In the current generation, Microsoft and Nintendo both have a leg up over Sony when it comes to controller rumble feedback.
The Xbox One controller has “Impulse Triggers,” which are high end haptic motors inside each trigger that allow for cool localized feedback effects. You can feel the rumble from the shot of a gun or the acceleration of a car, in games that support them.
Nintendo took things even further, replacing the long-standard dual rumble motor setup with “HD Rumble.” Both the Joy Cons and the Pro Controller contain two programmable haptic feedback zones, allowing game developers to choose the intensity, type, and location of specific rumble effects. Rumble can be precisely located throughout the controller and mimic a large variety of different sensations. Nintendo famously used it early on in 1–2–Switch to make it feel like there were marbles rolling around inside your controller, and it has been used sense to emulate climbing a mountain hand-over-hand, feeling a ball hit the sides of a pinball table, and also for a whole host of advanced versions of more “traditional” rumble feedback effects.
The big issue holding back both of these technologies has been lacking third party support. The…
