Sony has published a video on the PlayStation blog in which various developers talk about the DualShock 4, i.e. the new controller that'll ship with the PlayStation 4. While the DualShock 4 keeps the same basic look and shape as the previous PlayStation controllers – including the symmetrical analogue sticks, which some players will have hoped would be switched for a setup more like that of the Xbox 360 controller – there are notable differences.
As Nicolas Doucet (a Producer at Sony Computer Entertainment) points out, the first new feature that really jumps out at you is the light bar, i.e. the glowing blue shape on the front of the controller. Other developers chip in to point out that this light bar will allow the console to track the positions of multiple players, and even do things like organise split-screen play so that the player sat on the left side of the couch gets the left side of the screen.
The touch pad also stands out quite a bit, though we get no hint as to how it'll actually be used in games. Instead, we get Doucet flicking it, which makes a clacking noise. Next, we hear about how the speaker on the controller can add “a lot of dynamic sound”, for example when bullets are flying past your character. Doucet suggests that more personal sounds could come out of the controller rather than the TV speaker.
Then, of course, there's the Share button, which is Sony's way of integrating the way people like to experience games – for example playing or watching on a livestream – into the new console. It's designed to be effortless to share footage of your game, and we'll find out if that's the case when the PS4 launches this holiday.
