Rumble rumble

[Glockstar]

I've been playing the heck out of Call of Duty 2 lately. On the hardest difficulty setting. Which has been real frackin hard, let me tell you. I did it, but there were many times where I had trouble and died repeatedly. (An understatement if ever there was one.) One such point was when I had to man a stationary machine gun. A gun which shook the controller something fierce. My constant firing, along with incoming mortar fire that shook the ground - and the whole camera - while frequently taking fire... made for a segment where the controller was shaking viciously and non-stop for several minutes. After umpteen tries, I became aware of this. But not only did I become conscious of how it was helping to generate the 'you are there' feeling I was getting, but I also started to have thoughts and concerns about wear and tear on my controller, as well as for the "life" of my battery. So I turned it off. (The rumble, that is.)

Man, what a difference! It didn't even feel like I was fighting the same fight. My adrenaline immediately shot back down to zero. There was a total disconnect from... everything. It all seemed lifeless, and empty; even the sounds I was hearing didn't feel like they applied. It really sucked.

Now more than ever I am convinced that rumble is a huge thing. And it's also something that we totally take for granted.

There is also little doubt in my mind that Sony fracked up big time by eschewing rumble for tilting; and for not settling, or making up, with Immersion.

I love racing games, but have absolutely zero interest in playing Motorstorm. Especially now, after my little experiment. Talk about a game that should have rumble! I just don't see how that game could be any good, or even any fun, without it.

[Pandarbock]

I certainly know what you mean, rumble is the reason I never could stand using my wavebird I bought for my cube, because even though it was heralded as the most uber wireless controll ever at the time it just felt so different and empty without the rumble of the regular controller.

[Wan-Fu]

I've been playing the heck out of Call of Duty 2 lately. On the hardest difficulty setting. Which has been real frackin hard, let me tell you. I did it, but there were many times where I had trouble and died repeatedly. (An understatement if ever there was one.) One such point was when I had to man a stationary machine gun. A gun which shook the controller something fierce. My constant firing, along with incoming mortar fire that shook the ground - and the whole camera - while frequently taking fire... made for a segment where the controller was shaking viciously and non-stop for several minutes. After umpteen tries, I became aware of this. But not only did I become conscious of how it was helping to generate the 'you are there' feeling I was getting, but I also started to have thoughts and concerns about wear and tear on my controller, as well as for the "life" of my battery. So I turned it off. (The rumble, that is.)

Man, what a difference! It didn't even feel like I was fighting the same fight. My adrenaline immediately shot back down to zero. There was a total disconnect from... everything. It all seemed lifeless, and empty; even the sounds I was hearing didn't feel like they applied. It really sucked.

Now more than ever I am convinced that rumble is a huge thing. And it's also something that we totally take for granted.

There is also little doubt in my mind that Sony fracked up big time by eschewing rumble for tilting; and for not settling, or making up, with Immersion.

I love racing games, but have absolutely zero interest in playing Motorstorm. Especially now, after my little experiment. Talk about a game that should have rumble! I just don't see how that game could be any good, or even any fun, without it.

I would love to hear from the ps3 owners on the board-- how is the six-axis waggle function? Is it worth the rumble being gone? I know you can shoot free-throws in nba2k and shake off enemies in resistance, but I just wondered what the verdict was, at least for now. Maybe we need warhawk and lair to come out first...

[theWacoKid]

Rumble should be referred to as tactile feedback. In COD2, you get feedback from the guns. You can tell the difference between the different machine guns from various countries thru the feedback.

One of the best most subtle uses of tactile feedback is in ICO. When you lead Yorda around you feel this gentle tug. It creates a connection between the two characters.

The lack of feedback in Motorstorm really sucks. You have this big air jumps and these big crashes and you feel nothing.

[Cuddly Knife]

It's really gonna suck for racing games. In Burnout, you can feel the impact of a heavy crash, or you can feel the gentle rubbing of your opponent before you slam him into the wall. Games like Rockstar's Table Tennis require heavy use of the rumble to direct your shots.

So far all I've heard about Six-Axis is "gimmicky", "feels rushed", and Kojima's own" I'm real dissapointed that there is no rumble".

Rumble ftw.

[Gadfly2317]

and Kojima's own" I'm real dissapointed that there is no rumble".

Rumble ftw.

Especially when you think back to how cool the first Ps1 Metal Gear was, where you could feel Snake's heartbeat when you were trying to snipe. That was an early use of tactile feedback that really impressed me.

Ps3 trying to jump on Nintendo's control innovation bandwagon is definitely last-minute and rushed, and should not be traded for force-feedback. After all, the wii is motionbased and still has rumble. Personally, I think the more functionality the better, so I don't have a problem with Ps3's "me too" motion control if it works, but damn is the loss of rumble ever noticeable.

How is the system truly b/c? There were sections of both Collossus and Okami (the most recent PS games I've played) where the rumble wasn't just cool, it was essential in figuring things out.

