Shake, Rattle, and Roll

So, now there is a study out there (conducted by the company that sued Sony for patent infringement, no less) that says that Sony is going to lose market share because the controller for the forthcoming PS3 does not have the “rumble” feature like the Xbox 360 and the Wii. I have never been one to play many racing games (and I think it may have something to add in that genre), but I don’t really see the appeal.

I think the feature was used well in one game, I think it had to be a Resident Evil title, where you began to feel your heartbeat when your health was low. That was kind of cool, but you still had to open a menu to find out exactly how badly you were hurt. For my dime, I’d just rather you put a health bar at the top of the screen.

Also, and maybe this is just me, after I’ve been playing a game for more than a few minutes, I don’t even notice the shaking of the controller. So, I say “good riddance” to the rumble feature. I also say that the price of the PS3 controller should reflect the lack of internal hardware as well, but that’s the subject of another post.