A couple of years later I bought the Gamecube at launch. In hindsight I could have waited because I didn't even play it for nearly a month (roughly the same reason I have yet to buy a Wii). Like the Playstation, the Gamecube worked the rumble right into the controller. No dropping and extra $10-$15 on an add-on, it was just always there. Sure, most games had a menu where you could disable it but who ever bothers. I gleefully played through Luigi's Mansion, Wind Waker, and Simpsons Hit 'n Run while possibly increasing my risk of developing arthritis.

When the Microsoft Xbox launched it also featured native rumble functionality in the controllers. At this point we were all participating the in the shared delusion that our shimmying joypads were a good thing. We would have thought it absurd for a system to be missing it.

In 2005 I fired-up the ol' N64 and started playing through Donkey Kong 64 again. My daughter took a liking to Tiny Kong so we spent some time together romping through DK Isle. The Rumble Pak was still connected and it felt normal now. Something that once irritated me was now customary, maybe habitual.