The real reasons behind this lack of functionality was over a patent dispute with Immersion which held the patent for rumble technology included with most PS2 controllers at the moment. Immersion and Sony have now settled the case and entered into a new business agreement which will "explore the inclusion of Immersion technology in PlayStation format products". Which basically means there will be a rumble controller available for the PS3 at some unspecified point.

"We are pleased to have put this litigation behind us," said Immersion CEO Victor Viegas in a statement. "Our new business agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment is specifically intended to enable advanced vibration capability for the benefit of the PlayStation gaming community. We are happy to provide our technology in this regard and hope to make technical proposals very soon with respect to use of our technology in the PlayStation products."

Back in 2005, Sony was ordered by the courts to pay Immersion $90m plus interest for infringing on force feedback patents for game controllers. Sony appealed the decision last year and lost.

The actual financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed but in forms filed by Immersion, showed that the company will get $22.5m from Sony.

"We look forward to exploring with Immersion exciting new ways to bring the largest and best range of gameplay experiences to our customers," said Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai. "We are very excited about our new partnership with Immersion and the potential for new and innovative products incorporating their technologies."

A few months back Hirai said that rumbling controllers had been excluded to save customer's money. Sony also said that combining motion sensing and vibration wasn't technically feasible. Now we know different.