The PlayStation 5 is set to be released this holiday season, and while we still don't know when or for how much, Friday gave us another look at Sony's new console in action. Together with the PS5 Sony showed it's new controller, the PS5 DualSense and some of its features
Based on the information we have now, Sony is leaving the DualShock moniker used since the very first generation, this new controller represents a new era for the company. This is, not only based on the name, but also the features and general idea.
Some of us are used to the old rumble pack found in controllers across many platforms and generations. The DualSense went for a better and improved option. Haptic Feedback will give the player a better immersion experience, but what is it about?
Sony said on its blog: "it adds a variety of powerful sensations you’ll feel when you play, such as the slow grittiness of driving a car through mud"
This doesn't tell us much on how the technology works, but rather on how it feels. In this same regard, Mike Bithell -Thomas Was Alone developer- said "You're going to love what they're doing with the controller on PS5 as well, with the DualSense stuff," to the Play, Watch, Listen podcast.
"Haptic... the raindrops thing; I've had some demos, they're very good [...] you're gonna have some fun and games with that."
This hints at a better, more intelligent experience than the good old vibration.
While the shape resembles that of the PS4's Dualshock 4 (left), the colors changed to a two tone design (instead of only one). The colors you see on the right is what we have now, but we can expect different color combinations, shades and customization options in the future.
The DualSense is bulkier than its PS4 predecessor, granted the reasons behind this choice are both fitting a bigger battery and because gamers indeed prefer a heavier controller.
Despite the color and size changes this still will feel as a PlayStation experience as the thumbsticks and the the touchpanel are in the same position. Lightbars are at the sides of the touchpanel now, instead of the top like in the Dualshock 4.
PSVR owners should not be worried as SIE stated in the past that PS5 will support PSVR, with older headsets being backwards compatible, although with the changes to the lightbar positions in the DualSense we are still not sure if it will work with the camera.
The L2 and R2 buttons now sport adaptive trigger capabilities, but..
Adaptive trigger means the buttons will make themselves harder or easier to press depending on the instance of the game, for example, you will be able to tell the difference between triggers of heavy weapons and lighter weapons. Shooting a water gun in a game will feel very different to shooting a shotgun.
This change means game developers will be able to code a much more immersive experience. Expect content related where this comes into play, for instance while shooting an arrow or if a character blocks the trigger before you pull it.
One of the main caveats while using a DualShock 4 was the battery, the PlayStation team has decided to address this and it seems they way of doing it is a bulkier battery.
We still don't know exactly how large the battery is or how long it might last, but we do expect a substantial difference.
The Share button is gone, Create button replacing it. We expect this to be more than a mere name change. The new Creation Studio tool seems to give much more control to the players over their screenshots and their captured videos. We expect this to be much better than in PS4, time will tell.
Until now to talk in games or have a more social experience you needed a headset. This is no longer a requirement with the DualSense as it will include its own microphone array into the controller. This might open up the options to a voice assistant, a Sony equivalent to something such as Siri, Google Assistant or Alexa.
PlayStation has not announced the price yet, but we expect it to be a bit more expensive than the current DualShock 4, which is around $59.99. This means the PS5 will probably be in the $60 to $80 range. Nonetheless there is a rumor that the controller will cost the same as the current DualShock 4, which is hard to belive because the PS5 controller brings a lot of innovations its predecessor didn't have.
PlayStation's team notably has decided to talk more about the controller than the console as of now. This might hint at a change of focus that is more about the game experience/immersion rather than the sheer specs of the console. Nevertheless the specs are great too and it will surely handle all games developers throw at it.