The Playstation 5 DualSense Has Some Good Advancements

April 8, 2020 at 8:34pm
By Jason Stettner

The random announcement of the Playstation 5 DualSense controller was interesting, not only in terms of how casual it was but also with the various advancements that it was noted as having. This is definitely a big change-up from the DualShock line that’s always been with the console family.

With the DualSense there are many changes, and these upgrades do definitely intrigue me. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Playstation 4 controller quite honestly, finding it a bit uncomfortable after extended gaming sessions. Also the size and shape was a bit awkward for me.

They seem to really be moving to fix that up, going for a shape that more resembles the Xbox controller line. For me, that’s a great thing as they’ve got a nice shape there. It isn’t exactly the same as the competition, retaining its unique style but is just shapelier looking.

It is of course best to wait until we get hands on to get a full comparison, but we have to go from the renders for now. Regardless, I like the new look in terms of shape though I’m still not sold on the two tone color design. It has a futuristic look with the revamped touch pad and light bar integrations, that’s somewhat cool.

It’s not what I expected look wise, and I’m very interested to see it in action. It would be incredible to customize those lights, as I’m a fan of those options on PC for example. Even perhaps an off setting too, just for those nights where you don’t want it popping up. Regardless, I think they’ll do some neat things with it and I’m curious how developers will take advantage of it during gameplay. Seeing damage during multiplayer, or reacting in weird ways.

Moving onto features I’m really happy that they’re finally adding haptics in, and I’m rather curious how the trigger changes will feel. More natural rumbling sensations are always appreciated, and I think they’re going to achieve some great things with that addition. Just for more context, they have adaptive triggers for L2 and R2. I also like that they seem to be increasing the size of the triggers, as I did have troubles dealing with them in the past.

The grip adjustments also seem nice, looking forward to seeing how that feels when handled. I also love the general sleek look for the buttons, they appear nice to touch and I’m curious how the lack of colors on the buttons will alter in-game mechanics. Keeping in mind that in the past you have call-outs in games that are colored. I find this new look to be more mature, when thinking of the buttons. They appear to be easier for quick taps, and I'm wondering if the color-less choice will cause issues for any younger ones out there.

When it comes to the built-in microphone I am concerned about the privacy element, in regards to it listening when it maybe shouldn’t be. We will have to see if that’s addressed. I do like the option for chatting as I never bothered getting a headset for my PS4, it will be easier to quickly chat with friends if that ever happens when I’m playing. Keeping in mind this is more of an exclusives console for me. It’s also nice to have the off option for when you’re not talking to not have to deal with other’s background noise.

We’ll have to wait and see how it deals with background sound of course. At least, how well it handles external sounds aside from voices, or even others chatting. I am however not a fan of the little icon for the microphone. We obviously can’t really chat about the new create button yet since that hasn’t been described, but I suppose that will be cool. Just have to see how in-depth it’ll be. I’m truly hoping for DVR capabilities on the console like Xbox One X has. That aspect makes my content creation life infinitely better.

That is, the option to record pristine video content and screenshots right off the console. I think this is a neat, and very unsafe jump for the company. That’s somewhat exciting, as this looks futuristic almost and is a very neat aesthetic that I don’t think people were expecting. It’s always nice to be surprised, and it’s nothing like what I would have anticipated. Hopefully it delivers in how it handles.

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