Alienware 32 4K QD-OLED Gaming Monitor

Marketed as ‘the world’s first 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor’, This Alienware powerhouse outperforms the competition in a number of ways. Alienware’s Quantum Dot technology aims to eliminate the halo effect surrounding lights and accompanies the monitor’s Dolby Vision HDR well to deepen the range of colors and clarity. And if you need something that’ll help with eye strain, this features built-in low-blue light technology. You can only get the exclusive 4K edition in the 32-inch package, but it’s worth it if you want that extra punch in visual dynamics.

SAMSUNG 49-Inch Odyssey G9 Series

Here’s our ultrawide monitor pick: the Samsung Odyssey G9. This thing manages to wrap around a full desk with a 1000R curve and still allow for complete peripheral vision. Besides the usual HDR visual flair, this monitor supplies one of the most impressive refresh rates in the business at a rapid 240Hz and 1ms response time. This thing can also be used in place of a multi-monitor setup with its built-in picture-by-picture mode allowing divided screens from two separate sources all displayed on the same monitor.

SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Headset

The Arctis Nova Pro is a true all-in-one headset. The multi-system connect feature allows for you to listen to different devices simultaneously through Bluetooth and 2.4GHz wireless. The audio itself features some of the best 360-degree spatial audio in the industry and even allows you to customize the sound yourself. This headset is intended to be used alongside SteelSeries’ Sonar equalizer software, which detects specific game sounds like footsteps and allows for custom tweaking of each parameter. The ClearCast Gen2 mic is regarded as a good mic, but the AI noise canceling needs some improvement.

Razer Viper V3 Pro Mouse

The ‘Pro’ in the name isn’t just for show; pro esports players tested and helped develop this mouse for ultimate precision. The optical sensor in this thing is quoted at providing 99.8% accuracy, with the option to adjust levels yourself in the software. The granular adjustments possible with this mouse allow for a very personalized experience, even if the base settings are lightning-fast already.

SteelSeries QcK Prism RGB Cloth Gaming Mouse Pad

SteelSeries has long been the industry standard for precision mouse pads and the QcK Prism is the creme of the crop. Gamers come to this pad for the patented QcK micro woven cloth because of its track record providing uninterrupted mouse swips. I particularly like the XL version with RGB lighting since it illuminates under and around your keyboard and not just the mouse.

Herman Miller x Logitech Embody

First off, the back position of this chair looks like it was grafted from Isaac Clarke’s suit from Dead Space, so that’s awesome. This is a cool chair, and a very high-end one at that. The sprockets on the back of the chair allow any position you take to form into a doctor-recommended lumbar position for spine support. It’s like memory foam but for gaming chairs. The tremendous H-flexor structure accounts for the lack of a headrest with its upright support. The seat cushion uses a patented cooling foam technology that keeps the cloth from getting too hot as well, allowing for unsightly hours of gameplay without too much discomfort.

Eureka Ergonomic 72″ Wing-Shaped Gaming Desk

The winged design of this Eureka desk allows for a complete PC setup with all the bells and whistles already included. The cupholder, headphone rests, phone holders, and RGB convertible shelving is icing on an already substantial cake. Don’t like how it’s arranged in promotional material? The layout is customizable to accommodate a variety of setups. This desk is going to fit any computing setup you can imagine, capable of holding 300 pounds with a 72-inch width that can sit the largest monitors out there.

Homall Gaming Desk

If you want a more compact, cheaper solution that’s no less stylish, here’s the 44-inch $69.99 Homall Gaming Desk. If you’re sick of fake wood breaking with other desks, you might prefer Homall’s metal frame construction. This gaming desk includes a small cupholder and headphone clip along with a full-sized mousepad free of charge.

DualShock 4 with Back Button Attachment

PlayStation’s DualShock 4 has long been held as the best controller for PC use due to its durable design and precise buttons. This beats out the recent DualSense because of its ease of compatibility and lighter weight. We recommend you get the back button accessory with it because of the 16 different functions that can be programmed to the two added back buttons.

