Mod adds rumble to PSP

While there may be one very obvious Sony gaming peripheral that's screaming out for a rumble feature, that hasn't stopped modders from looking at adding the functionality to other Sony gadgets. A modder by the handle of FOO-f00 has given the PSP a basic rumble feature through a bundle of wires and circuitry that somehow translates the speaker volume into a signal that a motor can use. FOO-f00 made it so it only activates once a high enough pitch is reached, but we'd imagine the result is far from a perfect rumble feature. Still, the project is very much a proof of concept: and an awesome concept at that.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

[felix @ Jul 26th 2007 9:51AM]

You mean F00-f00.

[Ty @ Jul 26th 2007 9:56AM]

I will never understand the obsession with this rumble "feature." I hope it never comes to ps3 although that looks not to be the case.

[melloncollie @ Jul 26th 2007 10:33AM]

You've got to be kidding me, right?
Rumble adds, at least, some level of immersion.

[Ty @ Jul 26th 2007 12:08PM]

No, not kidding at all. The complaints about the missing rumble in ps3 befuddles me. I'm thinking about buying two controllers now, before I get my ps3 during the holiday season just so I don't have to ever worry about it.

[Tavis Veighey @ Jul 26th 2007 1:01PM]

You can always turn RUMBLE off. When I got my Gamecube (First console I owned with rumble) the Rumble suprised me. However I have quickly found it to be quite cool! I kinda wish that the DS had this feature built in. Yea it can be a battery killer, but it is still cool!

[supermeerkat @ Jul 26th 2007 10:06AM]

Why do these modders have to have such stupid names?

[Josh @ Jul 26th 2007 10:00AM]

Why would you want to violently vibrate the device the reads your disks? Also, isn't the PSP's battery life short enough without having to add another drain on it?

This mod seems like it causes a lot more problems than it solves, especially since I've never heard anybody clamor for rumble on the PSP.

[archie4oz @ Jul 26th 2007 11:02AM]

Not to mention adding rumble probably isn't the brightest thing in the world when the device is trying to load data off of the optical disc.

[Andrew @ Jul 26th 2007 12:59PM]

Thats why you run games from the memory stick rather than use UMD.

[Romey Rome @ Jul 26th 2007 10:14AM]

Surely this would kill your battery and hard drive.

[Grant @ Jul 26th 2007 12:01PM]

Hard drive?
i want your PSP.
i guess this could work out better with the next psp, since they are moving towards memory loaded game rather than disc based.... but all the games now are loaded by UMD.
i personally think this guys next project is installing a rumble motor in his computer tower, now that would be pretty L33T... and just as practical.

[joey @ Jul 26th 2007 10:34AM]

All of yall get tha **** up off his **** damm!

[dklicker @ Jul 26th 2007 12:10PM]

Aight, yo. Ya'll betta recognize.

[joey @ Jul 26th 2007 8:35PM]

Fa show you fel me!

[Bones @ Jul 26th 2007 10:49AM]

I'll bet that by 'pitch' he means 'amplitude'. He could skip the amplifier and PIC and just use a comparator and a 555, or maybe even just the comparator.

I guess this works best with FPSs, where the gunshots are the loudest sound? I can't see it working with a driving game or something.

[Covarr @ Jul 26th 2007 11:26AM]

Rumble = Good.
Rumble on PSP = Read Error.

Rumble and optical storage should NEVER be combined.

[required @ Jul 26th 2007 12:26PM]

I agree w/Ty. I don't like rumblers.

[Wwhat @ Jul 26th 2007 3:29PM]

High pitch? would that not be low pitch? rumble befits low frequency sound.

[Kurt MacD @ Jul 26th 2007 9:34PM]

I like how this has been out for at least 2+ weeks, why is engadget so slow, yet when it comes to the iphone, they can't post fast enough?

[Kenshinffx @ Jul 27th 2007 10:45PM]

Omg you guys are stupid! You bash the mod and you don't even know how it works!

The rumble is too small to mess with the read disk. and the disk is held tight and secure by a metal cage! It's a Cellphone Rumbler!

There is no Hard drive in a PSP! It runs with a Memory Stick Pro Duo!

The mod is simply to show he can do it.. Not that a whole lot of people would actually use it but He can still do it!

If you don't like the mod then fine. But I'd like to see you make one up like he did without him teaching you...

Learn about what you are saying first, or just shut up...

[Kurt MacD @ Jul 28th 2007 1:56PM]

When the hell did I say that I didn't like this mod? All I said was that engadget is a little slow on catching things which they think is of low intrest, yet the iphone, just because it's supposed to "be the next big thing" means that everyone has to put up with mostly useless and time consuming posts about a rather buggy device that should probably still be in the factory under testing still. It's pompus assholes like you that make things like this hard to enjoy, you're looking for trouble.