LINK

It has been brought to my attention that PlayStation Underground held a secret focus group earlier this year. A small group of PS3 owners were sent to a facility in ****** ****, California to test a new PlayStation product in development.

Once inside the testing facility, these PS3 owners were shown a mini-tripod that stood about 12 inches high. and what looked like 4 black PS3 “wiimotes”. Well they were essentially “wiimotes” for the PS3, but didn’t need a “nunchuck” attachment. I will refer to them as “PS3motes” for now on.

You can have up to 4 of these “PS3motes” connected at one time. A demonstrator at this focus group was there showing off the “PS3motes” capabilities, along with some mini-games to play. The mini games ranged from tennis, to fencing, to a “really really cool” paintball game. The demonstrator even used the “PS3mote” to play “Quake” on his laptop.

The “PS3mote” is said to be incredibly responsive and accurate. When the demonstrator crouched while playing the paintball game, the character on screen did as well.

The biggest concern of the demonstrator was that for these “PS3motes” to work they needed the tripod, which connected to the PS3’s USB port. It also needed to be set up in the middle of your gaming area, much like a “batter standing above home plate”. So this may not be in the final version as it seemed they were trying to come up with a more convenient method.

The focus group was then given different designs of the “PS3mote” and were given the opportunity to choose which one felt most comfortable, and looked the best. Then ended the focus group session.

Its safe to say that this new PS3 controller has been in development for quite a while, as emails for this focus group went out in January.

As for those of you who don’t believe this info, here is a copy and paste from the original email requesting people to participate in the focus group…

“Focus groups discussing PLAYSTATION®3 games are being held in your area. If you OWN a PLAYSTATION 3, we invite you to participate in a focus group. If you qualify, you will take part in a discussion lasting approximately two hours.

EACH PARTICIPANT WILL BE PAID $85.00!

(NAME REMOVED) in ****** **** will be conducting these discussions. If you would like more information or would like to participate in the focus group:

Email your name and phone number to **** **** at *****@*******.com or call 1-800-***-**** ext. ****.

Sincerely,

The PlayStation® Underground™”

...Seriously now.

This is hot.

No.

I thought Sony was designing thier Wii mote rip off for the PS2 not the PS3. Anyway this ripoff sucks but i am interested in this:

The demonstrator even used the “PS3mote” to play “Quake” on his laptop.

Is this for real ? It sounds a little .... how do i put it .. fake ..

I can' t say whether it' s real or not, but the story itself has absolutely zero credibility on it' s lonesome.

If leaked photos start showing up, or the site goes down, it' ll deserve another look. If not...

I think they would rather modify the Sixaxis with add-ons than make a new controller. They already have two.

BTW. You can already use the PS3 controller on your computer if it' s bluetooth compatible

This is hot.

It' s a black wiimote. It has nothing different, not even placement of buttons. What' s so great about it?

The image is concept art dude. It' s been floating around the web since the Revolution became the Wii.

Vive la Revolution... [:' (]

It' s a black wiimote. It has nothing different, not even placement of buttons. What' s so great about it?

It' s black of course Duh . I am just a guy thats into rip offs thats all. If you cant beat em join em.

UPDATED

Talk of reviving a 2004 patent by Sony give at least speculation status to the rumored controller peripheral.

Mind you, this is no way indicative of a connection between the two. Large game companies file red-herring and " pantry" patents all the time, but it is food for thought, and proves that Sony had at least some interest in motion sensing, outside of their EyeToy and SIXAXIS.

Edit: Update yet again. I was poking around the article again, and if the asterisks in the supposed PSUnderground letter are exact, it limits the city to a two word city, in California, six characters in the first word, four in the last. After doing some searching, I came across this:

Sony Computer Entertainment America
919 East Hillsdale Blvd., 2nd Floor
Foster City CA, 94404

Sony have a corporate address in Foster City California.

Do the math.

If leaked photos start showing up, or the site goes down, it' ll deserve another look. If not...

PSLifestyle was taken down.

Too hasty my young Padawan...

[No we are not shut down, as the rumors around the net would have you believe.

We are just updating our servers, host, etc, and are running into a few hiccups.

All will be back to normal soon.

http://playstationlifestyle.net/

Check, but not mate. The post before my latest still stands.

On top of it, Sony just played the " rumor and speculation" card, concidentally, the same way they' re doing with the all-but-confirmed in-game XMB.