Sean Decker, general manager of Battlefield developer DICE, spoke to VideoGamer.com about their upcoming Mirror's Edge. The first-person platforming/action game made its debut at PlayStation Day, which led some to believe the title was a PS3-exclusive. It's not, but the team is promising to make the most out of the PS3's unique architecture. For example, the team plans on utilizing tilt controls: "The great thing about it is that there's a lot of little things like, Faith there when she's walking like this (points to Mirror's Edge trailer showing Faith tightrope-walking across a beam), Sixaxis controls, super easy to implement and say, OK well just balance it and then you've got it there, as opposed to teaching a player to say, oh let's push this button or that button."
"The other thing is the Cell really allows us to push the resolution of our textures much higher and we've taken full advantage of that as well. So there's a lot of little quirks to it that we really like and our engineers love as well as our designers." However, Decker wouldn't go so far as saying the PS3 version is superior to the Xbox 360 version -- they're simply "different."
Well hooray for that. It's about bloody time that Sony finally says that they're discontinuing the SIXAXIS controllers. They'd told Stephen Totilo of MTV exactly that, adding that once the current stock runs out (estimated to be sometime during the Summer) there will be no more. Presumably this means that DualShock 3s will be made standard pack-ins when buying a PS3. Again, it's about bloody time.
Meanwhile SCEE are remaining tight lipped regarding any date for a European launch of the new rumbling controllers. We're hoping they'll hit before June, considering how big of a fan Kojima is of using the feature. There is a rumor that DualShock 3s will be hitting Europe a month from now, on May 2nd. If we hear anything more then we'll be sure to let you know.
While it might not be much of a deal, Amazon currently has fresh DualShock 3 controllers listed at $50 (pre-order only, of course). From the looks of the webpage, the deal looks permanent, at least, until pre-orders end (MSRP is $54.99). The Sixaxis has been cut down to about $44, so we can assume they're trying to create a hierarchy of controllers. A fiefdom, if we may. Anyway, if you're looking for a DualShock 3 pre-order, this is probably good news for you.
We've probably talked about it before, but some people have found ways to use the PS3's Sixaxis controller on the PC. However, we've only been told things or seen images serving as proof. Now we have a fantastic tutorial video to show you how you can do it right now, at home. If the video wasn't edited at all, you could have a functioning Sixaxis on your computer in about three and a half minutes. Good luck!
It's no secret many gamers aren't very happy with Lair'sSIXAXIS control scheme. And despite overwhelming requests by gamers the world over for Factor 5 to issue a patch to rectify the issue, months have gone by without any fix for this issue.
However, Factor 5's President Julian Eggebrecht recently hinted that a fix may finally be in the pipeline. "I can't say anything quite yet, but there might be something in the works there," he said. Additionally, he admitted the decision to only include the SIXAXIS control scheme was a mistake. "If you're on a platform where this whole motion control is something new and not being pitched as the main feature of the platform, you should probably give the choice between having different control schemes, there is absolutely no doubt about it," he added.
It's hard not to agree with Eggebrecht, but what a lot of gamers out there want is just a fix for what many believe is crippling controls for an otherwise decent game. Hopefully, Factor 5 chooses to give us what we want.
An anonymous, but reliable source informed us that amazon.com has some significant Black Friday deals coming up. The biggest item we saw on the list for PS3 owners: a $20 SIXAXIS controller. Yes, it won't rumble, but if you want multiplayer gaming over the next few months, this is your best bet.
Dirt for PS3 will also be $30. Additional deals will be unveiled during the sale (and we'll update this post if anything worthwhile shows up). The sale will begin on Friday and last until Monday (if supplies are still available).
Posted Sep 19th 2007 11:48PM by Ross Miller Filed under: News
At their Tokyo Game Show press conference today, Sony finally revealed how the PS3 got its groove back. Kaz Hirai announced that the DualShock 3 -- a Sixaxis controller with rumble -- will be out this November in Japan and Spring 2008 everywhere else.
Future games, such as Metal Gear Solid 4, will incorporate rumble technology, while older titles can enable rumble through software updates. No price has been given, nor was there any discussion on whether the Sixaxis would be phased out.
Posted Sep 19th 2007 9:30AM by Nick Doerr Filed under: News
It seems rumble is definitely making an appearance at the Tokyo Game Show. While playing the latest build of Burnout Paradise, IGN's staff noticed that the game was giving them some good vibrations -- through a controller. It was a PS3 controller that was a bit heavier than the SIXAXIS and had a funky "Rumble" sticker attached to it. It's believed to only be a prototype, as the rumble technology seemed fairly similar to the PS2 technology. With this bit of news, we expect the formal unveiling of the official, new, rumbling Sixaxis during Kaz Hirai's keynote speech tomorrow.
While the chances of us getting platform-specific characters, like Spawn, aren't very likely in Soul Calibur IV, Namco is hard at work at offering other bonuses. In an interview with 1up, Katsutoshi Sasaki, the game's director, said his team at Project Soul is looking into the possibility of including Sixaxis motion control. He said it's "something that we're considering, but we'll have to come up with some good ideas for it first."
But that's not all. In the same interview, lead programmer Masaaki Hoshino said they're also hoping to give gamers the ability to save their custom characters to the PS3's memory card and take it to a friend's house to do battle.
Although it seems like it would be difficult for the developers to include any sort of motion control that would make sense, toting your custom characters on a memory card would be pretty handy. All we care about, though, are Ivy's friends and finally some Soul Calibur online action!
