Updated: Monday, 19 June 2006
PS3 Controller May Jolt Immersion
By Kris Graft
Force feedback company Immersion has updated Next-Gen.Biz on the status of its litigation with Sony, stating that if the PS3 controller doesn't use Immersion's patented rumble tech, revenues may be affected.
Immersion CEO Vic Viegas said, "If [Sony] eliminated all support for the current rumble technology, then presumably the third parties will not be selling vibration controllers, and it would have an impact on our revenue, although we have a very strong, growing business in our cell phone space, medical simulators, automotive control--we have a number of other business areas that continue to grow."
He made sure to point out that other segments would still be generating revenue for his company. "Gaming has been a relatively stable business, but there could be some, some revenue impact from the PS3['s lack of force feedback]. PS2 would still support [us], and obviously controller sales from Nintendo and Microsoft would still continue to generate revenue for Immersion."
Since the unveiling of the PS3 controller at E3 in May, many have assumed that force feedback is totally out of the question for Sony. However, Viegas indicated that there's still a chance that rumble could be worked into the final controller, if differences are resolved.
"It's not too clear what Sony's position will be on the rumble..." Viegas said. "Obviously, if Sony and Immersion resolve their differences, it would be best for the industry and for the gamers. They could help bring about this change quickly, and we could have this deployed very quick."
The use of force feedback in the PS3 controller is still strictly theoretical, and almost completely up to Sony.
Viegas' comments come in the wake of Immersion's announcement today of its next generation of force feedback called TouchSense. The technology sounds like a significant step up from the current rumble technology, as it will be able to create crisper, more staccato vibrations. A few examples Immersion gave were a "springy sensation of hitting a tennis ball" or the "surge of powering up a light saber, followed by the transition to a subtle hum, then the jolt of clashing with their opponent's light saber." All-in-all, the technology will be more versatile and varied.
Immersion hopes that first and third party controller manufacturers will adopt the technology, although it would take joint cooperation from console manufacturers, game developers and controller suppliers to implement it. Even if third parties had the ability to utilize force feedback in a PS3 controller, there would be no way to implement it from the software end without technical support from Sony.
In a statement regarding TouchSense, the company made sure to note a couple of times that the technology is compatible with motion and tilt-sensing controllers. Of course, Sony has said that it wouldn't use rumble technology in the PS3 controller, because it would interfere with the tilt sensors. However, it's painfully obvious that the choice to forego force feedback has to do with the litigation between Sony and Immersion, not technical difficulties.
Under the terms of the litigation, there's a compulsory license in which Sony pays Immersion royalties each quarter on its games, consoles and controllers sold in the US.
"We continue to want to try to resolve this, and we've had discussions with them in the past about how we could resolve this," Viegas said. "Up until now, those discussions haven't generated any progress, but we're still hopeful that we can bring this new technology into the market, and that we can resolve our differences with Sony."
