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Gaming Friday, January 18th 2013 at 6:30 pm

PlayStation 4 May Drop the DualShock Controller Design

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They say when something isn’t broken, don’t fix it, and Sony’s DualShock controllers — first released in 1997 for the original PlayStation system — is a prime example of this timeless maxim. Applauded for its intuitive design and general comfort, Sony has been sticking with virtually the same controller design for the last 16 years, experiencing only minor tweaks that never diluted what made it so popular with the gaming community. With the PlayStation 3 gradually fading into the background to make room for its successor, it has been reported that Sony will be eschewing the tried-and-true DualShock route in favor of a new controller utilizing touch screens and other features for the fourth installment of their best-selling line of game consoles.

Various sources have told CVG that Sony’s Research and Development department has been exploring new avenues of design and function in regards to this new mystery controller. The reported touch controls are said to have been inspired by the interface of the PlayStation Vita handheld. Additionally, engineers are researching ways to integrate biometric sensors that pick up on the player’s heart rate, muscle movement, and — for lack of a better word — palm sweat which patents from roughly two years ago have shown can be used to impact events in-game.

Substantiating these reports of a new controller is the legal battle between Sony and tech company Immersion over the former’s apparent infringement of the latter’s rumble technology patent. Though the two managed to reach an expensive settlement in March 2007, Immersion has since been granting Sony the license to continue using their rumble technology, which extends to any future consoles. Due to the complexity and length of Immersion’s agreement — which dissolves in March 2017 — Sony has plenty of justification to strike out on their own and design a new controller in-house.

Details are still foggy at the moment, but it’s been rumored that Sony will be unveiling the PlayStation 4 — code name “Orbis” — sooner than we anticipate, even as early as this coming March. So once spring rolls around, we may finally get a glimpse of the controller Sony’s R&D team has been working on.

(CVG via Digital Spy, image via joo0ey)

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  • Anonymous

    I don’t know about anybody else, but I just said “Nooooooooooooooooooooo” out loud while reading this. I DO NOT WANT touch screen involved in my games.

  • Jack Bond

    Well, Sony’s motto is “If Nintendo had success, we might as well try it too!”

    Microsoft is attempting a weak version of the same thing, integrating tablet interfacing.

  • fail

    Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

  • Anonymous

    I definitely don’t consider the Wii U a success.

  • Jack Bond

    Yeah. Sony’s way more successful than Nintendo. That touch screen portable they made was flying off the shelves… Or maybe I have it backwards… No, it was Nintendo’s touch screen portable that flew off the shelves. There’s a warehouse somewhere full of Vitas that only Indiana Jones can navigate.

    I would like to know, though, how you can not see the Wii U as a success. There aren’t even any other current gen consoles out. (You can’t be a success if you don’t try). And besides, if you want to see a real failure, the first thing you’d look to would be the Vita, not the Wii U. In fact, the 3DS had a lousy launch window, and the price had to be slashed, yet it’s picking up serious speed, and with Pokemon X/Y on the way, it’ll reach DS levels in no time. If patterns are to be trusted, the Wii U and its adequate launch window will be at least as successful.

  • Jack Bond

    Perhaps… sometimes excessive mimicry is annoying and shallow… It also just proves the imitator is inferior to the original.

  • Anonymous

    I’m not here to have a fanboy argument about Nintendo. I don’t even understand what comparing handheld consoles has to do with anything. What I’m suggesting is that for one, Nintendo’s “next gen console” just caught up with Sony and Microsoft’s “current gen” consoles. And if you look into the success of many of the games (I’ll use their big “adult” title ZombieU as an example), people pretty much hate the games. The controller (for the most part) is either a distraction, or hardly plays much involvement at all.

    So many of the games that had already been out for either Xbox or PS has been deemed “worse”, not only by graphical standards, but by the addition of the controller in the first place.

    And this is coming from a person who was excited when Nintendo first demo’d the idea of the controller back a year or two ago at whichever conference it was. And trust me, I’m still interested, but as far as I can tell, aside from Lego City Undercover, the games look pretty bland thus far. That on top of the fact that they haven’t done too much with the controller that is very revolutionary,

    The idea of Sony putting out an optional peripheral sounds fine to me, but to drastically change their controller design as a standard peripheral seems drastic, and I don’t think a lot of fans would be interested in seeing it implemented.

  • http://blog.coatesism.com/ Shaun M Coates

    Hopefully, they will keep the traditional controller around and make their experiments available as optional peripherals.

  • Jack Bond

    I’m assuming when you say Nintendo’s console just caught up with Sony’s current gen console, you’re comparing to when Sony’s current gen console was less than a year old as well. I agree a lot of the games don’t look great, but that’s better than the 0 games on other consoles that interest me. I don’t play games that much, so Nintendo’s core franchises are more than enough for me.

    Nintendo tried replacing the classic controller design with only the Wiimote. They realized that was a mistake, so they created the Classic Controller, then the Classic Controller Pro, and now the Wii U Pro Controller. Now their classic-style controllers are nearly the same as any standard gamer would be used to.

    If Sony commits to copying Nintendo’s touch screen idea instead of their Dualshock design, they’re also going to realize their mistake and have to bring back the original controller as a peripheral. (Of course, this will have happened years behind Nintendo’s schedule, proving Sony is always at least one step behind Nintendo).

    Furthermore, it hardly matters what Sony does because their lack of backwards compatibility and stricter DRM are going to turn people off even more than the Vita does. Sony’s gaming division is not likely going away because they have a giant tech company on the side to keep them afloat, but if they don’t consider a MASSIVE restructuring of the entire division, they’re going to run into some hard times.

  • XxD2FHxX

    There gonna keep the look of the controller but were the pause ,select and home button is its going to be touch and the replacing the start and select button to music and game and home buttom will be in the center its clear in the middle look on google images maybe there false but i hope there not it look fucking awesome

  • http://www.facebook.com/ShadowTheWalmartgreeter97 Austin Murray

    I think touch screen controls is just plain unecessary in console gaming, it just isn’t needed. They don’t need to change a great controller design, it is one of the big reasons i have a PS3. They main thing they need for this new system is backwards compatibility (which i cannot spell at all) because I do not want to retire my great PS3 game collection to afford this new system. So no touch screen or touch based controllers but backwards compatibillity, cause thats a good thing.

  • steve

    PS4 might also just be a giant bloodsucking leech.