8bitdo Pro 2 Retro Controller

8bitdo makes the highest quality PC-compatible retro controllers and the Pro 2 is the most versatile of their lineup. Just read the Amazon reviews and you’ll be assuaged that you’re not getting some cheaply made product. The Pro 2 variant adds handles to the base controller, making this a kind of ode to the original PS1, as opposed to the Pro 1’s Super Nintendo paddle design. The 8bitdo is a perfect controller for classic RPGs, platformers, and other games with simple control schemes.

NZXT QUE 2 RGB Lighting Kit

Tired of shopping for a variety of accessories for your lighting setup only to find out they’re incapable with each other? This all-in-one lighting kit illuminates the back of your PC monitor with custom colors and a range of light intensity that you can adjust. Ambient mode cycles between colors, but you can also set it so each strip displays a static color of your choice.

Asus ROG Azoth Gaming Keyboard

This keyboard may look small and unassuming at first glance, but don’t let its appearance fool you, there’s some fun features here. First, I have to point out the OLED display in the upper right. You can set it to monitor various PC settings, from framerate to song info. What gets me is this display can even play custom animations. This keyboard features RGB lighting, swappable keys for lighter action, and tuned mechanical switches for fast keystrokes and durability.

SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Gaming Keyboard

This keyboard differentiates itself from the Asus with its esports-minded tenkeyless design. SteelSeries uses a state-of-the-art hypermagnetic switch to allow a whopping 40 levels of sensitivity that you can adjust. Keys can be programmed to contain two functions in one, and the RGB lighting doesn’t hurt either. This is your pick if you want ludicrous levels of precision in your keystrokes.

Logitech G Pro Racing Wheel

Just about every racing game fan knows about this wheel, and for good reason. It’s got the best force feedback in its price point and has everything you could want from a sim driving experience. The magnetic gear shift paddles feel so satisfying to shift through with their mechanical weight and sound. The feel and rotation of the wheel itself is durable and responsive, with tensioned resistance just like a real vehicle wheel. The Logitech G Pro comes with an ultra-sturdy mount to attach to your gaming desk, but the pedals come sold separately. Or you can save some money and just accelerate and stop using the wheel’s face buttons, I dunno it’s up to you how sim you want to go, but this wheel is a great first step.

Razer Kitsune All-Button Arcade Controller

To differentiate from last year’s list, I’ve replaced an arcade stick with an arcade leverless controller. Leverless controllers allow for faster input speeds and negates the travel time of traditional arcade sticks. Razer has made a rock-solid arcade controller here that is even tournament-friendly thanks to its negation of left-right simultaneous inputs. This is generally considered the best leverless arcade controller thanks to its precise optical switch design, outperforming mechanical switch and button competitors by a tangible margin.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

The questionnaire presented to studios and publishers about controller support will affect the game’s Steam store page, allowing companies to pick between “Full Controller Support” or “Partial Controller Support”. There is also an option for special cases for games that might only work with a specific control scheme.

Valve points out that support for DualShock and DualSense controllers isn’t assumed by Steam automatically if there is support for the Xbox controller. The company states that developers will have to do specific work with their games to ensure support for PlayStation controllers.

Players will start seeing new display and filters in October that will allow players to pick games that support the controller that they have available to them. valve mentions that the update is to help the over 87 million players on Steam using at least one controller, according to recent Steam Hardware Surveys.

For studios that might have trouble developing bespoke support for PlayStation controllers, Valve also mentions that Steamworks provides streamlined APIs to help provide a game with PlayStation controller support as long as there is support for Xbox controllers.

For instance, as per a new patent (via coindipender), Sony is trying to give its user the option to adjust the height of the control stick, the main goal being that the c-stick is not sticking out in one place permanently. As per the filings, the abstract reads as follows:

“A controller, thumbstick, or system comprising a thumbstick body, a thumbstick shaft coupled to the thumbstick body wherein the thumbstick shaft is configured to retract into the thumbstick body and wherein the thumbstick body and the thumbstick shaft is freely rotatable together around a pivot center within the controller body.”

The internal filing date for the patent seems to point out that Sony filed it last year on 22 July, and the same got published on 13 January 2022.

The filing indicates that Sony might be working on a new controller, though patents aren’t necessarily always indicative of concrete plans of course. PlayStation’s DualSense controllers are already feature-rich, coming with haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, among other features, so having something like this would add to an already pleasant controller experience.

