[merylsilverburg]

Originally Posted by Harry

You are so right; even the lack of the vibration function in the new controller is, in my opinion, a big loss, at least from a marketing point of view. I think that in 90% of videogames, vibration was nothing more than a little addition that didn't improve the gameplay; but in some of the finest PlayStation games it was relatively important. I think about Survival Horrors, where vibration can be used to create suspense and let you "feel" the blow when attacking some enemies (I really enjoyed the feeling I got when hitting giant bugs in Silent Hill using a pickaxe), but in general about games that made a more thorough use of the Dual Shock. It seems Kojima was incredibly pissed off by the announcement, as he was planning to do a great use of vibration in MGS4. In fact, can you imagine fighting those robots/Metal Gears without "sensing" the vibration produced by their heavy steps on the ground?

Yes, losing the vibration is pretty sad and I was surprised about it, but I figured they might come up with something else in replace of it that's better or even more advanced somehow. Yet it doesn't seem like that's the case now. I agree with you that the vibration does create a sense of "connection" between the game and the player; it makes the player feel more involved or feel they are right in the action.

Originally Posted by Harry

In general, Sony seems more scared of Microsoft than they probably want to admit, even though I do not understand why. If Microsoft wasn't around, they would have never released different versions of the same console. Sure, Microsoft secured rights on the GTA series (which is a great loss for Sony), but Sony still has much more support from third party developers. Not to mention that a lot of gamers, in particular outside North America, perceive the Xbox 360 as an updated version of the Xbox, a sort of Xbox 1.5. In most countries in Europe, for example, the Xbox is still perceived as a second choice, after all other PlayStation platforms.

Precisely. Before Microsoft, Sony pretty much ruled and, like you said, they might not have released editions of the PS3 if Microsoft didn't show up because they were so arrogant then and they knew no one could touch them. Not that Sony isn't annoyingly arrogant now, but the overshowy attitude of Sony seems like a mask to hide their fears and insecurities. It's as if they "know" it's a possiblity that Microsoft could gain up to them or overpower them someday and someway. But honestly, by releasing the console in two somewhat unfair ways, don't they realize they could potentially lose more fans than gain?