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Preview: The DualShock 4 (PS4) controller

In my experience, there are two schools of thought on the DualShock controller. The first — and correct one — is that it’s a great controller. It fits well in the hand and is equal parts form and function. It’s comfortable and really stands as the industry benchmark other hardware manufacturers strive for.

The other camp — that is to say, the wrong one or the one full of Xbox 360 fans — think the DualShock is too small. They’ll say it feels cheap, or too light. They’ll complain that its trigger buttons and control sticks suck. To those people: you’re wrong. Secondly, the DualShock 4 will silence your complaints.

It’s bigger, chunkier and heavier. All three of those adjectives are immediately noticeable upon picking up the DualShock 4. The hand grips have a definite wider girth on the DualShock 4 when compared to the DualShock 3; they’re also much longer. The controller is actually a little wider than the DualShock 3 as well. For those of you with giant mitts, this will be a welcome change. As a result of the larger form, the control sticks and buttons are spaced out a little more. Again, the changes will be most welcome for those of you who have to buy XXL mittens.

The extra weight of the DualShock 4 makes the controller feel like an actual piece of technology rather than a plastic toy. It feels really solid in your hand, which is something I’ll admit the DualShock 3 never really achieved (especially if you had a Sixasis). Fans of the Xbox 360 controller will find that the DualShock 4 delivers a very similar experience, while remaining very much in the Sony family.

Other than the triggers and analogue sticks (which I’ll get to later), the buttons and and D-Pad feel essentially unchanged. The X, Circle, Triangle and Square still depress with a squishy analogue feel. The D-Pad feels more clicky and more responsive, once again more like a piece of tech than a toy. The L1 and R1 buttons also feel more solid and respond to the touch with a satisfying click.

The big change to the DualShock 4 are the additions of the touch pad, the share button and the light bar. Unfortunately, none of the demos I experienced used any of the three new features. Interestingly, I noted that the touchpad could be clicked in. The applications of this remain unknown at this stage, but I’m sure we’ll see it implemented in games come launch.

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If I could list two — minor — issues I had with the DualShock 3, they would be the awkwardly angled trigger buttons and the convex tips of the analogue sticks. These are very minor complaints mind you, but both have been rectified with the DualShock 4.

The L2 and R2 buttons are now very similar to those on the Xbox 360 or Xbox One controller. They’re still just as wide as they were on the DualShock 3, but now flare up at the back so your fingers have somewhere to rest. They now depress into the controller — like the Xbox triggers — rather than curving around like on the DualShock 3. This is a welcome change and will likely be seen by many detractors as a big move in the right direction.

The analogue sticks have been given a makeover as well. They are still parallel like previous iterations of the controller, but instead of a convex rounded top they now have a slight concave for the player’s thumbs to sit comfortably within.

While playing PS3, my thumb would always be pressed up against the very edge of the analogue sticks. The concave surface always resisted attempts to keep my thumb on it. With the DualShock 4, my thumbs were right at home right away. The hollows at the top of the sticks was just deep enough to fit the tips of my thumbs in. Right away I felt like I had a lot more control. The sticks themselves also feel more rigid and do away with the floaty feeling of the DualShock 3’s sticks. Again, it wasn’t a huge issue before, but  I felt like I had more control.

The DualShock 4 feels very much like a refined DualShock 3 and a controller designed for the western market. It’s bigger, flashier and heavier. It’s more grown-up — or hardcore — than it’s older brothers and will definitely impress those skeptics (Xbox 360 fans) given the opportunity.

While I thought there wasn’t too much wrong with the DualShock 3, the DualShock 4 has remedied those issues. I can’t wait until I get to use it again.

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DeltaPhoenix08