The PlayStation 3's redesigned DualShock 3 controllers are currently shipping to North American retailers, Sony Computer Entertainment has announced.

According to SCEA's press alert, the DualShock 3 should be available at retailers this week, though the official PlayStation blog provides an estimated arrival of next week.

Priced at $54.99, the Sony-produced wireless controller brings rumble functionality to the PlayStation 3. Announced last fall, they debuted in Japan late last year. The absence of rumble in the PlayStation 3's motion-sensitive Sixaxis controllers was the source of much criticism upon the system's debut. At the the time, Sony attributed the PS3's lack of rumble to difficulties with the Sixaxis' motion sensing technology.

Then-SCE Worldwide Studios head Phil Harrison even went so far as to claim rumble was "a last generation feature," though conspiracy theorists believed the exclusion to be the result of a now-settled lawsuit.

A list of released PS3 titles that support the vibration functionality follows... Read more

Sony today announced that the rumble-enabled DualShock 3 controller will be in PlayStation 3 owners' hands by this April.

The new pad--which looks a lot like the old pad--will sell for $54.99, a $5 increase over the non-vibration version.