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Sixaxis grabs awards for borrowed designs UPDATE

9 January 2007 9:37 by Dave "Davedough" Horvath | 30 comments

What happens when you're a game system developer and you take the most ergonomically correct controller and strip it of one of its best features, the rumble strip? What happens when you take it a step further by integrating technology previously announced by your competitor? Why, if you're Sony you get honored with the Technology and Engineering Emmy Award.

Sony's controller design for the PS3 is the Sixaxis controller which is wireless, rumbleless and features motion sensing capabilities much akin to rival Nintendo in their Wii system. It recently was handed an Emmy award for its unique design. This comes on the eve when Sony announced it reached its goal by providing 1 million PS3 units on US shores by the end of 2006.

"The overwhelming consumer demand and critical acclaim for PS3 is testament of the platform's strength and the industry's desire for a true next-generation entertainment system," stated Jack Tretton, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. He went on to say, "The full potential of this powerful machine has yet to be realized. What you've seen so far is just a taste of what will be on the table for 2007 and years to come."

The award was given on the basis that the controller not only introduces motion sensing in a neutral environment, but also does so with pressure sensitive buttons and triggers and dual analogue sticks. The overall design is what impressed engineers as a marvel of design. Still, I think there are some out there who will miss the rumble feature.

Update: Apparently Sony jumped the gun in their press release full of celebration. Details, as many of you now know, are flooding the Internet stating that Sony misrepresented themselves and did not, in fact, win an emmy for the Sixaxis controller, but an overall award for best design with the Playstation controller as a whole. Nintendo also grabbed an Emmy for it's NES controller for its functionality at the time.

Source:
Gamesindustry.biz

Permalink to this article

Sony apologizes for Emmy mistake (12 January 2007)

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Hirai says PS3 is 'most powerful console' (9 January 2007)

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Edgewise (Member) 9 January 2007 11:16
Ever since sony announced the ps3, i had hoped that they would keep the dualshock configuration, just improve on it and make it wireless. And they did. I personally think its THE best controller layout, bar-none. [ + quote]
xugiua (Newbie) 9 January 2007 11:24
I think it's bull. I hate sony and hope the die. Can't even come up with there own ideas. [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 9 January 2007 11:26
Hey the rumble feature was good. As long as we have something similar that gives us the same or similar effect its all good. [ + quote]
Mr_Pink (Senior Member) 9 January 2007 12:32
There are a couple of grammatical errors in this article. As for the controller: I love it. Yeah, rumble would have been nice, but whatever. It's not equipped. Deal with it. [ + quote]
Dwarfius (Newbie) 9 January 2007 13:16
The motion sensing technoloy in the SIXAXIS isn't the same as the one in the Wiimote. And the project was in development since 2003 (do some research and you'll find it). [ + quote]
Dwarfius (Newbie) 9 January 2007 13:21
Also, motion sensing controllers appeared fisrt on PC many years ago. I hate Sony but you can't say all sorts of unfair bad things about them. [ + quote]
banshee07 (Junior Member) 9 January 2007 14:39
The only reason sony left out rumble(if you do a lil research you will find out)was becuase they were sued for the technology that had a broad patent on. In fact they all were sued microsoft and nintendo. microsoft and nintendo settled out of court and sony went to court and lost. so instead of paying royalties like microsoft and nintendo do they left it out. [ + quote]
AE27 (Member) 9 January 2007 15:27
It DIDN'T win. http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/09/oops-sony-declares-sixaxis-emmy-emmys-say-uh-uh/ [ + quote]
Ace_2 (Senior Member) 9 January 2007 15:33
@xugiua- I'm on the same boat, Nintendo was the one who introduced motion sensitivity as a feature of their Wii first, then Sony tried to copy the idea to prevent Nintendo from getting more customers. The PlayStation 3 isn't getting any respect, anyways. They are littering store shelves, just sitting there, and when I get to a counter, I don't hear anyone ask for it. For me, the PlayStation 3 is a waste. Their only focus is graphics. That's a waste of money, for just prettier looking games with the same old gameplay(same goes for the Xbox 360, but I've seen better there). I can bet if Microsoft does something like Nintendo sometime, the PlayStation 3 will be completely ignored(overpriced, and they don't even give you component or HDMI cables with their console, plus, you ABSOLUTELY NEED a high-definition TV to really take advantage of the graphics. What a waste). I mean, I like their older PlayStations, some of my favorite games are on them,(I'm gameplay over graphics, but I like it when the two are blended in) I have a PlayStation 2 myself, but I just find that the PlayStation 3 just isn't worth my $660 Canadian. Maybe I've said too much, and I don't want to see a Sony fanboy here blast at me for what I've said, on top of completely going off-topic(maybe), but I just have to say exactly what I think, which is all of the above. [ + quote]
Ace_2 (Senior Member) 9 January 2007 15:39
HAH! I knew something was wrong with that! When I saw this before posting my first comment, I thought this was just some kind of stunt to get people to buy the PlayStation 3, and in fact, according to this article AE27 posted, IT IS! [ + quote]
lebeau32 (Newbie) 9 January 2007 17:40
The numbnutts at Sony were wrong. It wasn't for the new controller it was for the DualShock!!!! Who is running that Company anyway? [ + quote]
xugiua (Newbie) 9 January 2007 18:23
Thats just too funny. Sony, Sony, Sony, tsk, tsk, tsk. [ + quote]
WierdName (Senior Member) 9 January 2007 21:12
The sixaxis sounds cool, but the rumble was kind of their controllers trademark. [ + quote]
tabletpc (Inactive) 9 January 2007 23:38
wow we start to reward sony for ripping off nintendo wow sony needs there own gimmick not ripping off everyone else [ + quote]
ToxicFish (Member) 10 January 2007 0:34
SONY DID NOT WIN AN EMMY!!! http://www.joystiq.com/2007/01/09/oops-sony-declares-sixaxis-emmy-emmys-say-uh-uh/ Yeah, they made a false press release. Ooops.... what can you do right. Just wanted to add that Sony ripping off nintendo is an old argument. It is sad that people still compare the two technologies. Sony had their pattent on the sixaxis technology for some time. It just so happens that they decided to unveil it with their latest console too. It is a shame that Sony did not incorporate rumble in their controllers. It is even a greater shame that force feedback for steering wheels will not be supported either :(. [ + quote]
chubbyInc (Member) 10 January 2007 5:19
"The Emmy Award for Peripheral Development and Technological Impact of Video Game Controllers * Nintendo * Sony Computer Entertainment America" Wow not only did they not win the one stated, but they tied with Nintendo for older products. [ + quote]
psyantist (Junior Member) 10 January 2007 6:31
The whole Playstation franchise got it's start from ripping off SEGA when the two collaborated over the SEGA CD. Sony saw an opportunity and ran with it! They were dirty to start with and they will stay dirty. Boooooooooo SONY, Hooray Nintendo! [ + quote]
kabledog (Member) 10 January 2007 7:26
@banshee07 Quote: The only reason sony left out rumble(if you do a lil research you will find out)was becuase they were sued for the technology that had a broad patent on. In fact they all were sued microsoft and nintendo. microsoft and nintendo settled out of court and sony went to court and lost. so instead of paying royalties like microsoft and nintendo do they left it out. Wrong, Nintendo was they only company not sued, They were saved because of their original patent that was submitted years ago. @psyantist Quote: The whole Playstation franchise got it's start from ripping off SEGA when the two collaborated over the SEGA CD. Sony saw an opportunity and ran with it! They were dirty to start with and they will stay dirty. Boooooooooo SONY, Hooray Nintendo! They were never in development with SEGA, they were designing the cd add on for the SNES. [ + quote]
Pop_Smith (Senior Member) 10 January 2007 8:42
Originally posted by anubis66: nintendo earns nothing. the wiimote is not innovative. its crippling. many games wont be able to be on it, and its realtime areas sensing is horrifically slow. not to mention the on screen pointer is in no relation to the wiimote when point at the screen. plus it only has like 4-5 buttons for ingame use. if it could sense using the surroundings then that would be innovative, but it uses this lame, innacurate, and slow responding bar. wiigolf has the worst case of slow response time ive ever had. and when my wiimote should have been hitting the invisible ball, it didnt untill i had swung my arm out 45 degrees past what should have worked. Wait, Nintendo earns nothing? the Wii's controller is crippling? The controller is lame (due to its small amount of buttons), slow and inaccurate? Have you really played with a Wii? Sure, the console may freak out once or twice telling you to point the controller at the screen even though you are but, thats expected a bit with newer technology. The controller is simple but what would you rather do, spend an hour on each title trying to master the functions of each button or spending five minutes due to a simpler controller and the other 55 gaming? How is the controller crippling? It seems fine to me and could be used in most games. Some games could have a problem, I will admit, but if its a major problem then the game makers might not make that particular game for the Wii, which isn't that big of a deal. According to nexgen-wars.com here are the current standings: PS3: 1,066,263 XBox 360: 9,797,707 Wii: 3,664,740 Peace [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 10 January 2007 8:46
emachine (Senior Member) 10 January 2007 9:00
360 + Wii=owned I'm gonna buy myself a wii in a little bit. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 10 January 2007 9:23
Tilt and play tilt and play tilt and play....more sony propaganda ,the Sixaxis is cute but in all silly...the WILL completely trumps it the WII is not prefect but compareing them its all around better and when they decide to update it with a revission it should be close to prefect,but the only way the WII is godly the WII mote and Numb chuck to allow for better control of games a dual numbchuck with a analog stick on both sides one repalces the wii mote ,add 2 or so buttons to them soemthign like that should be prefect. [ + quote]
xugiua (Newbie) 10 January 2007 9:33
I can't wait to get a WII. I've been a nintendo fan since the NES and I'm glad there still around being all inovative and stuff. [ + quote]
borhan9 (AfterDawn Addict) 10 January 2007 10:15
Thanxs for the update. Good to see that a big company like Sony has being caught blowing their own trumpet. :P [ + quote]
Thoatih12 (Senior Member) 10 January 2007 16:44
your sold console is wrong...xboxs 360 sold 10.4 million.. [ + quote]
oofRome (Senior Member) 11 January 2007 4:20
Yeah it was for the Dual Shock. Not sixaxis. [ + quote]
Rikoshay (Member) 11 January 2007 9:31
Yeah, the DualShock and DualShock2 rocked. I'm not a big fan of rumble anymore in controllers, but they were fun to use at the time, so I'm not so upset that they took it out of the new one. DualShock is still the best controller I've ever used, so it deserves that, but Sony lying like that is lame; they need to get off the pedestal that they put themselves on and come back down to earth sometime. They could learn a thing a two from Nintendo in regards to being humble but bold, not to be thieves or too full of themselves. [ + quote]