Why Are We Getting Dual Shock 3 in 2008?

September 29th, 2007, 19:50 Posted By: Shrygue

via 1UP


The Dual Shock 3 announcement at Tokyo Game Show 2007 was hardly shocking, but when Sony Computer Entertainment President and Group COO Kaz Hirai revealed North American and European gamers wouldn't receive the peripheral until Spring 2008, eyebrows raised. Folks in Japan will experience PlayStation 3 rumbling before the year is out and Hirai's reveal seemed to gloss over this anomaly.

It's just a controller, right?

1UP contacted Sony Computer Entertainment America for more, but the company was vague on their rationale for leaving a large chunk of their market waiting several months longer. "Given our production/manufacturing timeline we plan to introduce the new controller in Japan first and then release it in NA/Europe," said SCEA Corporate Communications spokesperson Kimberly Otzman.

That said, there doesn't seem to be any reason anxious gamers couldn't just purchase an imported controller. Otzman said she isn't "aware of anything that would prevent the hardware from being locked out," but warned that there could be software issues on a title-to-title basis and games that require retroactive patches (i.e. Warhawk, Resistance: Fall of Man) to enable rumble support will not necessarily be delivered prior to the official US launch next year.

Fair warning, but if you'd like to get your rumble on ahead of time, it seems you're in the clear.

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