So the biggest thing about the PS3 controller is that it now has tilt functionality. The PS3 can detect when you move or rotate the controller, in 3 axes each. The second-biggest thing about the PS3 controller is that it does not have rumble. And people have been talking about it ever since. Yadda rumble this, yadda rumble that.

Some of the talk is about Immersion and whether or not Sony would settle their suit with them so that they could use rumble.

But now SplitFish says that they’d be able to supply Sony with rumble for their controller without trespassing on Immersion’s patents. So now the ball is in Sony’s court - will they or won’t they? Somehow I doubt it.

SplitFish Could Make Sony’s SIXAXIS Rumble

PlayStation Universe says that production of 65nm Cell chips has already begun. This is significant because these chips are cheaper to produce than previous chips, thus allowing Sony to save some money on PS3 production. Also, the chips run cooler, so the fans won’t have to be so noisy. I know people say how quiet the PS3 is, but it’s not quiet enough for movie watching.

I wonder how long it’ll be before Sony will actually start using these chips. Assuming, of course, that PlayStation Universe has it right.

65nm CELL processor production started

I just got Need for Speed: Carbon for the PS3. I put in the disc, booted up the game, selected “Quick Race”, and started playing with my Driving Force Pro. What did I notice?

Force Feedback!

Both the jarring rumble when you crash and the more subtle pulls on the wheel when you start to lose traction with the road. This is with a plain US PS3 and a plain US copy of NFS: Carbon. No special tricks or settings are required for this at all. And this isn’t me quoting someone else, or reading into something. I felt this with my own two hands.

Remember, earlier this month, when waves of web sites reported that the PS3 was uncapable of doing force feedback, even with third party steering wheels? Apparently, testing this out wasn’t hard at all, and this rumor is completely, 100%, categorically untrue.

Of course, none of those sites posted updates or tried to correct this error. Even today, you can Google “ps3 steering wheel force feedback” (no quotes in actual query string) and get links like this, all claiming that this is impossible and even officially confirmed as such by Sony themselves:

Ars Technica
Playfeed
Kotaku
1UP.com
Gizmodo
Joystiq
Destructoid
Netscape Games

Embarrassingly, even this blog reported on this story:
PS3Blog.net - PS3 doesn’t support force feedback

However, we did update this rather quickly.

UPDATE: Many people say Ridge Racer 7 also supports force feedback (I couldn’t test myself). The free GT:HD doesn’t support force feedback.

Other very minor changes.

Just out of curiosity, I decided to convert what the 60GB PS3 goes for in several territories into a baseline currency - the USD. So here it goes:

US: $599
Canada: $556
Europe: $776 (including VAT)
UK: $834 (including VAT)
Japan: $515 (based on 62790Yen)

So it’s obvious from the list above why Best Buy and Future Shop (Future Shop is owned by Best Buy) have raised the price of the console to $699Cdn ($592US). Us Canadians were getting a break on PS3 pricing, and some people decided they could make more money.

It’s also obvious that Sony’s really milking Europeans for every dollar and dime they can get. What is it about Europe anyway? Microsoft has high prices there for their Xbox 360 console there as well. ($517US for the Premium model in Europe, $549US in the UK.) If I were Gary and Tom, I’d be really ticked…

[Edited to say “including VAT” and to add Japanese price.]