New features planned for the Sixaxis that rumbles

The new rumble-enabled Sixaxis pad in the works will contain a few extra surprises within its slick black casing, according to SCEI president, Kaz Hirai.

Discussing the immanent release of the new controller, Hirai said: "We're also looking at a variety of other things that we can incorporate with the controller."

He went on to add: "We started out with the original PS1 controller with no analog, and it's come all the way to this point, so obviously, as we go forward, it's not the final model for a PS3 controller, so we'll see what comes down the road."

He didn't, however, drop any hints as to what features these may be, leaving us to ponder that for ourselves. Recent rumors suggested that a new "TouchSense" feedback system designed by Immersion, which delivers feedback to the analogue sticks, could be incorporated into the Sixaxis.

It's also possible Sony could add a microphone for voice recognition, DS-style (prepare for blowing minigames if so).

"We'll come out with announcements when we think we have the right mix of features," he concluded.

July 20, 2007