Rumbling - Gimmick or Game Enhancer?

Yeah, the same thing happens in PGR, when you drive over a rougher surface, it'll vibrate at a different level then when you drive on a smooth surface.

It's cool.

I play PGR2 in the high first person view, meaning the sides are blind spots. The rumble of the controller lets me know if they are on a side and pushing my car.

I always liked it. I thought it was great in old arcade games like Afterburner 2. In home consoles it hasn't fared quite as well. But I think the dual shock was able to give alot of texture to it. Even on the DC though, I always keep my jump pack plugged in. I think alot of games use it very well.

i've never really cared about it, although when it was an add-on peripheral that you had to buy (N64, DC), i kinda scoffed at it...

a few games use it very well, but those are rare exceptions.. in most games, it's just "there"..

although the rumbling feels kinda nice when placed on certain parts of my body, that's not really what i'm playing the game for.. :P

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Originally Posted by GohanX

Now, if we're talking about vibration, it's good when it's used well, but it's not used well very often. Off the top of my head, I can only think of a few games that use it well: Final Fantasy games (during magic), MGS, Rez, and some driving games.

Now, if we flip that and we are talking about TRUE force feedback, it's fucking incredible. I mean, think of a good arcade racer with a force feedback steering wheel, it really makes a difference. Or playing something like Freespace with a good force feedback joystick, that game is unbelievable.

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Excellent point. That distinction does need to be made.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

I always liked it. I thought it was great in old arcade games like Afterburner 2.

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Well....when the whole joystick moves that's not really rumbing. :) I love force feedback. I wish home steering wheels pulled you all over the place like they do in the arcade.

Now, I'm POSITIVE that there is no one out there who would want the vibrating feature to disappear from all games forever...even if it IS a gimmick.


Right? Right?

Usually gimmick, but there are times when it is used right. As was said, Silent Hill made great use of it - instead of a health meter, you could feel the character's heartbeat. The faster it got, the closer they got to death - but you were never really certain how close.

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Originally Posted by Zerodash

Now, I'm POSITIVE that there is no one out there who would want the vibrating feature to disappear from all games forever...even if it IS a gimmick.


Right? Right?

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Wrong. Ditch the rumble, and give me pack-in wireless controllers with extended battery life in its place.

I like the rumble effect in my games. One game that used it really well was Clock Tower 2- when you were hiding from the killer, the rumble would go faster and faster, acting like a frightened heartbeat racing. Nice effect. Lots of games just stick the effect in there without doing anything special, but when games use it right (CT2, Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid), it really enhances the gameplay experience.