In more Sony patent-related news, the company recently filed one for their upcoming PSVR2, which allows the headset to scan real-world objects into a game, along with one filed by the PlayStation 5 architect Mark Cerny for backward compatibility.

Much has been said about Sony’s deal to work with Nintendo and develop a CD-ROM add-on for the SNES. This would spiral into a standalone console known as the PlayStation and the creation of the PlayStation Controller. While taking inspiration from the SNES controller, Sony’s creation would have several key differences – the use of shapes to denote its action buttons, two sets of shoulder buttons and grips to make it easier to handle the expanded button setup.

Sony’s use of shapes wasn’t a haphazard decision. Along with becoming a key part of the PlayStation’s marketing, they denoted different actions like Triangle for PoV, Circle for confirming options and Cross or X for canceling, and Square for menus. In retrospect, it’s funny how the Circle is used to cancel choices while Triangle is used to access menus in many games today.

Overall, the PlayStation Controller was a good effort and launched with the PlayStation One in 1994. Better things were coming though. At the PlayStation Expo 96-97, Sony showcased the predecessor to the future – the Dual Analog Controller. Similar to the PlayStation Controller in almost every way, it carried two analog sticks and three operating modes. The first, Digital Mode, allowed for using the controller’s directional buttons and disabling the sticks. The second was Analog which enabled the sticks while the third, Analog Flightstick, was based off of Sony’s short-lived PlayStation Analog Joystick.

Complaints began to mount over the long grips and lack of Rumble for Dual Analog Controllers in the West. At the time, it was thought that Sony was keeping manufacturing prices down. The company also cited rumble as being one cause of controller issues, hence the exclusion. Behind the scenes though, the war over rumble copyright infringement was taking shape. For the time being, the PlayStation Analog Controller launched in April 1997 and was subsequently discontinued in 1998.

Thankfully, Sony would have a replacement ready by November 1997 – the DualShock, the de facto controller of choice going forward.

Boasting dual analog sticks, each with a vibration motor, the DualShock also felt more comfortable thanks to the rubber texturing on the analog sticks. It wouldn’t take long before the sticks were adapted by a number of different companies. There were even releases like Ape Escape which mandated playing with both analog sticks as opposed to either the D-Pad or face buttons.

With the PlayStation already seeing exceptional success, the DualShock cemented itself as one of the best controllers at the time. The design would see very minimal changes when the PS One, Sony’s smaller redesign of the console, released but it was still very much the same controller.

To no one’s surprise, Sony didn’t try to fix what wasn’t broken as it transitioned into the next generation. The DualShock 2 released with the PlayStation 2 in 2000 and stuck with the same button layout, two analog sticks (which feel somewhat stiffer than its predecessor’s but still), two shoulder buttons and so on. A few key differences were included though, like analog support for the buttons and D-Pad, with the added sensitivity factoring into some PS4 titles, and less weight than the original DualShock.

Riding the wave of the PlayStation 2’s success, the DualShock 2 was a worthy follow-up and stood out in an era of over-sized Xbox controllers and unorthodox Nintendo controllers. The DualShock 3 was mean to continue this line-up of controllers and was seemingly poised to launch with the PS3 in time for the seventh generation of consoles.

Of course, that’s not what we got. Instead, Sony unveiled something altogether different – a boomerang-shaped controller. This debuted at E3 2005 and was routinely ridiculed for its long handles and odd shape (which the company clarified to just be a concept rather than the final design). Unfortunately, the company then unveiled the actual controller for the PS3 – the Sixaxis. “Hold up,” you might ask. “How do you go from the DualShock 1 and 2 for the PS1 and PS2 respectively to this new Sixaxis controller for the PS3?”

The lack of the trademark DualShock brand wasn’t the only problem. Instead of vibration aka rumble, the Sixaxis employed motion sensing technology. Players could tilt the controller across the X, Y and Z axes in different ways, providing six degrees of freedom. Interestingly, the Sixaxis had some other new features including the introduction of the PS Button to replace the Analog button; the use of both analog and digital signals; changing the L2 and R2 buttons to act more like squishy triggers; and more.

