No regrets over PS3 pads - Harrison

Sony's head of Worldwide Studios, Phil Harrison, has defended the company's decision to include a motion-sensing feature in the PS3 controller and leave out a vibration function.

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz's Rob Fahey, when asked if he had any regrets in light of criticism regarding the controller's design, Harrison replied, "Not at all."

"I think that the next generation interfaces that can be created built on sixaxis motion sensitivity give tremendous gameplay benefits that far outweigh a reactive vibration function," he continued.

"The vibration function is the game sending a single channel of feedback to the player - six axis of input puts the player in control in a much richer, deeper way. So, game design can go in much more interesting directions as a result of that than from receiving a single input from the game itself."

Harrison was then asked why Sony didn't simply include both features - as Immersion, which makes rumble and force feedback technology, has claimed this would be perfectly feasible.

"I think the caveat to that statement always has to be based on the fact that when we make a pad, we're making maybe 150, 200 million of them," Harrison explained.

"So it has to be done at a price, and it has to be done at a volume that fits our production requirements. I think the decision that weâve made to build in the sixaxis functionality, and Bluetooth wireless, and great battery life, and all the other functionality that comes with it, far outweighs the chatter that weâre getting on vibration. And, it's incredibly light! Just pick it up!"

To read more of Rob's interview with Harrison, visit ThreeSpeech.com, where it will be serialised over the coming weeks.