I notice there’s no images of the front (orienting the main button face at the top) of the controller or the bottom. I’d like to see:
Headphone jack?
Charging port on the front for charging stations?
Back buttons?
Is the PS logo itself a button? If not, where’s the PS button?
Is that a mute button below the logo?
I notice that the controller still rests on the L1/L2 triggers, so those will still get inadvertently pressed when you set the controller down. (When playing Dark Souls, this “feature” caused me to murder a vendor at one point, which is irreversible and permanent.)
I’m in the minority of gamers who have always thought that the Dualshocks were the best controllers. I like their weight, compactness, and feel in my hands. I have no doubt this controller will feel right too, but I question:
The iconic colors on the face buttons are missing. That’s a major feature, helpful for identifying the buttons in on-screen prompts.
I notice they’ve raised the profile of the options and share (sorry, create) buttons slightly so they’re not flush with the controller surface, which is good. But I wish they weren’t still so tiny.
This is definitely another thing that’s terrible about the PS4 DS. Trying to hit the Options button, which is tiny and flush flush with the giant touchpad right next to it is super annoying.
I had really bad luck with the RB/R1 buttons this last generation. My Day One XB1 controller had a bad RB, my DS4 has a bad R1 that sticks, my current XB1 controller has a really bad RB that you have to press really hard for it to register as a button press.
I just hope both new consoles have good RB/LB this time. I never had that problem with the 360/PS3 generation.
1: They’ve confirmed an audio jack. You just can’t see it in the release photos.
2: Not sure, but likekly I’d wager.
3: Nothing confirmed. I’d say no without buying an accessory.
4: Yes, that’s the PS button.
5: Yes, that is the mute button.
blinks innocently but why would I want it to feel super chunky, have the dpad in the wrong place, and have the A/B and X/Y buttons reversed from where they should be?
(It’s all preference. A group of people likes the PS feel better, a group of people likes the Xbox feel better, most probably don’t care too strongly, and it makes full business sense for both Sony and Microsoft to iterate on their own style rather than trying to come up with something new and/or just ape the other’s design philosophy.)
(But we all like more battery life! Give us that!)
They changed the design between PS3 and PS4 on those RB/R1-2 buttons - and not for the best.
When our PS4 R2 button collapsed inside the controller, I took the thing apart and an old PS3 controller to see if I could swap parts around. I found that the PS3 R2 button had a full metal shaft that the ran through the button acting like a hinge; the PS4 replaced this with plastic tabs. I ended up drilling through the PS4 button on the drill press and sliding in the PS3 metal shaft. It’s been rock solid for the past year with this mod.
It’s funny that battery life was mentioned above. My wife forgot to put it on the charger, so now I’m sitting here waiting for it like a plebeian in the middle of a climactic level in Nioh 2.
I find the dualshock 4 more comfortable in my hands. I don’t know why, but the Xbox One controller feels like a regression from the 360 controller for me. I can do either, but I find the biggest difference is that the d-pad is more awkward to use in the lower left position, often resulting in inaccurate inputs. I suspect this is at least partially the reason Xbox controllers have a reputation for having “bad d-pads”. It’s far more comfortable and precise to use in the upper left, as on a dualshock. The left analog, however, can be used with comfort and accuracy in either position. If that were not the case all the Xbox people would be demanding the WiiU Pro layout, which I’ll note they’re not.
Of course, I’m just saying that my preference is strongly for the Xbox approach, espsecially since the One/PS4 generation. Though I still insist the start/select design on the DualShock is objectively bad. And basically nothing uses the touchpad in an interesting way, so most of the time it’s just an annoyance.
I don’t use d-pads much in my games, so that may be a part of it.
Sony Corp. plans to produce far fewer units of its upcoming PlayStation 5 in its first year than it had for the previous-generation console’s launch, according to people familiar with the matter.
The Tokyo-based tech giant is limiting its initial production run in part because it expects the PS5’s ambitious specs to weigh on demand by leading to a high price at launch, the people said, asking not to be identified because the subject is private. The global Covid-19 pandemic has affected Sony’s promotional plans for the new device but not its production capacity, they added.
The company has told assembly partners it would make 5 to 6 million units of the PS5 in the fiscal year ending March 2021, according to other people involved in the machine’s supply chain. When Sony released the PlayStation 4 in November 2013, it sold 7.5 million units in its first two quarters.
The PS5’s loftier price tag may also deter initial take-up. Game developers who’ve been creating titles for the next PlayStation anticipate its price to be in the region of $499 to $549, and Bloomberg Intelligence’s Matthew Kanterman points to increased component costs pushing up the price required for Sony to break even. Sony has struggled with its price-setting decision for the PS5 because of scarce components, Bloomberg News has reported.
Was just coming to post this. I think both the PS5 and Xbox are headed to a price of at least $599 at launch. It’s possible they’re even at the $699 level.
Is the right way to interpret that rumor that their market research was late in validating the lower demand for the hardware cost they already committed to?