However, the motion sensing controls were received negatively, mostly because of the timing of the announcement. It was revealed several months after Nintendo’s Wii reveal which had a Wii-mote for motion-sensing and came across as an imitation. And despite being the major selling point of the Sixaxis, there wasn’t many games that were confirmed to support motion controllers before launch.

We did inevitably see the likes of Warhawk and Lair, the latter infamous for reportedly suffering in order to support motion-sensing controls. The jury is still out today as to how stringently Sony mandated Sixaxis support for its games but it did crop up in major releases like Heavy Rain and Killzone 2 over the years.

Sony did provide reasons for introducing motion-sensing tech and removing rumble but the real answer lay in that ongoing lawsuit with Immersion. The latter took umbrage with companies infringing on its copyrights for haptic technology. Though Microsoft chose to settle – and even purchased a 10 percent stake in the company – Sony failed to come to terms with Immersion before the PS3’s launch. As a result, the DualShock 3 was sidelined in favor of the Sixaxis.

Thankfully, this didn’t last long. The DualShock 3 would be revealed in 2007 and released worldwide in 2008, with rumble making its return. In terms of design and other features though, both controllers were identical – the DualShock 3 even had motion sensing tech. By April 2008, the Sixaxis was discontinued completely and the DualShock 3 was the default PS3 controller going forward.

2013 signaled the arrival of the next-generation of consoles. Microsoft was busy revamping the Xbox One into an all-in-one entertainment solution with its controller being changed to reflect as much. Sony’s DualShock 4 was introducing some major changes of its own, including one that would serve as a minor revelation of sorts.

Revealed in February 2013, the DualShock 4 was very much similar to its predecessor in terms of button layouts, analog sticks, triggers and the implementation of motion-sensing. In terms of feel, the analog sticks sported outer rings for easier gripping and the digital pad’s buttions were more concave-shaped with the center being recessed. Sony spent an exceptional amount of time tuning the latter to make the controller feel better for fighting games.

However, a large touchpad now adorned the front where the “Sony” logo used to be. The Options button combined the functions of the Start and Select buttons into one. A mono speaker was visible just below the touchpad and would relay sounds based on the game, even being capable of playing game audio. And at the top of the controller was a light bar which could change under different circumstances (and would be useful for another Sony invention down the line, namely PlayStation VR). Its default color was blue but it could change – if a second player joined on the same console, their light bar would turn red to distinguish, for example.

There was also the Share button which allowed players to capture screenshots and videos from gameplay. Though the Xbox One could also capture gameplay footage and screenshots, the Share button was more seamless and significantly more streamlined, especially when sharing to social media. It’s probably no coincidence then that the upcoming Xbox Series X controller now boasts its own dedicated Share button.

Despite some issues with the left analog stick’s surface, the DualShock 4 has been a success much like the PS4. The light bar, initially met with some skepticism, felt unobtrusive enough while also having some actual use, though Sony would issue a patch that allowed for disabling it altogether. The second generation of the DualShock 4, released in September 2016, featured slight improvements like better battery life and the light bar being visible from the top of the touch pad.

All these years later, we now have the DualSense coming up for the PlayStation 5, sporting a bold two-toned color design. The light bar has moved from the top to the edges of the touchpad; a new microphone array, sporting noise-cancellation, allows for chatting without a headset; a USB-C connector is now used for plugging and charging the controller; and the Share button has been replaced with the Create button. Sony has yet to share finer details on the controller’s functions but it did confirm strong battery life and a relatively light frame.

Perhaps the defining features of the DualSense are its adaptive triggers and haptic feedback which can simulate different kinds of pressure – the most common example provided is drawing an arrow with a bow. Expect more information on other ways this will be implemented along with how the Create button works in the coming months.

It’s crazy to look back and realize that the PlayStation brand has been around for almost three decades. It feels like almost yesterday when we marveled at the possibilities of two analog sticks on the original DualShock or questioned the horror that was the Sixaxis. Even as the DualSense is met with some skepticism and its fair share of memes, we can’t wait to see how this iteration will define the PlayStation 5 experience in the years to come.

But even then, some trends were beginning to coalesce in controller layouts and shapes, and we had started to see some degree of homogeneity. Although even as late as the early 2000s, the Dreamcast, GameCube, PS2, and Xbox all offered different takes on controllers – at least to some degree.

