Posted Fri Jan 18, 2013 at 07:30 AM PST by Brian Hoss
16 years of controller eminence to give way to biometrics and LCDs.
Disregarding the dalliance with the PS3 prototype boomerang-shaped, but still essentially DualShock design, controller, Sony has stuck with the DualShcok since its introduction partway through the life of the first PlayStation. CVG cites two different sources about the departure of the Dualshock, "Versions of the new PS4 pad include biometric sensors on the grips and an LCD touch screen, the development source claimed." and "PlayStation engineers are 'trying to emulate the same user interface philosophies as the PS Vita.'"
CVG also suggests that Sony is considering that the DualShock3 may be allowed as secondary controller, similar to the Wii U and Wiimotes. A move that could bode well for backwards compatibility which will most certainly include PS one classics.
One issue mentioned is Sony's very public and very expensive issues with Immersion, which prevented the PS3 from shipping with rumble in the Sixaxis controller. The eventual agreement only extends to 2017 and involves Microsoft, who owns 10 percent of Immersion.
The bio-metric possibilities of the new design echo recent comments by Gabe Newall about the mythical Steambox.
Source: CVG
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