Immersion Comments on Rumble Removal

Could it be mere coincidence that the once-standard rumble feature is being removed from Sony’s newest controller? During the time that Sony made the decision to exclude the rumble feature, they were also being sued by Immersion for a breach of Intellectual Property regarding that same rumble technology. Sony claimed at E3 that the rumble feature was removed due to interference with the motion and tilt sensing technology.

However, Immersion has spoken out about what they believe to be the true reason behind Sony’s decision to remove the rumble;

“If what they’re saying is in fact the reason why [the controller will not have vibration], I’ve offered them numerous solutions to the problem”. Victor Viegas of Immersion Corporation said in an interview. “I don’t believe it’s a very difficult problem to solve, and Immersion has experts that would be happy to solve that problem for them”. Viegas says that Immersion “would have no qualms helping Sony with their problem, if indeed it is a problem”.

The suggestiveness of Immersion’s standpoint could be somewhat accusatory, but do you think Sony’s explanation for the exclusion of vibration could be valid?  The solutions that Immersion offered contain implications that Sony would have to accept to the conditions of their current litigation, and cease their appeal against the current injunction.

Could it be mere coincidence that the once-standard rumble feature is being removed from Sony’s newest controller? During the time that Sony made the decision to exclude the rumble feature, they were also being sued by Immersion for a breach of Intellectual Property regarding that same rumble technology. Sony claimed at E3 that the rumble feature was removed due to interference with the motion and tilt sensing technology.

However, Immersion has spoken out about what they believe to be the true reason behind Sony’s decision to remove the rumble;

“If what they’re saying is in fact the reason why [the controller will not have vibration], I’ve offered them numerous solutions to the problem”. Victor Viegas of Immersion Corporation said in an interview. “I don’t believe it’s a very difficult problem to solve, and Immersion has experts that would be happy to solve that problem for them”. Viegas says that Immersion “would have no qualms helping Sony with their problem, if indeed it is a problem”.

The suggestiveness of Immersion’s standpoint could be somewhat accusatory, but do you think Sony’s explanation for the exclusion of vibration could be valid?  The solutions that Immersion offered contain implications that Sony would have to accept to the conditions of their current litigation, and cease their appeal against the current injunction.