A few days ago, Sony released the high resolution photos of the new Dual Shock 4 controller for the Playstation 4. We can now finally see all of its “curves” and hidden details that we haven’t been able to see when it was first unveiled last February 20 during the offical “Playstation Meeting”. In my opinion, this new controller looks really “sexy” though It seems that a lot of it’s new features were borrowed from the original Xbox 360 controller.
“this new controller looks really “sexy” though It seems that a lot of it’s new features were borrowed from the original Xbox 360 controller.”
Some of the controller’s brand new features are the updated D-PAD sculpt (which I really like btw). Sony also updated the “analog sticks” to use the same “concave” design similar to the Xbox 360 controller. There’s also a built-in speaker and microphone jack, again a feature that was already implemented on the 360 controller years ago.
Though some of the controller’s new features mentioned above were not “technically” new, Sony still implemented a couple of new features that is unique for the DS4. One of them is the addition of the new “track pad”. The track pad works similar to its implementation on the Playstation Vita and I’m really curious how game developers are going to utilize this new feature. From a gamer standpoint, I’m still not sold with this new track pad since you will have to remove your hands away from the analog sticks in order for you to interact with it. Still, it’s a very welcome addition to the controller.
“Though some of the controller’s new features mentioned above were not “technically” new, Sony still implemented a couple of new features that is unique for the DS4.”
Another new innovation worth mentioning was the new “light-bar” on top of the DS4 that will be used by the new Playstation Move sensor for 3D tracking. They also mentioned that this “light-bar” changes to different colors for identification purposes both for the users and the Move sensor. I personally love it specially when I saw it glowing “green” on the Playstation Meeting event :P
And the last unique feature of this new Dual Shock 4 controller was the new “Share” and “Options” button. The “Share” button unlocks all the social networking capabilities of the Playstation 4. It allows you to capture screenshots and record videos then publish it instantly to 3rd party social networking service providers like Facebook. Technically, these 2 buttons replaces the “Start” and “Select” buttons present on the previous Dual Shock controllers. I’m not a fan of sharing anything video game related but this is a great feature and I’m sure it will come in handy on games with social networking features.
“this new Dual Shock 4 controller is a great improvement from the last generation.”
To sum it all up, this new Dual Shock 4 controller is a great improvement from the last generation. I looks really next-gen and has tons of new features that will improve our gaming experience. I can’t wait to basically get my hands on it but obviously, we will have to wait for Sony to announce the official Playstation 4 box. Hmmm, I wonder what Microsoft is planning to do now that Sony seized the initiative in the next-gen console war.