It obviously would not be that hard.  It was not like the Midway guys were sitting around today with the demo ready to go around 6 EST going
"Should we press the button or no?"  "Okay, you do it!"  "NO YOU!"

It just seems like sloppy business practice to keep us all shrouded in darkness up to the launch.  The people that run the store obviously know what is scheduled to appear when and should pass that information on to us.

Two things are of interest to me, and the general gaming populace here.

One, whatever the situation with the Rumble feature I would really like to see it implemented as a standard with the PS3.  However developers aren't likely to jump on a feature that has a 50/50 support base, which is why doing this move very early in the PS3s life cycle is important.  It limits the bleeding outrage that would erupt if the rumbleless controllers were on sale for too long. 

One thing to remember though, the article says SONY treats its peripherals as a regional thing, which is not good for users because if an NA controller is the only one that would support rumble Japanese developers likely would scrap the extra programming.  If it is introduced as an official pad ShockAxis whatever, then its gotta be globally unveiled.  I would not be suprised to see them packaged with European consoles already, though that likely would have been disclosed at the GDC.

The second thing is that you are going to be dealing with about 1.5 million pissed off people that they have rumbleless pads.  This is not such a bad thing, SONY could replace the controllers because they are guaranteed for 1 year for sure, and also I believe they said if your LI-ION battery dies in your controller (the lifetime was never extensively tested) then they would replace them.  Consumers could just say their battery croaked and get the updated pad. 

Either way rumble should have been in the controller from day one.  It was sloppy to not clear this case up prior to the JP and NA launches.  Hopefully they clear it up before the EU launch but I doubt it.

This news really is only useful if SONY decides to universally impliment this feature across the board, and establish the controller as a standard.  The second scenerio involves support for the peripheral but not a requirement.  For instance the $60 ShockAxis may be like the Anolog DualShock controller for the PS1, as compared to the PS1s analog-less (SP?) pad that originally debut with the system.

Perhaps a PS Store News section as the splash page would work nicely.  Then being able to go into the actual store to check out items.  This would be particularly useful once the store swells with more and more content.  I think that a splash page could be the best way to keep us up to date on ramblings, rumors, scheduled releases, and planned content packages.

Even better we could maybe have an ask a developer chat sessions, things like that etc.  I am hoping SONY can really make a reaching effort to connect its developers with its consumers and offer a place where constructive dialogue and gamer driven direction or at least input could be utilized.

More communication with the public about future firmware upgrades, demos, and content that will be available on the PS Store?  I think it is absolutely absurd that we have to sit around wondering if MKII, Lair, WarHawk, Vegas, and VF5 demos come out on a specific date. 

The architecture for SONY to promote content on the PS store, content that ultimately will lead to sales/revenue, through either purchasing a game digitally (MKII) or buying a copy at the store in the future if impressed with a demo, are not being exploited fully.  SONY is making an effort to focus its attention to online features, community, digital distribution, etc.  However their lack of keeping us informed on when content has been lackluster at best.

Oftentimes I will wake up with a new firmware update just waiting for me, with no warning whatsoever.  Content, though it does appear typically on Thursdays, has also had non-existant press coverage prior to its release.  The only download that I saw advertised as being available on a certain date prior to its release was Tekken:DR. 

What are you guys' thoughts.  I really have noticed alot of threads pertaining to if there is new content in the PS Store and if the new update will come out.  How would you suggest SONY keeps us all informed on happenings in the PS Store.