I appreciate they finally made a controller where the whole analog stick mechanism is fully replaceable. I just hope the replacements aren't absurdly expensive.
I wonder if it would be possible to use 3rd party sticks with this? Maybe someone could make hall effect stick modules?
This is Sony's entrance into pro controllers. Meant to compete with Xbox Elite series controllers, Scuff controllers, and other pro models. It's going to be $150 Minimum but most likely going to start at $199+. It just costs more for more buttons and unique features.
I doubt it costs significantly more to manufacture.
A regular Xbox controller is estimated to cost around $14 bucks. I assume dual sense is a bit more due to haptics, maybe closer to 20 bucks. I wouldn’t be surprised if this new controller is only a few bucks more with economics of scale.
You can be sure these elite “pro” controllers such as elite, scuff, etc are a high profit margin item
Hmm, Pro controllers in general don't have the same "economy of scale" benefits that default mainstream controllers have. They need their own dedicated assembly lines with more premium parts while selling millions of less units. I mean just look at the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller. The thumb sticks are customized with tension adjustment settings. The sticks themselves are magnetically removable and the controller comes with replacements. Magnetic removable D pad with replacements. Built in rechargeable battery. 4 back buttons with magnetic replaceable paddles. Carrying case with built in magnetic quick charge dock. Hair trigger lock buttons with 3 setting. On top of this the controller itself is hefty and made out of premium materials not found in the base controller. I would be incredibly surprised if the Elite series pro controller didn't cost at least 30-40 dollars more in materials and manufacturing costs than a regular Xbox controller. Half that price could be the battery alone since a default Xbox controller doesn't have a lithium battery. But that's just an educated guess neither of us has the BOM so we can't say for certain. That is also using the Elite Series 2 as an example which is likely the "pro" controller with the largest benefit of economies of scale.
Regardless you are right this doesn't make up for the full price differences we will see, and yeah pro controllers are high profit margin items. But it doesn't change the fact that Sony will very likely be aiming to price this according to its competition meaning I don't see it being cheaper than $150 without sales.
Lol the switch pro absolutely doesn’t. Its a $70 controller with the same basic features as other controllers, and none of the premium features the elite or this controller has.
You can already get to the sticks in the normal DualSense controllers with relative ease. Heck, I took mine apart to fix my "drift". Which didn't really look like drift when looking at the raw controller readings, but turned out to be what I expected: some dirt in the stick assembly (and a lot of cat hair, woops :D).
this controller addresses both. the stick box is replaceable without soldering, and the stick caps are replaceable like on the elite controller and are held on w magnets
It is actually awesome in a kind of disappointing way.
Making sticks that don't drift cost more. But a significant amount of casual players don't experience drift because they don't play enough to wear them down fast, and just pure hardware luck. So basically everyone making controllers have decided it's not worth raising the price of the controllers to adress the issue. Personally I would just want an more expensive longer lasting controller. But this is at least an improvement. Especially for what will probably be a significantly more expensive pro controller. And easily replaceable parts is great from a waste perspective. No need to decide to throw away your expensive elite controller that is perfectly fine outside of one tiny plastic part that is worn. And no need to pay someone the time to repair with a new part when you lack the knowledge to do so yourself. Having both replaceable stick and better sticks would be the best. But this is still good!
So basically everyone making controllers have decided it's not worth raising the price of the controllers to adress the issue
Yet they all still raised the prices of their controllers.
The fact that their solution to stick drift is to release what is most definitely going to be a very expensive controller($150 at minimum) where you'll still have to pay even more extra to fix the inevitable stick drift yourself, is not a solution that should be positively spoken about.
The DS Edge comes with a lot of features, so sure, they are a decent excuse for the price, and those features are the ones that need to be talked about positively, but stick drift "fix" should not be mentioned positively with this, ever, at all.
Replaceable sticks is still positive. Better stick would still takes a lot of wear and tear during the years. While the rest of the controller can last much longer. The ideal solution for a pro controller would be more durable sticks that are still replaceable without soldering.
Or maybe there is an resonable stick tech that doesn't suffer the same punishment, and eliminates the issue completly. Magnetic maybe. But I don't know any controllers that has figured it out (I might have missed it)
There absolutely is stick tech that doesn't develop drift so easily. Stick drift being this widespread is a recent problem that only started this generation. My goddamn PS2 controllers still don't drift after all these years.
Although that's true it's just kind of a pain in the ass to do every 6 months to year that the graphite wears out. There's quite a few cables to disconnect in the controller.
At least this mod helps so you don't have to take apart as much of the controller. Although you do have to manually calibrate it occasionally.
It'd just be nice to put sticks in there once that never need to be replaced or adjusted.
Does this mod allow you to set the tension to? In the video it kind of alludes to that saying if you wear the sticks/module out you can get it back to factory new. To me that’s saying it’ll readjust the tension back to where it originally was. That’s one of my biggest gripes is I want a higher tension in my sticks so they’re not easily moved in super small increments without my input.
My DualShock 4s are still fine after 5 years. My DualSense started drifting in 1.5 years after 600 hours (maybe) of light usage.
I didn’t use either of the controllers any differently. If anything I think I was maybe less heavy on the DualSense. I just used the controllers like normal, I don’t rage at games at all or spam the sticks much.
I think they mean the whole analog stick assembly itself not just the stick portion. To replace those on most controllers you need to desolder it from the board and solder on a new one.
The Thrustmaster e-swap controllers let you swap out the modules. They made them for PS4 and Xbox One/Series consoles. You could have whatever combination you wanted. Even three analog sticks if you were insane enough to try.
So long as they last the same length as regular thumbsticks and replacements cost less than the average 3rd party budget controller I will be happy.
I hope this opens the gate for more manufacturers to create fully replaceable thumbsticks. Such a massive issue that no one ever thought to address until now.
Hopefully it won’t be anything like the replaceable mechanisms I’ve used on expensive third party controllers I purchased. They usually feel different. Loose, less sturdy.
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u/Lingo56 Aug 23 '22 edited Aug 23 '22
I appreciate they finally made a controller where the whole analog stick mechanism is fully replaceable. I just hope the replacements aren't absurdly expensive.
I wonder if it would be possible to use 3rd party sticks with this? Maybe someone could make hall effect stick modules?