PS3 Ready To Rumble With Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360?
Published by Robert Staehlin March 3rd, 2007 in Sony, PlayStation 3.
PS3 has been been (arguably) underperforming against Wii and Xbox 360, but is Sony’s next-gen console now ready to rumble? It certainly appears so, since Sony and Immersion have finally settled their litigation and are now friends once again.
This opens up the door for a new SIXAXIS that would rumble with force feedback, just like the Dual Shock 2.Cana single element like this change the dynamic of the race with Wii and Xbox 360? Time shall tell, naturally.
The announcement of the Immersion/Sony lovefest follow.
Immersion Corporation, a leading developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) today announced the companies have agreed to conclude their patent litigation at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and have entered into a new business agreement to explore the inclusion of Immersion technology in PlayStation format products.
“We are pleased to have put this litigation behind us,” said Immersion CEO Victor Viegas. “Our new business agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment is specifically intended to enable advanced vibration capability for the benefit of the PlayStation gaming community. We are happy to provide our technology in this regard and hope to make technical proposals very soon with respect to use of our technology in the PlayStation products.”
Immersion will receive the amount of the judgment entered by the District Court, which includes damages, pre-judgment interest, costs, and interest, in addition to retaining compulsory license fees ordered by the District Court which were already paid. Terms of the business agreement between the parties provide SCE with certain new rights with respect to Immersion’s patent portfolio. Additional financial terms are not being disclosed. The conclusion of this litigation and the agreement will have no material impact on Sony’s consolidated earnings forecast announced on January 30, 2007.
“We look forward to exploring with Immersion exciting new ways to bring the largest and best range of gameplay experiences to our customers,” said Kazuo Hirai, President and Group Chief Operating Officer, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. “We are very excited about our new partnership with Immersion and the potential for new and innovative products incorporating their technologies.”
Now that Sony is out of the way and their war chest replenished by $150M, rumor has it that Immersion will shortly be knocking on Nintendo’s door.
But haven’t Sony said that rumble is so “last generation”? Didn’t they also say that because of their tilt functionality, it was “impossible” to include rumble in their controllers? I’d be surprised if they actually do bring in rumble. I can’t trust anything Sony say now.