DualShock 5 - PS5 Controller

What to Expect from Sony’s DualShock 5

With the PlayStation 4 release being weeks away, what once was new is now becoming the norm. With a new console generation upon us, it’s enough to make a person wonder exactly what the next console generation will be like. Case in point: I’ve found myself wondering exactly what we are going to expect with the announcement of the PS5 controller, which will probably be released a decade from now (if, of course, cloud gaming does not make our consoles irrelevant that is, yet that is another argument for another time). How will Sony’s DualShock controller evolve in a decade? Let’s hypothesize, shall we?

DualShock 5 will be the first touch-based PlayStation controller

DualShock 5 isn’t going to have any buttons; rather, it is going to have touch-based buttons akin to a gamepad layout you may find in an iOS game. However, when you press a button on the DualShock 5, it is going to simulate the feedback that players feel whenever they press a button on a traditional controller. For example, when you press ‘X’ to jump, the controller will provide a sensation into your thumb that makes it feel as if you are actually pressing the button due to the controller simulating the weight of the button and the mechanism that allows the button to be pressed. In a sense, the DualShock 5 simulates not only the controls of a gamepad, but also the depth in which we use the controls.
The DualShock 5 will keep the classic shape of the DualShock line, yet the area in which the controls lie will be one single screen. The controller’s screen automatically displays the current, traditional DualShock 5 layout whenever your PS5 is powered on, and if a game needs to use a specific controller layout (or add a new button altogether), you are notified via the controller before playing the game. Learning more about what each button does is simple as well, as you can press the ‘Help’ icon in the top right corner of the controller at any time. To ensure players do not accidentally press this icon during gameplay, the ‘Help’ icon is only accessibly when pressing the ‘Start’ button.

DualShock 5 charges itself via Wi-Fi

Guess what? As long as your PS5 has an active Wi-Fi connection, your DualShock 5 controllers will automatically charge themselves once they reach a certain threshold. The charge of your controller can be accessed via a menu on the controller itself, and you can choose whether you want the controller to charge at a certain point during the night (e.g. you can have your controllers charge fully when you are asleep), or you can have them to charge in-game once they reach a certain percentage. What does this mean for you? You will never have to worry about your controller dying in the middle of a game ever again!

See full set of this concept

Smart-device integration Don’t you hate it when you get a text message or a phone call while you’re playing a game? The DualShock 5 will be able to display your text message on the screen of your controller (or on the screen of your television – you can change the option in the menu), to which you can speak , it will type your message onto your smartphone. Say, ‘Send’ (or another custom phrase, you can change this is the settings), and the DualShock 5 will communicate with your smartphone and send the text message.
Alternatively, you can pause the game, read the text message on the DualShock 5’s screen, and text back on the device itself. In a sense, the DualShock 5 acts as a ‘middle man’ between your ‘smart’ devices and you.
What about a phone call? You can choose to take the call through your controller, to which you will be able to hear and speak with the caller by holding your controller. Don’t want everyone to hear your conversation? You can reroute the call to your headset device, to which you can speak with the caller using your preferred headset while you use the controller. In fact, if you are playing with a party on your PS5, you can actually have the caller speak to all of them in-game!
Don’t want your party to listen to your conversation? You can go into private mode and speak with your caller via the headset.
Want to stream music from your smartphone to your headset or even the external speaker of your controller? You can do this as well. The DualShock 5 will have an ‘external apps’ feature, which you can use certain apps on your mobile devices for use with the controller. For example, if you want to listen to Pandora all day through your Turtle Beach headset but your iPad is in another room, you can allow the controller to communicate with the iPad and stream Pandora into your controller, which you can hear with your Turtle Beach headset.
Sharing is more powerful than ever Sure, you can share your gameplay with others with the PS4, but with the PS5 you are going to be able to share your gameplay with literally any streaming service of your choice – simultaneously! In the settings menu of your DualShock 5 controller, you can state that your gameplay is streamed to any streaming site of your choice. For example, with one press of the ‘Share’ button, your gameplay can be streamed to Facebook, Twitter, Google Hangouts, Twitch, UStream, YouTube – and people from these sites can communicate with you in real-time!
The DualShock 5 will be able to stream comments from specific streaming websites to your mobile devices. For example, if you want to see comments from Facebook and Twitch, you can sync your mobile device to your PS5 controller and watch the comments stream straight to your mobile device. You can also comment via your voice or by typing on the mobile device itself.
In short, the DualShock 5 will be unique in that not only is it the first fully-virtual PlayStation controller, but it takes advantage of existing technology so you can have the best experience in gaming.
What would you like to see in the new Playstation DualShock 5? Why? Share your thoughts below.