After that, while Microsoft and Sony continued to have their controllers be increasingly similar to one another’s, Nintendo continued to try controller innovation – at times too much. From the Wii’s motion controls, to the Wii U’s attempt to have a secondary touch screen on a controller, Nintendo was still trying to have some form of differentiation.

But with the recent announcements of the DualSense and the Series X controllers, it seems like we are now coming to an end of any sort of controller variation. It seems that, on the whole, the industry has settled on the form factor and button layout that it deems to be the best on the whole, and that is shared across all controllers at this point.

This has actually been true ever since the reveal of the Nintendo Switch. With the Switch Pro controller, Nintendo revealed they were done with controller based differentiation for their consoles. The Switch uses a controller that could be mistaken for an Xbox controller, at a glance. Even the Joycon controller that comes with the console by default mimics a traditional dual analog controller, with no element other than its modularity actually setting it apart from anything else on the market.

I’m not necessarily saying this is a bad thing either, mind you. The DualShock 4 and Xbox One controller are largely the same (though the DualShoch 4 offers some additional functionality, such as the touchpad, or the gyro sensors, or the dedicated share button). This hasn’t actually stopped great games from being made. In fact, the output of games across the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch is superior to the output of previous generation consoles. It is, at this point, clear that the entire industry has settled on a common idea of what a controller is supposed to be. That’s why the PS5 and the Series X controllers look so similar. That’s why even Nintendo’s console now has a pretty straightforward dual analog controller. That’s why even when a newcomer like Google enters the fray, their Stadia controller could basically pass for a Switch Pro or Xbox controller.

And even within this largely homogeneous vision for a controller, we do get to see innovation. We have had Nintendo with HD Rumble, or the built in NFC sensor, as well as gyro controls, that are used in so many Switch games. We had Sony deliver arguably the biggest controller innovation in a while with the Share button, while also offering some extra controller specific features such as a touchpad, a light bar, and a speaker. And Microsoft has been offering controller innovation with the Elite line of controllers, which have additional inputs like paddles, and which allow modularity, and to let the pro-gamer adjust their inputs to the finest degree; not to mention the Adaptive controller, which is a wonderful work of inspired design work, that lets people with disabilities play games as well.

This is because, on the whole, how we interact with games is something that has already been perfected. We have a control setup that is intuitive and universal, and which an audience of hundreds of millions of people are familiar with and prefer. To rock the board then is to be foolish. Innovation, even controller innovation, has now occurred outside of how you interact with games – even if it is a controller innovation.

What I mean with this is that even big controller innovations, such as the Share button, aren’t changing how you interact with games on a mechanical basis. And that’s because they don’t need to – again, there’s a controller standard that works for everyone. Any new innovation should try to respect that.

And we still do get innovation – even Nintendo was still wildly innovative with the Switch – and in fact, in the process of delivering a console with minimal controller innovation, they ended up also delivering their best one in years, and one that has been able to rally support from all sorts of third parties yet again. And who knows what Sony has planned with their new, upcoming Create button on the DualSense? With luck, it will become as integral to our video gaming experience as the Share button, variants of which can now also be found on Nintendo and Xbox controllers, did too.

We don’t really need crazy controller innovations anymore. As a medium, gaming has matured enough that now people have certain ideas for what to expect. A standard has been set, after millions of people have become familiar with a setup and layout over the last two decades. So the moaning and the griping that the Xbox Series X controller looks identical to the Xbox One controller, or that the DualSense looks a lot like an Xbox controller now, are foolish. Controllers will continue to get more and more homogenized as time goes on (with the obvious exception of specialized games, such as VR titles or arcade games).

Is it a bad thing? On some level, you’re free to miss that era of inventiveness with controllers, where playing on a different console could mean entirely different ways of interacting with your game. But missing that is a lot like missing the era of consoles with proprietary hardware – yes, it was cool when every console used custom hardware that could be leveraged and exploited to have games uniquely well suited to that hardware. But it also limited the reach and success of games, by making multiplatform game development so difficult.

So just as hardware is standardized now (even Nintendo, with the Switch, uses industry standard mobile SoCs), so too are controllers. And the DualSense and Xbox Series X controller, in their uniformity with the trend, have just further solidified that future of gaming controllers.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

In a rather unexpected announcement, Sony has revealed the DualShock 4 Back Button Attachment. Out on January 23rd 2020, it’s an accessory that attaches below the controller and provides two programmable back buttons. These can be mapped to 16 different functions like R1, R2 and Triangle.

Along with OLED screen, there’s a dedicated button for remapping functions. Players can also save up to three different profiles of remapped buttons. Also, despite the name, the Back Button Attachment will actually work with any DualShock controller.

This provides some future-proofing in case anyone wants to pick it up for the DualShock 5 on PS5. The Back Button Attachment will retail for $29.99 at launch. Given that Sony hasn’t really cashed in on what the Xbox Elite Controller series have offered, this accessory could be a way to cater to all those shooter fans who just want to map “jump” to something else. Stay tuned for more details on the attachment in the coming weeks.

Not counting the name, the controller is probably the least exciting part of a new PlayStation console. Sony has been extremely reluctant to change what is admittedly a winning formula for its DualShock line of controllers, and even the DualShock 4, which broke the mould its predecessors set in a lot of ways, is cut from the same cloth as they were, in the end.

So I’m sure there’s not a lot of anticipation (or worry, for that matter) over how the DualShock 5 (presumably that’s what they will call the controller) will turn out. Sony’s never actually turned out a bad controller, and we can assume their next one will be much like their previous ones. Still, for those of you who wanted a good look at what to expect, we got some of that today, thanks to a patent filing made in Japan by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

This patent filing (you can see the pictures below) is interesting, because it seems to confirm a number of things: the controller apparently keeps the same basic layout and form factor as the DualShock 4, though we are now treated to larger analog sticks, larger triggers, and what seems to be the removal of that extremely annoying light bar on the DualShock 4. 

We also get some direct comparisons between the patent filing and the existing DualShock 4, thanks to ResetEra’s gofreak. On the whole, nothing too exciting—but also nothing too disruptive. But if it’s not broke, why fix it?

I just hope the battery lasts longer than the average Marvel movie this time, that’s all. 

Along with revealing that NetherRealm’s Mortal Kombat 11 had topped software sales charts for not just May 2019 but the year-to-date, The NPD Group also announced that Nintendo Switch as the top-selling console again (as per ZhugeEX on ResetEra). Hardware spending made up $149 million of the total $641 million spending for the month with accessories consisting of $230 million. Compared to May 2018’s $186 million, hardware spending is down by a staggering 20 percent this year.

So while the Nintendo Switch saw sales growth, it was offset by the overall decline of sales across other platforms. Nevertheless, the console has managed to top May 2019’s hardware chart along with year-to-date charts in unit and dollar sales. The best-selling accessory for the month was the PS4’s DualShock 4 Black Wireless Controller, which is also the best-selling accessory this year so far.

The rest of the year should be even better for Nintendo, with titles like Super Mario Maker 2, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Astral Chain, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening coming soon. Luigi’s Mansion 3 will likely close out the year (since its marked as releasing in Q4 2019). Meanwhile, Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be out in March 2020.

But those features are there. They are largely unused, out of some VR games that put them to great use (such as Astro Bot: Rescue Mission), but they do exist. The question is, should they be retained in the DualShock 5 (or whatever the PlayStation 5 controller is inevitably called) given how low their usage is?

The basic answer to this question is, yes. In fact, there’s absolutely no reason to have a position other than “yes” for this question, but let’s look at the many reasons why Sony should retain the Touchpad and the motion controls and even that annoying LED light for the DualShock 5.

Backward Compatibility

Unless the PS5 is allowed to connect to PS4 controllers (which it might not be—the PS4 can’t connect to DualShock 3, even though it can connect to PS Move. There is no technical limitation for this either, it’s just an arbitrary restriction), Sony needs to include every possible input on the DualShock 4 in the DualShock 5 for the purpose of backward compatibility, which at this point we can expect will be included on the PS5. Even games that only cursorily utilize these features will run into compatibility issues on the PS5 unless they have access to the inputs to begin with.

