for the love of god, we *KNOW the true reason for why Sony didn't include rumble (the Immersion litigation), but do you think it would have been good business for them to bring out their dirty laundry *EVERY TIME they were asked about it?

so they came up with some c*ck and bull about rumble being a "last gen" feature, and "not needed."

which, while false in a way, sounds much better than, "oh, well, we used the technology without permission, and are now being sued for it, and until the litigation is resolved, we can no longer implement it in our Playstation 3 console. don't you just want to buy our console *NOW! aren't we adorable, with our deceptive business practices!"

companies lie all the time. they spin the truth all the time. this is not a new practice. even us individuals spin the truth whenever it suits us. it's in our nature.

the way i see it is this; they couldn't use rumble before, now they can. *BUT, they could have easily continued to *NOT use rumble, even though the suit was settled (i mean, not using rumble would have saved them money, considering that they now have to pay a licensing fee to implement it into the controller), but, listening to consumer complaints, they are implementing rumble again. for the gamers.

but don't think that that doesn't, in some way, benefit Sony. after-all, they get to sell those interested in having rumble again brand new controls, which, despite the licensing costs they have to pay to Immersion, still makes them a profit on each controller sold.

it's a triple mutually-beneficial relationship:

Sony gets money from new Dual Shock 3's
Immersion gets money from new Dual Shock 3's
and the millions of gamers out there that wanted rumble get it, via the Dual Shock 3.

i'm failing to see the downside here, but then again, i don't care about rumble (i could take it or leave it. it tends to irritate my hands when the controller rumbles too much), so the Dual Shock 3's announcement doesn't affect me either way. unless a game uses rumble in such a way that it would be *IMPOSSIBLE to have the same game without rumble (imagine Wii Sports without the Wii Remote), i just don't see it's necessity in gaming. i've been using rumble since 1996, and it *STILL hasn't done anything more than shake uncomfortably when i get hit. Silent Hill has been the only game series that i feel makes rumble vital to the gameplay (as your health depletes, your heartbeat gets faster, a tactile warning that you need to use a health potion, since there is no HUD while you're playing), but even i've gotten through Silent Hill 2 on my PS3 without rumble.