Posted Aug 3rd 2007 10:00PM by Nick Doerr Filed under: News
Dave Karraker from SCEA recently responded to the mostly confirmed rumors of a rumbling Sixaxis controller by stating, basically, no such controller exists. He did confirm that better motion-sensing controllers were in the works, but downplayed it as more of a controller update than a new controller. He said that "[Sony] recently sent out to the development community some new prototypes that have a slightly enhanced sensitivity for the analog sticks and the motion sensing within the Sixaxis controller ... This is not a new controller, but is part of the normal development and evolution of controllers."
While this may seem disheartening, this may be a PR tactic utilizing semantics. Rumble, as far as controllers are concerned, involve rotating hammer weights, causing the controller to shake. That feature is not coming to the PS3. But Karraker might have been dancing around the word rumble, when the proper term is TouchSense technology. Know what we're saying? Of course, maybe we're wrong. But we like dancing, too, Sony!
If you're looking for some strange accessories to accent your PS3 in ways you think immature or silly, turn your attention elsewhere! We've got some very serious add-ons to your Sixaxis to present to you today and they demand only serious gamers consider their purchase. We're being sarcastic, if you couldn't tell, but we do have some peripherals that you may find interesting.
What we're talking about today are not unlike those plastic/rubber covers you can put on CDs to prevent them from scratching (we refer to them as Disc Condoms). We're talking about skins for your Sixaxis -- not just skins, but skins that change color with body heat! They retail for a little over $10 and come in a variety of colors, so if you're really OCD about keeping grubby hands off your precious Bluetooth controller, invest in one of these. The strangest part: these Sixaxis skins are officially licensed by Sony. What do you guys think? Worth it, or pass?
Innerbits.com, a blog run by "a few guys working in the games industry" who "want to address rumors, and a give a voice to game developers who would be otherwise afraid to speak up," claims that rumbling SIXAXIS controllers are now in the hands of a select few developers. The information on these prototype controllers is still kept very tight to Sony's chest. Apparently the details will be revealed over the next two or three months, with Leipzig the obvious venue of choice. We'll be there to let you know if that's the case.
Innerbits also reports that controllers bundled with consoles are quietly being swapped out with newer versions. Nothing too exciting, just improved motion sensing. We're reminded that hardware updates occur all the time without us being told. Remember the removal of the Emotion Engine?
Finally, we're told not to get too excited about the patent for PSP/Dual Analogue controller connectivity. Companies patent hundreds of things that never see the light of day. We're going to remain hopeful, but not hold our breath.
Let the speculation begin! Kaz Hirai has tempted us yet again with his fancy words and vague confirmations. He has let slip the new Sixaxis will contain a few more features in addition to the TouchSense rumble capabilities. In fact, he said, "a variety of other things." Unless he means the TouchSense. In that case, boring! Otherwise, we could see anything from a new set of buttons (L4 and R4, really?) or a remote volume control for game music. Maybe a microphone? How about a magnifying glass? We'd really like to see your most inventive ideas to incorporate into the controller, so why don't you go nuts and give us your "features" to add?
A lot of people were disappointed that Sony's little conference at E3 didn't talk about the upcoming Rumblaxis controller (it's pronounced Rum + Blaxis because that's really the coolest name we could think of), but PS3 Fanboy was not surprised. We've been informed that Immersion has filed for some patents and with it, indirectly filed for the release dates of their new Sony peripheral device that "will now bear Immersion's Feel The Game® TouchSense® Technology logo." When are these peripherals to be released? September.
If you're having trouble connecting the dots, the Tokyo Game Show is generally in September. Sony had to save some of its announcements so they could steal the show at TGS, much like we feel they did at E3. So, for those worried, the Rumblaxis is coming in September and you know what? We would expect the announcement at TGS to go something like "hey, we're releasing this Rumblaxis controller we're holding in our hands tomorrow at your favorite retailers. Enjoy!" We can't wait.
Dutch site PS3Focus.nl has a section of a TV report about today's price cut. The interesting thing about this piece of footage is that it includes a couple of seconds close up on someone using a Sixaxis controller. Not particularly exciting normally, but in this instance there's something a bit new. A bit glowy. Check out the image above. We speculated about the glowing red PS button on the 80GB box this morning, but seeing the flashing red button in someone's hands makes us even more ... speculative.
It's clear, then, that another controller is on the cards and will be released before too long (if not for the 80GB launch, then before). The question is, does the upgrade just include a bit of extra illumination, or will we see rumble joining the party? It's probably a fair bet to say yes, but we're not going to say anything definite until confirmation happens at E3. Which it should. Mixed messages? We like to keep you guys on your toes.
The other question is whether that light is going to be blinking on and off constantly during gameplay. If so, that could get quite annoying. What do you think? Check out the video footage and let us know.
[UPDATE] Patrick Seybold has posted a comment on his post stating that the red light "is not a sign or indication of a new/different controller with the 80GB model." It is a feature of the debug model. This doesn't change the fact that we know that the rumbing Sixaxis is on its way at some point in the future. Just not necessarily bundled with the 80GB PS3.
A lot of people were disappointed that Sony's little conference at E3 didn't talk about the upcoming Rumblaxis controller (it's pronounced Rum + Blaxis because that's really the coolest name we could think of), but PS3 Fanboy was not surprised. We've been informed that Immersion has filed for some patents and with it, indirectly filed for the release dates of their new Sony peripheral device that "will now bear Immersion's Feel The Game® TouchSense® Technology logo." When are these peripherals to be released? September.