[Cuddly Knife]

Holy crap, Gad. I didn't even think about b/c games that used a lot of rumble!

Another good moment in rumble history was when Psycho Mantis told you to put the controller on the ground so he can "move" it with his mind.

The one thing I see Six-Axis gaining steam in is games that are avaliable on Playstation Store. You know, like the little Live Arcade-style games that they'll be making. Maybe with that addition, we'll see some games like how Sony did it with the PS2. Quirky, and developed around the Six-Axis control, instead of making a traditional game and adding motion-sensing as almost an after-thought. Other than that, games cost too much to make for blue-ray that devs will have no choice but to make Live Arcade style games or fold. Unless they go to the more developer-friendly 360.

[PapaSmurf]

I don't know about you guys, but I get that quirky feeling that, some time down the line we're gonna have rumble game pads for the PS3 again. Taking something like rumble out is just plain wrong.

On the same token, being a PC gamer, there is no rumble with KBM settings and I've never noticed in transition from console to PC and back, so maybe I won't notice now. I wonder...though I probbably won't have too, cuz by the time I get a PS3 Sony should have knelt down, paid immersion and added rumble.

[ilnadmy]

I've been playing COD2 on Veteran as well on the PC, and to say that without rumble it feels completely lifeless is just huge hyperbole. Let me tell you, it's intense as all hell whether or not you have rumble.

I do agree that sometime down the line we'll see rumble. Sony ain't stupid enough to leave something like that out for the entire life of the PS3.

[Gadfly2317]

I do agree that sometime down the line we'll see rumble. Sony ain't stupid enough to leave something like that out for the entire life of the PS3.

Can't logitech put one out for the Ps3 and pay royalties to Immersion? Just curious, if the games themselves have the code for rumble if that is a problem.

[Glockstar]

Almost forgot about this thread. But I don't think that'd be right to do yet; I don't think this matter is settled.


On the same token, being a PC gamer, there is no rumble with KBM settings and I've never noticed in transition from console to PC and back, so maybe I won't notice now. ...

I've been playing COD2 on Veteran as well on the PC, and to say that without rumble it feels completely lifeless is just huge hyperbole. Let me tell you, it's intense as all hell whether or not you have rumble.

I remember thinking about that as I was typing up my original post: that PC users don't get any "tactile feedback"; KB's & M's don't have rumble. And yet, it's never been a detriment to their games. Because I recall a lot of PC games that have won the overall GOTY over the past few years (Battlefield 1942; Call of Duty 1; Half-Life 2) and they've all done so without this immersive feature.

So maybe it's not that big of a deal... to some people?

Also, when reading these PS3 game reviews, I just do not see it even being mentioned either way. I think that's incredible. Take the GI review of COD3 for example: they say the only difference between the PS3 version and the 360 version is that 'the PS3 version sometimes has these gimmicky Sixaxis moments thrown into some battle sequences'. I read that, and I was, 'Huh?! Excuse me?!'. That can't be the only difference - because we all know that Sony didn't include any of kind of "rumble" in their controller, while there's still tactile feedback in the 360 game.

Thing is, it's not just GI that's neglected to make mention of it. ("It" being the lack of tactile feedback in PS3 (and PC) games.) It's every magazine, and every e-zine, and every review, and every game.

So what does that mean? Is it a feature that even "the pros" take for granted? Or are the "oversights" intentional - because the pros in question have a pro-Sony bias? Or is this just another example of what a bunch of hacks the pro reviewers really are?

Or... is "tactile feedback" just not that big of a deal... but period?

[ilnadmy]

I will say rumble definitely adds to a game, but honestly you don't even recognize it. I mean you said it yourself, you didn't notice the rumble until you turned it off. If it was off from the start you wouldn't have been like, "Man I wish there was rumble!" As long as the gameplay is good enough, then you're too engrossed in a game to care about rumble.

That being said, I'm pretty sure that Sony will release a new controller for PS3 with rumble, and then enable firmware updates to perhaps update older games with rumble or something. It's not a big deal, but it is coming back.

[NEO-360]

I will say rumble definitely adds to a game, but honestly you don't even recognize it. I mean you said it yourself, you didn't notice the rumble until you turned it off. If it was off from the start you wouldn't have been like, "Man I wish there was rumble!" As long as the gameplay is good enough, then you're too engrossed in a game to care about rumble.

That being said, I'm pretty sure that Sony will release a new controller for PS3 with rumble, and then enable firmware updates to perhaps update older games with rumble or something. It's not a big deal, but it is coming back.

Hopefully Sony does release another joystick with everything intact so gamers can enjoy feeling of the rumbling again .:thumbsup:

[folken001]

Never cared for rumble. In fact, it annoys me if my pad shakes.

[DrunkenThumbmaster]

Never cared for rumble. In fact, it annoys me if my pad shakes.

Yeah I hate when I'm having sex with a woman and she moves giving me "tactile feedback" it annoys me I wish she would just lay there :mad2: