Over at the MTV Multiplayer Blog they broke the news that Sony will be discontinuing the Sixaxis wireless controller in favour of the new, last-gen-tech (read: rumble) enabled Dualshock 3. I have always been a fan of the Dualshock controller design and rumble, so I can’t say I’m entirely disappointed. Still, after the Sixaxis was taken out back with a shotgun just before it reached the 18 month mark, I thought I would look back at some of the time I spent with the little controller that nobody asked for.

When I first picked one up, way back on PS3 Launchday, I could tell one thing: this controller is light. Even in the packaging I could tell that the Sixaxis was less than weighty. I don’t know what kind of space age technology battery they have in there but it’s featherlike. When I held it I thought perhaps I was just holding a shell and that I needed to buy a separate battery pack as is required with the Xbox 360 (if you want to be able to recharge it). Nope…and the battery actually lasts surprisingly long considering its weight. It felt so much like air in my hands that when that fateful day came when I dropped one on the tile floor in my basement I thought for sure it meant a trip to Futureshop to pick up a new one. Wrong again…the Sixaxis is a resiliant little guy.

Other than the wirelessness of the controller, I didn’t really see much of a difference between it and the Dualshock 2. Green triangle? Check. D-pad? Check. Scarcely used select button? Check. Why fix what ain’t broke, right? The design was so popular that it was imitated by everyone from Gravis to Microsoft. Then I noticed something unsettling.

I don’t think it really struck me how much I missed rumble until I started playing Resistance and I was running through the streets and Chimera were everywhere and grenades were exploding all around me and…nothing. Not even a hint of metacarpal feedback. It was, in a word, disappointing. The feeling only spread as I add more and more games to my library.

Later the announcement came that everything between Sony and Immersion, the rumble patent holder who sued Sony, had been resolved. Hooray, the Dualshock 3 was announced! To be honest, though, I probably won’t be rushing out to the store to purchase one until the time comes when I need a third or fourth controller (that isn’t a drum set in disguise). While the list of backward compatibility for the Dualshock 3 is impressive, I’m not sure I can justify the price just to feel someone dish out a jaw breaking elbow in NHL 08.

So Sixaxis, our time together was short and enjoyable. Maybe 15 years from now I’ll buy another one at a garage sale in a package deal with an HD-DVD player.

Personally, I have never enjoyed rumble, and I’m the first person to turn it off if the option is available. I guess visual stimulation is enough for me, because the appeal of rumble is sort of beyond my ability to comprehend. Sure, my phone vibrates, but that’s to alert me to the fact that it’s ringing if I can’t hear it. I don’t need a controller buzzing in my hand to tell me that I just blew something up. Explosions are loud, and I can see them. The only appeal the Dualshock 3 holds for me is that it’s heavier. The Sixaxis is just too light, which I think makes it feel kind of cheap. I’m all for developing smaller/better batteries and everything, but when I’m holding a controller, I want to feel like I’m holding a real piece of equipment, not some plastic piece of junk I got in a Happy Meal.