

Interior changed some, as they buttons became digital.


RE: Battery Life?
By Murst on 9/20/2007 3:17:49 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
it would have been nice if they had made the effort to redesign the thing with better triggers and a removable battery.


The PS3 controller does have a removable battery. RTFM.


Hideo Kojima is smiling
By encryptkeeper on 9/20/2007 10:00:44 AM , Rating: 2
Hirai simply said that Sony had found a way to integrate rumble with SIXAXIS motion control – a feature that he said was not previously technically feasible.

Not technologically feasible my ass. Everyone and their mother saw through that argument. Unfortunately for 360 owners, this really lessens the chance of seeing MGS4 on MS's console. Who wants to bet this was a major point in the decision to include rumble?




RE: Hideo Kojima is smiling
By Locutus465 on 9/20/2007 10:40:33 AM , Rating: 2
Metal Gear Solid made it from PS2 to x-box previously, I see no reason why it would not this time. Particularly since this time around Microsoft has the market share advantage and Sony is the company facing the uphill battle.


RE: Hideo Kojima is smiling
By glenn8 on 9/20/2007 11:48:16 AM , Rating: 5
Perhaps he meant that it was not feasible in a technical legal sense. Perhaps Sony's "way" of integrating rumble with SIXAXIS was to settle the law suite and that the previous legal issue made it "not feasible"... "technically" speaking. :)


RE: Hideo Kojima is smiling
By Lotus SE on 9/24/2007 9:24:21 PM , Rating: 2
Re-reading that statement, I assume that he was talking about the technical aspect and not the legal.

Think about the motion sensing capabilities of the sixaxis controller, and then add a source of vibration... The vibration would feedback into the motion sensing, just as a speaker causes feedback into a guitar or microphone. This would probably have to be overcome with an algorithm and some processing power inside the controller to cancel the effects of the rumble in the sensors for the motion.


Lost in translation?
By spindoc on 9/20/2007 1:20:05 PM , Rating: 2
I like rumble but 2 pager motors in the handles of the controller can hardly be described as force feedback.

I like the six-axis too but does anyone actually use it? I played Tiger 07 or 08 last week and I didn't even remember to try six-axis.




RE: Lost in translation?
By darkpaw on 9/20/2007 2:36:25 PM , Rating: 2
I agree with the second part. I've had a PS3 about 2 months now and don't think I've used the motion sensing features once.

I am assuming there are games that use it, but I haven't played em.


RE: Lost in translation?
By Murst on 9/20/2007 3:21:39 PM , Rating: 2
Heavenly Sword + R&C: Future both make good uses of it (although the R&C demo didn't use it much at all - it was sitll in there however). Although I haven't played Warhawk, it supposedly has support for the montion sensing also.


RE: Lost in translation?
By afkrotch on 9/21/2007 11:02:36 PM , Rating: