USB cable not included with retail SIXAXIS

In a surprising move, Sony has opted not to include a USB cable with their retail SIXAXIS controllers. A USB cable is required to charge the controller's integrated battery, otherwise, the controller is rendered useless.

The retail PlayStation 3 contains a USB cable in the package, so at least consumers will have one included cable to charge controllers. However, if consumers wish to charge multiple controllers, after market cables appear to be the only solution.

[Marty8370]

What is the point of include stuff that the majority of gamers already have.It's a standard USB cable for gods sake.

[Antan]

majority of pc owner maybe? seems a bit silly to me!

[big_tim]

have this cable. It's not the end of the world. The 360 didn't included a battery or cable. So, what's the difference. You do have one with the system. If you want more go spend a couple and I emphasize a couple bucks on another one.

[joemutt]

You said the xbox didnt come with one so whats the difference? The difference is $200.

[big_tim]

Your argument is not valid. I know the price difference. Compare apples to apples. The difference is $100. But that is not the argument. The argument is with an accessory. The comparison should be PS3 controller= $50 + cable and the 360 = $50+20 for charge and play kit. I know, I bought the charge kit with another batter for my controllers when I got the 360. Like I said, there isn't a difference when you are talking about the accessory. Get it straight.

[shotty]

Dont talk if you dont know whats happening. First of all the xbox 360 doesn't need one since the battery is external. Second, the controllers came with 2 AA batteries (energizer)so atleast you can use the controllers out of the box.
These are also not the type of cables you would lying around the house unless you own a psp or a certain digital camera (sony). I have a Kodak digital camera and it uses a different type of plug.

Sony how about you take away the ethernet cable and include the USB cable and maybe even some component cables to enjoy the HD. God, Its like buying new car with no tires (usb wire) and and a casetter player (standard A/V a cables)

[big_tim]

Your comment is shotty.
Let me break it down for you.

1.) When I referred to digital cameras, I have used and own various brands, all of which have a usb connection via a usb mini cord. So yes, they are lying around the house.

2.) when you buy the PS3 it comes with a USB cable. You need not comment on what you don't understand. "it's like buying a car to see that tires are on it already"

3.) The extra PS3 controllers doesn't need another cable. You already have one. The comparison with the 360 controller is valid. When you buy a 360 controller you will need extra batteries when the batteries die that come with it. The PS3 controller has a rechargeable battery that you can recharge with your current USB cord.

You could make the argument that you have batteries lying around the house. Well good for you. Money was spent on those.

4.) To compare apples to apples and to be on the same playing field (not literally) with the 360 you need to buy a $20 kit and the PS3 you need an EXTRA usb cable.

5.) Another argument you could come up with is multiple usb cables. I have 3 360 controllers, 3 rechargeable battery packs and one recharge cable. It works just fine for me that way. When I get a PS3 and however many controllers, one cord will be fine. You may argue that you need more. Then go for it. You have the choice.

6.) The standard av cable is crappy. I agree, they should have followed MS with the combo cable. But then again, if you already have a PS2 with the component cables, your fine. But, the USB cable is taken care of.

[Balance]

i read the other day (so i don't know how true) but the cable with the ps3 for the sixaxis was a rather short usb cable, if true that would suck when you are playing/charging at the same time. at least it is standard USB so you can go down to best buy and pick up a longer one for cheap.

[scriptkiddie]

Did Sony add the cost of this to their graph.. I guess they forgot.

[Boink]

new definition of cheap.

[Grown Folks Talk]

when they can just sell them separately? i've already seen sony's usb cable at target. it's a business move. they make more profit off of them individually, rather than putting them with the controller. no different than the play and charge for the 360 other than being able to change the 360's actual battery.

[Funky Town_TX]

I have a battery charger with energizer batteries for $10. It came with 4 batteries. Why be limited to a 6 foot cord. Try playing on a 50 plus inch screen at 6 feet away.

[Grown Folks Talk]

it's no different than ms charging you to buy the play and charge kit instead of putting it with the controller. however, on the 360 controller, you can just replace the individual batteries instead of charging. and spawn is right, it's mini usb, not standard. i guess psp owners will be happy. p.s. if you wouldn't mind buying me a 50" tv to test your theory, it would be greatly appreciated.

[SPAWN]

No Mr. ps3fan, it`s not a standard usb cable! It`s a mini usb cable that most people don`t have! Which means to get a good one, you`re gonna have to pay at least about $15!

[jedicurt]

first of all, mini USB is standard for peripheral USB devices, at least it is considered standard by the UBS specifications.

second of all, if you are playing $15 for a usb cable, you are getting ripped off.

you can buy them on amazon for $2.20 a piece.

so yes, they are a standard USB cable, because they are standard for what type of device it is. and if you are still buying your cables from wal-Mart, Target or Best Buy, that is your own problem

[Ugly American]

I distinctly remember Sony saying that they would include everything that would be required to play wirelessly with their controllers. They lambasted the Wireless Xbox 360 controller for only coming with standard AA batteries as opposed to the play and charge kit. There is that whole other OPTION thing. There is no option here. You STILL have to get a USB cable or the cradle to charge the thing. I may have the required cable, but it is still attached to my PC, so now I have to go buy another one.

Hey PS3 Fan, does the PS3 cure cancer in your world, too? It is okay to be upset with something that Sony does. You don't have to defend their every move. The last time I checked, Sony is NOT a Communist nation.

I am picking up my PS3 tomorrow, and I am pissed that there is only one game worth playing. Resistance and Blu-Ray movies are going to be it for awhile, so now I am glad I have a 360 and Gears of War...and guess what? I am pissed that Gears of War has texture pop-ins ala Halo 2, but it still is a kick ass game to play.

PS3 Fan, do you know what your PS3 Gamer name is going to be or is? Look me up, mine will be MadClay tomorrow.

[AuburnTiger]

You'll find that the USB is included in the PS3 retail box.

[mattolla]

Thank you S.C.R.
Im glad someone else actually read the article.
If you dont already have the system---why the f*&^ would you buy a controller??

[Grown Folks Talk]

but i believe he's referring to the other controllers you buy. the system comes with 1.

[testerg35]

So let me get this straight. I would have to buy a usb cable to charge the controller, otherwise I'm SOL. Please don't compare this to 360. Wireless comes with AA batteries, you have the option of getting the recharble/charge kit.

[AuburnTiger]

You have the option of buying another USB cable since the system itself comes with one.

[ScorpioKyle]

it's just upselling. Sony wants the people to walk out of the store with more than just the 600 dollar system and a game. They want them to buy the HD cables, controllers, chargers. it's all about the Add-on's for everyone, retailers heavily push it since they make more profit on the accessories than the systems in terms of mark up from cost.

[Grown Folks Talk]

gamestop/eb push them. best buy because of commission. wal-mart and target don't push as much. gamestop doesn't make jack off of the system, almost all of their profit is from used sales. it's like being a music artist. you make squat from album sales. the money comes from going on tour.

[BURLY]

Microsoft (being the software company it is) determined that Blue Tooth was: 1) far too clitchy; 2) far too laggy; and 3) wasted battery life far too quickly. As such, they decided to design their own proprietary wireless format - which was designed specifically to improve on Blue Tooth's weaknesses.

Being an Xbox 360 owner; I can honestly say that the controllers can last an incredibly long time on two AA batteries - even with the rumble feature turned on. I did buy the charge and play kit and eventhought the cords are long enough - I just hate them! Now Microsft has a battery pack charger, and you can just buy your own AA battery charger - so that you NEVER HAVE TO USE WIRES or put a controller out of commission - while it charges.

As far as I can tell the reason why Sony was forced to use an integrated battery was because Blue Tooth demands more power usage than just two AA betteries. I also wouldn't be surprised if the Blue Tooth battery issue also contributed to the eventual omission of rumble technology.

Meanwhile, what are you going to do when they battery starts to lose it's juice? I mean it's integrated! ...so now you have to send it in to Sony, then same way you have to send an I-pod into Apple?

I heard rumors that Sony will replace the controllers when the battery life goes but that will only put Sony into more financial distress and is a pain in the but for PS3 owners.

At any rate, having to buy a USB cable seperately is a HUGE pain in the butt and if the one that comes with the system is only 6 feet long then I would get the impression that the system is gimped!

That's right: GIMPED!

I could never play in front of my 52" HDTV with a 6 foot cord (especially with the SIXAXIS features!) and if the only way to keep playing is to use a cord (when I just want to stay wireless all the time) - then flat out; the system is GIMPED!

Not to mention that the extra costs of USB cords will just add to the already insane price of the PS3! "Insane" ...because Blu-Ray is relatively useless for games and the system isn't even as powerful as the 360!

Just wait until Direct X 10 (derivative) engines start to use the Xenos GPU's advanced feature set - which PC GPU's won't even have until unified shader architectured GPUs hit the market with the luanch of Windows Vista!

It's over ladies and gentlemen, it's over!

[lalaland]

Seing as you can only squeze about 20 hours of gametime out of the X360 controller on rechargeable batteries I can''t really see your point about BT being hard on batteries -- maybe that is because BT was designed for the mobile space with limited battery?

Btw MS has previously stated that they decided to go with their own 2.4GHz standard because of a lag-problem with BT. It appears Sony has solved that one...

And finally... lets do a quick calculation... 10 hours of gaming a week every week of every year of the consoles lifetime (afterall we do have a life, don't we?) on the Sixaxis with 30 hours of playtime on a single charge... That is 17.3 charges a year... It has been stated before that they've got more than 1,000 charges, but let's stick with that one for a moment. 1,000 divided by 17.3 is 58 years of battery lifetime. Oh yeah... the battery degradation –- let's make that 25 years then. Are you satisfied?

To run the battery down in 5 years, you would have to play using the same controller more than 8 hours of every single day -- and that is a very pessimistic calculation...

Regarding the missing USB cable in additional controllers bought, the Sixaxis fully charges in 1 1/2 hour and delivers 30 hours of gaming on a single charge. It is very unlikely they will run out of juice simultaneously.

If it is a problem or you don't believe the cable is long enough, you can buy a 10' USB cable at BestBuy (cheaper elsewhere on the web), which incidently is priced at $30 just as the battery charger for the X360.

[videl]

hooooo, is this important !!! my god, everyone has 10 usb cables at home, and the retail ps3 has one, what is the problem? i think some idiots have a bad time to find something bad about the ps3.

[Ugly American]

Videl, I read your comments all of the time, and they are always inflammatory. You know what? I do have USB cables at home. But they are attached to my computer... IN USE. And only a few of those are the mini-USB cords, but you guessed it, they are being used.

StarCraft, I understand that USB cable comes in the retail, but heaven forbid, more than one of my four controllers dies at the same time, I am having to rob my computer to start charging game controllers. I have had this problem before, and I was hoping not to have to buy more of these things.

My point being this... if they cost $15.00, they obviously cost less than that to make...you know, the whole profit thing. Throw a silly cable that makes the controller WORK into the box. That is all.

[jedicurt]

they only cost $15 if you buy them at a store. get them online

if they did ship with the controllers, then everyone would be complaining that they had up to 7 cables laying around that they weren't using because all of their controllers were charged. Now i don't know about you, but i don't really have a place to store some 4 or 5 or 6 or even 7 cables. one i can take care of. i will just have to make sure that when i am done playing for a bit, to alway plug one in to recharge.

as for the guy saying that the reason they went internal is because of bluetooth. no they went with an internal battery because there is a significant weight increase when using double a batteries. hundreds of bluetooth devices run on 2 aa batteries so that is just a stupid statement.

and actually i would like to see the power usage over time by both controllers, i think that would be a good test. if someone can find that information, please post it on here for me

[wildcat]

Man. I can buy 2 crispy chicken sandwiches from Wendy's for 2 dollars and some change. I HATE YOU SONY. sob sob sob.