We all remember the row between Immersion and Sony, and how this was connected to Sony's E3 announcement that the PS3's controller lacked the rumble feature, pointing out that they were trying to make the console more affordable *coughonegrandfortheunitcough*.

Victor Viegas of Immersion Corporation who wasn't buying this, was quick to point out what they thought was the real reason for Sony's rumble removal: Sony's recent patent infringement cases with Immersion.

You've read the news, now you can hear it.

The hearings for Sony's appeal of their case just concluded this October 3rd, and while the appeal courts have yet to make a ruling, it doesn't look too good for Sony, whose lawyer was running in circles without making any real points. Check the end of this artie for links to the hearing recordings, provided by the U.S. court of appeals.

We're unsure of what this spells for Sony and the PS3, though there have been mixed reactions about the removal of this long-standing console feature, then there's your thoughts.

What do you guys think?

download: [Sony vs. Immersion Court hearing, October 3]

Immersion Corporation is definitely not feeling good vibrations coming its way. The developer of the touch-feedback technology opened up its financial results for the second quarter (which ended June 30, 2006) being somewhat pessimistic. The company sees a continuing loss after disappointing attempts to settle its lawsuit with Sony. The company posted revenue of $6.7 million for the period which is slightly higher in last year's posting ($6.2 Million). The company also figured a net loss of $2.4 million.

Now they could only hope that its TouchSense Vibration Technology could save the sinking ship. According to Immersion CEO and President, Victor Viegas: "this... technology can work alongside motion and tilt sensing and provides backward compatibility for existing dual-motor systems, allowing an implementation path at any stage of product lifecycle, even after a console model has launched."

Aside from that, the company is also rummaging for profits in the mobile phone business. It signed a new license agreement with with LG Electronics to allow the mobile handset manufacturer to make use of Immersion's VibeTonz System. Korean company SK Telecom also recently launched a VibeTonz-only content service called VibeBell. Finally, Immersion stated that most recently in June, the Korean phone company introduced a new VibeTonz capability, which enables force feedback in touchscreens for smartphones. Whatever works for the company, I guess.

Immersion Corporation, the leading developer in Haptic Technology and the company that sued Microsoft and Sony over patent infringement a few years ago has commissioned a public poll regarding the PlayStation 3 rumble feature. The poll itself asks questions on the specific benefit of such a feature in a games controller, with various choices, including whether or not it makes a game more enjoyable or helps with the actual game by way of warnings and guidance. The key question however appears to be the one that many games are discussing - how will the lack of rumble affect the decision to purchase the PS3? This seems a fairly moot query given majority of gamers are making the purchasing decision based on other factors, not least of all is the price of the PS3 console overall.

With the Sony patent still causing problems for both parties, a relatively innocent survey would seem to take on a whole life of its own, as it seems to be suggesting some sort of forcing of the hand of Sony with regards to the alleged Immersion patented rumble technology. Time will tell. Until then, take the poll (no longer online).

Earlier this month we ran an article asking just how important Force Feedback was to you guys. The comments established that a lot of you are actually somewhat bummed at the thought of playing your next generation games without that warm vibrating tactile sensation that the Dual Shock and it's successor provided. If you've been following the whole Sony vs. Immersion thing you'll know that things aren't looking up for the inclusion of rumble technology in the mighty PS3.

We opinionise and analyse the dilemma, please do read along after the jump!

Even though Sony will still support the Rumble technology in its PS2, Immersion admits that should the technology be excluded once and for all from the PS3 controller, its revenues would definitely be affected.

Should this come to pass, apart from the loss of revenue from PS3-related sales, it would be safe to assume that other parties would feel less need to incorporate vibration controllers in their own consoles, potentially shrinking the market further.

The company, though, states that they still have a stable source of revenue with their growing business in automotive control, medical simulators and cell phone space.

Immersion and Sony are still trying to talk things over, though. If any progress will be made at all, then there's a big chance that Immersion's TouchSense can still be used in the PS3's controller. Any such action on Sony's part will also give gamers something more to look forward to when the PS3's finally released.

Immersion has unveiled (to a limited number of people) its new next-generation force-feedback technology. This allows for a greater range and strength of the "rumbling" effects Immersion's technology is known for.

After Immersion's case against Sony (which took place after Sony's exclusion of the Rumble feature from its PS3 controllers), it's no surprise that this technology was shown using a stock Xbox controller while playing a modified version of Star Wars: Jedi Knight II for the PC.

Aside from the more detailed and stronger rumbling effects in video games, this technology is supposed to be smaller, lighter and less power. During the said demonstration, the following array of force feedback effects were evident:

• A lightsaber effect that caused the entire controller to quiver subtly, then pulse realistically when the lightsaber was deactivated
• A heavy recoil effect when firing a rocket launcher, with the feedback trailing off as the rocket propelled into the distance
• Rapid-fire vibrations from a machine gun; each individual jolt seemed to be synced directly to the gun's firing rate
• A subtler "weapon switching" effect that gave you a hint about your next weapon; heavy guns produced a strong jolt, while small guns gave lighter one
  

Immersion is already showing the Rumble Technology's capabilities to those interested. It will also be showing off Immersion Studio (a development tool) to make rumble effects and force feedback in video game more artistic.

