For those keeping up with Immersion's many legal battles over their patented rumble technology being used in console controllers, the company has finally settled with Microsoft...again. You see, Microsoft used Immersion's rumble in their 360 controllers without paying. Immersion sued, and Microsoft paid up. But then Sony used the rumble tech as well to make the Dual Shock 3, which activated a contingency that Microsoft negotiated earlier forcing Immersion to pay them if other companies licensed the tech. But Immersion wouldn't pay. (Now they did.)

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While hearing a normal police siren coming after you is scary enough for most people, the folks behind The Rumbler want to make it impossible for you to run away due to your pants quickly filling with feces. Essentially, it's a standard police siren that's been roided up with an extra amplifier and two (count 'em!) subwoofers. It works by " creating a lower-pitched sound that should cut through pretty much any traffic din and that can create vibrations that might get the attention of otherwised soundproofed motorists or pedestrians," ensuring that even people listening to Mastadon cranked up with sealed earbuds turn and take notice. [Product Page via Book of Joe]

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You know what would make gaming even more fun? Pain. Or at least that is what the folks at Mindwire would like you to think. Their new MindwireV5 unit helps you get into the action with sensations ranging from a "crashing car to the blast of a machine gun's multiple bullets hitting you; a sharp zap all the way through to a soft massaging feeling." Five self-adhesive pads are connected to the arms, legs and stomach which administer a range of electric shocks that create sensations that mimic in-game action.

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KSo last night, in Tokyo, Sony announced the long rumoured PS3 controller with rumble. Considering the rechargeable batteries, wireless and rumble function, a pair of these is going to be about $100, you know? Is it better that they took it away and gave it back? Or should they have left it dead? Will someone make a PS2 DUALSHOCK adaptor so we can recycle my rumbly PS2 joypads? Are you plunking down for these things?

Confirming the previous "confirmation" about rumble coming to the PS3, EA has a Burnout Paradise demo booth set up at Tokyo Game Show complete with rumbling controllers. The controller itself looked exactly like a SIXAXIS, but had a sticker beneath it that said "RUMBLE." It was also much heavier, says IGN, than the standard SIXAXIS—which is to be expected. The rumble itself felt the same as the PS2's, which is unfortunate, because we were hoping for a 1989 Loma Prieta-level of shaking in this new one. [IGN via Kotaku - Thanks to Kotaku reader Peter]

Not being well-versed in the areas of our penal system...our collective penal system... we had no idea that the N64 rumble pack was huge with prison tattoo artists. A maximum security prison guard recently wrote our sister site Kotaku, and here's what he had to say:

It is actually pretty easy. There are no workshops in maximum security. They do it in their rooms with a battery(power) taped to a tube(could be a pen or a tightly wound piece of paper). The motor from the rumble pack is taken out and attached to the top of the tube. A needle or pin is run down the middle of the tube. when "on" the needle will move up and down like a sewing machine. The needle is then dipped in "ink." This is made a number of ways the easiest is to use ball point pen ink, but they could use other items to get different colors or looks.

In this clip, SCEA President and CEO Jack Tretton tells us about the potential for the PS3's SIXAXIS to ever rumble again. [kotaku]

Now that all the lawsuit business is over between Sony and Immersion, the former is free to incorporate rumble back into their controllers. The PlayStation Magazine France edition has some details on the upcoming rumbling gamepads. First, all that motion sensing can co-exist with rumble. Who'd have thought? Oh, right, everyone but Sony.

AU: I had one SCEE rep swear blind that rumble was dead to them. I hammered the guy about four times - You sure? Absolutely? No way? Never? Gotta love it when they just bullshit so hard they probably actually believed it themselves. And by love, I mean utterly despise such blatant disregard for honesty. -SB

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