Sony and Immersion have settled their legal dispute over the use of rumble technology in PlayStation products, which means PS3 may soon get a Dual Shock Sixaxis. Sony originally claimed that rumble had been left out of the PS3 controller for technical reasons, later changing tack and asserting that the technology would be too expensive to implement. However, most industry watchers have known all along that the real reason was a patent infringement case brought against Sony by Immersion Corp, the inventor, and patent holder, on a number of rumble technologies.
Immersion has made it clear over the last few years that it's been keen to settle with Sony and start licensing its new TouchSense motion sensing technology to the console manufacturer. Now that the lawsuit has been settled such a deal would be the next logical step. Indeed a press release on the Immersion site claimns that the two companies have entered into a business agreement, with CEO Vic Viegas stating:
"We are pleased to have put this litigation behind us. Our new business agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment is specifically intended to enable advanced vibration capability for the benefit of the PlayStation gaming community. We are happy to provide our technology in this regard and hope to make technical proposals very soon with respect to use of our technology in the PlayStation products."
From the release it looks like Sony has coughed up the full USD90 million in payments decided on by the District Court presiding over the infringement case. Ouch.
You see, just as Sony removes one technology from PS3, it brings back another. However, it'll be interesting to see if Phil Harrison broaches this in his forthcoming GDC keynote. The head of worldwide game development told GameDaily Biz recently, that he feels Rumble is a last-generation feature. Well, maybe he still does - it's just that many, many PlayStation gamers disagree with him.
UPDATE: As a few commentators have mentioned below, this means PS3 will now be launching in the UK with, what some may see as an underspec controller. But let's be fair - that's been the same in Japan and the US and it'll be several months, possibly even longer, before a new controller materialises.