VR Compatibility

Maybe Sony ensures that any games made for the PSVR2, or whatever the PSVR accessory for the PS5 ends up being called, aren’t designed around the DualShock 4, but in the here and now, we have multiple VR games that are designed around the DualShock 4, and in fact can only be played with it. Games such as Resident Evil 7 can only be played with DualShock 4, while a game like Astro Bot is explicitly designed around the controller’s capabilities, specifically touchpad and LED light. Unless Sony wants to break compatibility with these games on the PS5, DualShock 5 would have to retain these inputs.

They’re Just Options, And They Don’t Hurt

This is the big thing here—the gyroscope and the touchpad are just options. They don’t hurt anyone. At worst, if they’re not used, they’re just there, completely unobtrusive. The touchpad can end up acting as additional buttons for developers to map to, and the gyro can be completely disabled. There’s literally no reason to remove either feature. No, they don’t add to the cost of the controller—the DualShock 4 costs as much as the DualShock 3, and as much as the DualShock 2, and those controllers lacked one or both of those features respectively.  The cost of the controller doesn’t rise because of those features. And no, they don’t hurt battery life either. Okay, the LED light does, but that’s more because you can’t turn it off. If you had the option to disable it completely (like you do with the touchpad and the gyroscope), then even that wouldn’t be an issue. There are literally no grounds to argue against the inclusion of these features.

Sony needs to do a far better job of supporting both features in their games

But this brings us to the next point—Sony needs to do a better job of actually supporting these features. And I don’t just mean by making them cool gimmicky ways to input text on the system UI—I mean that they literally need to support these features better in their own games. Third parties follow a platform holder’s lead, since what a platform holder does is what establishes a community on a platform. If Sony doesn’t implement gyro controls or touchpad support in their games, why would third parties?

For evidence, consider the case of Paladins. The game recently got gyro aiming enabled on the Switch version. This happened because the Switch community actively demanded for gyro aiming to be available as an option. They in turn demanded that option because first party games such as Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2 support this feature. Since that set an expectation for gyro aiming to be supported as an option, third party games such as Paladins, DOOM, and Fortnite have all enabled this option for their Switch version. And yet, in spite of the fact that the DualShock 4 has a gyroscope built right in, they haven’t done the same for the PS4 version.

It would cost them nothing, since the work to develop the feature is done. It would cost nothing for the players, since only those who want to use it would enable the feature. But because there’s no expectation of the feature on PS4, third parties don’t deliver on it. In such a scenario, of course features like the gyroscope and the touch pad will go under utilized. Sony themselves don’t seem to care about either of them—so why should third parties?

DualShock 5 should have everything on the DualShock 4, and more

We don’t yet know what form the DualShock 5 will take, but I hope it will be very similar to DualShock 4. The DualShock 4 is a great controller—the shape and ergonomics are great, and it is very feature rich. The low battery life is an issue, but one that’s will be hopefully countered by allowing us to turn the light off on the next controller. But that apart, I hope the DualShock 5 retains everything the DualShock 4 has—the same buttons and triggers and bumpers and sticks as always, but also the Share Button, the touch pad, the Sixaxis motion capability, and then add on top of that something new, such as paddles for additional control. Make it the perfect, ultimate controller. The PS5 will probably be the home for some of the most sophisticated games ever made. No reason the controller can’t be the most sophisticated one ever as well either.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

PlayStation 4 aficionados seeking new DualShock 4 controllers in preparation for the busy Fall season, take heed. Sony has announced that four new colour variants – Berry Blue, Blue Camo, Sunset Orange, and Copper – will be available in September for the United States and Canada.

According to the PlayStation US Blog, Each controller will retail for $64.99 USD/$74.99 CAD. The Copper colour will only be available at GameStop in the United States, and later at select retailers.

European players will have to wait slightly longer. According to the PlayStation Blog EU, the Sunset Orange colour will be available for a limited time on September 18th but Blue Camo will follow on October 12th. After that, Berry Blue arrives on October 23rd. Finally, the Copper colour will be available on October 30th, along with the returning Gold, Silver, and Steel Black controllers.

Those attending Gamescom are in for a treat as well, since these controllers will be on display at booth A-010 at Hall 7.1 from August 21st till August 25th.