There seems to have been a whole lot of dirt kicked up about the new PS3 Dual Shock controller, from accusations that Sony copied Nintendo's motion sensing ideology to the fact that its design is basically the same as the previous Dual Shock's... sans force feedback. Let's talk about the latter, specifically the importance (or lack thereof) of force feedback.

Detractors are using just about every last bit of ammo they can muster to throw at the PS3 right now, and the fact that Sony has removed force feedback entirely from its redesigned controller has raised more than a few eyebrows and attracted staunch criticism. Sony's reasoning for the removal is that the technology would interfere with the Dual Shock's new tilt sensitivity technology, others say the two technologies could work easily in the device and that Sony is merely covering its bases in anticipation of further legal action from Immersion, a group that sued Sony claiming copyright infringement on its force feedback technologies for use in the Dual Shock 2. Me? I say, force feedback ain't all that hot anyway.

Now don't get me wrong there are some games that definitely make wonderful use of force feedback technology, who can forget the first time Psycho Mantis telekinetically "moved" your controller across the floor, or "feeling" your car slide over the tarmac in Gran Turismo? Unfortunately such innovative and intricate use of the feature as we've seen in games such as Metal Gear Solid and Gran and Turismo is a rare luxury. For the majority of games it seems more like an afterthought, hardly ever enhancing the gameplay experience and ultimately disposable, heck I don't think I even notice force feedback in the majority of the games I play anymore (must be my hairy palms). It seems as though when the tech was first introduced developers had more ideas about how to use it, apart from the aforementioned examples there was the ability to feel Harry Mason's heartbeat get louder,  and beat harder and faster as he neared death in the HUDless Silent Hill, but as time wore on it has become a feature that's tacked on simply to meet the Sony product specifications checklist, what's the point anymore?

What Sony has done, for whatever reason is get rid of a poorly and scarcely well used technology and implemented one that's far more likely to see practical and beneficial use. The new tilt sensor is built into the familiar housing of a regular Dual Shock controller, so developers don't have to re-think how they do things but rather how their game can benefit from having these functions available. Consider having the ability to perform fakes, jukes and shoves in Tekken simply by tilting the controller, or peeking out from behind cover in Metal Gear Solid 4 or Splinter Cell, performing barrel rolls in Warhawk and looking up down left and right in firs person shooters. The new technology has a myriad of gameplay uses and enhances the controllers button set, where force feedback technology did nothing but provide (very often) mundane tactile sensation.

The bottom line is this, let's wait till we get the thing in our hands before we crucify Sony for the decision, we might just be pleasantly surprised. As always, I'd like to hear what you guys think.

If console wars are to be considered an actual battle among the triad of gaming industry, then it's only apt for each to gather as much ammo they could muster. Nintendo Wii has the revolutionary Wiimote (and a cheaper tagprice), Microsoft's Xbox 360 has a well-established online feature with its Xbox Live! (and pretty good headstart), and Sony's PS3 is promising to have the complete package.

Immersion, the same company that sued Sony for allegedly stealing the rumble technology present to earlier PlayStation controllers, has just granted eDimensional a patent license for advanced vibro-tactile. The said technology is aimed for PC and Sony PlayStation and PlayStation 2 gaming peripherals. While it may be noticeable that the PS3 is not mentioned among them, it's not actually farfetched to assume that the feature could be infused to Sony's upcoming next-gen machine.

eDimensional will now include Immersion's TouchSense tactile feedback technology along with next-generation, virtual-reality motion-sensing in the upcoming G-Pad Pro Gyroscopic Game Pad designed for use with a PC or with the Sony PlayStation 2 game console. It's worth noting that Sony has removed the rumble feature in its PS3's controller claiming that the said technology is messing up the controllers motion- and tilt-sensing capability.

However, Victor Viegas of Immersion Corporation has openly announced before that "Immersion has experts that would be happy to solve that problem for them" thus signifying possibilities of merging the features. Mark Belinsky, Immersion vice president of marketing strategy even claimed that "adding eDimensional as an Immersion licensee means that we're supporting the combination of touch feedback along with motion sensing. Together, these technologies define what most gamers would call 'next-generation,' and we're pleased to be working with eDimensional to make it happen."

If Sony's starting to warm up with the company that cost them million of dollars, then a controller equipped with motion- and tilt-sensing features, plus reality-based vibrating actions might be part of PlayStation 3's growing armament -- and this pact with Immersion and eDimensional could be its gunpowder. The way this console war is shaping up, PS3 might just have found their own MOAB, or should I say, MOAC (Mother Of All Controllers)?

Immersion Corporation, the technology firm that sued and won against Sony for illegal use of their 'haptic' (rumble technologies, has already commented on Sony's announcement that the PlayStation 3 DualShock will not have a rumble feature due its possible interference on the controller's six axis motion-sensing controller. Now, it's eDimensional's turn to dish out a commentary.

eDimensional is a gaming accessory manufacturer. Like Immersion, they believe that the combination of a touch feedback and motion-sensing is possible. They claim that they are currently working on a G-Pad Pro Gyroscopic controller for PC and PS2, which will make use of both Impression's "advanced vibri-tactile, spinning-mass gaming technologies" and the virtual reality motion-sensing technology.

If they do come up with such a device, then can Immersion representative Mark Belinsky be correct when he said that "there is more to the story than Sony is telling us"? I guess we can not tell for now. Let us all wait until this eDimensional controller comes out and see the combination of the two technologies realized.