Thu, Jul 08, 2010 | 22:12 BST
Rumble is “a rudimentary form of haptic feedback”, says Tsunoda
Kudo Tsunoda, general manager of Microsoft Game Studios, has said rumble is “a rudimentary form of haptic feedback” and he’s not worried Kinect users will feel any disconnection with the hands-free controller.
Speaking in the latest issue of Edge Magazine, Tsunoda said he was initially worried over the lack of physical feedback with Kinect, but he got over it, apparently.
“The thing I was most worried about was the [lack] of haptic feedback, but it’s been really interesting how much you can do with visuals and audio,” he said.
“In many of the games we have, people will crash a vehicle and they’ll go totally like this [mimes dodging out of the way]! And even people playing games with a controller, there’s always people doing this [mimes driving motion]. They want to be moving. There’s natural movements and reactions involved. I’ve never seen someone doing that from rumble. It’s the audiovisual stuff.
“The overwhelming thing we’ve discovered is that rumble is such a rudimentary form of haptic feedback. It’s not like a little rumble in your palm is your whole way of interacting with the world – it’s not like, ‘Oh, I stubbed my toe and I get a little rumble in my palm’.
“It’s almost laughable the way people hold on to rumble as the holy grail of haptic feedback. We’ve gone so far past anything that can be done with rumble, or that kind of restrictive thing you have to hold. It’s been creatively liberating to work on this stuff.”
As far as reports on Kinect lagging are concerned, Tsunoda said input is no different than a button press.
“The way we measure ‘lag’ is by putting people in front of the experience and measuring their thoughts,” he said. “Either it feels good or it feels sloppy. It’s not how many milliseconds, it’s: ‘Does it feel good? Does it react fast? Does it feel as if you’re in control?’”
You can read the full interview in issue 217, and an excerpt through the link up top.
Kinect is out in November, and pricing is still unconfirmed.
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Posted in: Development, Hot, Kinect, Microsoft, Xbox 360, hardware
Tags: haptic feedback, Kudo Tsunoda, rumble
17 comments
#1
The1stMJC
08/07/10, 10:29 pm
I love rumble though.
I was pissed when the PS3 launched without rumble and when it finally came out I ran to the store and bought a dualshock 3.
#2
G1GAHURTZ
08/07/10, 10:32 pm
Wow.
Kinect truly is a complete pile of rubbish if this is the sort of nonsense MS are coming out with now.
Totally contradicting yourself on the rumble issue is just pathetic.
And as for ‘Measuring people’s thoughts’!??
What a joke!
#3
cookiejar
08/07/10, 10:37 pm
Irony.
#4
Aimless
08/07/10, 10:53 pm
I hear it’s a last generation feature.
Isn’t rudimentary haptic feedback better than no haptic feedback?
#5
Zarckan
08/07/10, 10:56 pm
Seriously, did this fucker change his name? or was he adopted?! cos he looks more “Bob Harper” than fucken Kudos Testicle, or whatever the fuck it is.
#6
_LarZen_
08/07/10, 11:35 pm
Tsunoda talks like he look’s….just shit.
#7
James Mac
08/07/10, 11:51 pm
Guys got to loose the glasses and have a shave, he’s the head of a gane studio… not Noel Gallagher.
Wearing sunnies inside does not make you a rock star.
I’m looking at you Lady GaGa.
#8
cookiejar
09/07/10, 12:06 am
Looks a bit like Sam Houser, actually.
#9
Callum
09/07/10, 12:09 am
I remember buying star fox for N64 back in the day, and it came with a battery powered rumble pack. Changed my life that rumble pack did.
#10
Dralen
09/07/10, 1:18 am
This is pretty much exactly what Sony said about Rumble when they were forced to launch the PS3 without rumble in their controllers. How very wrong they were.
#11
Holesome
09/07/10, 1:38 am
Having a good surround sound and sub-woofer pretty much negates rumble and the only real use I find for it is to notify me of when my turn is or when I’m getting shot when I’m not paying attention or not in the room.
Rumble is an valuable feature that I expect in-the-hand controllers to include. But with that said, there is no benefit to having rumble when you are NOT using a controller at all. If you need rumble stick the controller down your pants or turn up the sub-woofer.
I wonder if the Move dildo controller has a vibration feature? hmmmmmmmm
#12
cookiejar
09/07/10, 1:42 am
Maybe its a good thing there’s no rumble then. We don’t want to upset little Skittles now, do we
@10 Exactly.
#13
Gadzooks!
09/07/10, 7:16 am
@10
+1000
Rumble is feedback and any feedback can only improve the gameplay experience.
The thing is though, anyone serious about gaming won’t be playing controllerless games anyway. Kinect in conjunction with a standard rumble-enabled controller is the only way I’ll be playing it.
#14
Freek
09/07/10, 7:59 am
MS E3 presentation:
“Thanks Lorenzo Lamas..”
Kudo; “Huh, what the fuck?”
#15
Dannybuoy
09/07/10, 9:17 am
Just hold a vibrator in each hand while playing
#16
Gheritt White
09/07/10, 10:05 am
I guess those little strap-on force feedback palm pads were too expensive to produce…
#17
Bulk Slash
09/07/10, 10:27 am
@5 I’ve often wondered that as well. Maybe he’s such a Japanophile he wanted a Japanese name.
If I was going to change my name to something Japanese I’d pick something cool like Super Famicom or Eddie Honda.