Santa Monica are the Masterminds behind DualShock 4 Social Features

Creative director Nathan Gary from Sony Santa Monica pitched the idea of DualShock 4’s Share Button according  to SCE boss Shuhei Yoshida.

“After the core hardware, the CPU and GPU, had been decided the project shifted to designing and discussing what should be the user experience of people who be playing games on PS4,” Yoshida told Edge.

“So we formed the cross-functional groups of people from SCEI hardware and Worldwide Studios and Sony network services teams to meet every month, almost. And Mark Cerny was heavily involved and leading some discussions. And the idea of sharing and seamless integration with social networks, that was heavily discussed.”

“I think it was Nathan Gary in Santa Monica studios who suggested it: how about adding a dedicated button on the controller so that everybody can just press that button to share? He was helping out the external development, heavily involved in helping the development of Journey and Unfinished Swan at Santa Monica Studios.”

“So Nathan put together a Powerpoint and pitched in this Share button idea,” Yoshida added. “And we all went, that’s a brilliant idea! So it was a pretty quick decision after he suggested it and I’m sure he’s pretty proud of his contribution. That was after many months of discussion of how people should be using the PS4 system and sharing was one of the central experiences we wanted to include in the system’s development.”

How do you feel about the Share Button, and will it change the way you look at play games and make your social experience more enjoyable? Let us know in the comments down below and stay tuned on GamingBolt for more PlayStation 4 news.