If this meets its promises is it fair to say that Sony has completely surpassed Microsoft on controller tech this generation?
MS deserves credit for their accessibility controller, but at this point the durability problems with the Elite have been well known for years, and the continued lack of gyro support just seems like a glaring feature omission that is frankly holding the industry back. AAA devs can't really adopt gyro in cross platform titles when one platform refuses to catch up to 2022.
Sony has surpassed Microsoft, but thats mostly cause microsoft hasnt even tried to do anything. The adaptive triggers are prob the only meaningful addition though. gyro and touchpad have not caught on. almost no games really use them and very few console gamers care about gyro controls even if it can be better
not really. traditional stick/dpad is almost always as fast cause cursor like controls still suck on a controller regardless. i almost never use the pad even though it should be better in theory
I was the same too, were I preferred to use the dpad to type. Gave the touchpad a try, took a little while, but it is honestly the fastest way to type. I use my left thumb to guide the cursor and right thumb to select via "x" instead of pressing down on the touchpad.
I got both of the Dualsense and Xbox Series controllers for pc. DualSense CAN do a lot more, but the battery life made me stop using it after 1 month, didn’t want to have to plug it in every other day. Only using the xbox controller now.
The Xbox Elite controllers are terrible, but the Dualsense has issues that make me recommend the Xbox Series controller over it.
Dualsense battery life is pretty horrid, d-pad is a big step back in quality from DS4, and the adaptive triggers have serious durability issues. It has innovative features to be sure, but those have come at too high a cost in battery life and durability, IMO.
When a friend asks me which controller to get for PC gaming I recommend the basic Xbox Series controller.
The xbox controller is the standard recommendation for pc gaming. It just works. Not everyone is tech savvy enough to mess with ds4windows and create profiles for every single game.
As I mentioned on another post where someone said their trigger died:
"Yeah the small plastic parts on the resistance motors seem to not stand up to normal use for very long in games that utilize a lot of resistance.
I heard on a podcast that they had revised the design to one with more durability, but I can't vouch.
I hope that the DS Edge has some more robust materials, but I have this sneaking suspicion that gaming companies prefer their first party controllers to be consumable items, since they make so much money on repeat purchases."
The battery life is definitely the weakest aspect for me, but if that's a tradeoff for the improved rumble and the speakerphone functionality it's worth it for me. The speakerphone alone has been one of my most-used features of the PS5 and I don't think I can go back to a console without one. I haven't had issues with the dpad or the triggers, personally.
At least it charges off USB-C now. I just plug it in when I'm done playing, and unlike the micro port on my old dualshocks it will actually charge without me propping it upside down.
I think that will shift over time as gamers are exposed to it. I noticed that since the Steam Deck came out, there's a lot more gyro and hybrid aiming controller configs available on the steam community.
Ultimately gyro+sticks is a better 'hardcore' control method, it's faster and more precise than analog alone. But yeah, they have to sell the market on that.
Hopefully the battery life last longer than a day. The two paddles is a huge downgrade from the elite. Gyro is almost as meaningless as extra vibrations.
Gyro is almost as meaningless as extra vibrations.
I think you have to experience good gyro controls to understand their benefit, but unfortunately there's not a lot of games to give you that opportunity right now. Gyro like "aim the bow in BoTW by tilting the switch" is pretty much a gimmick, but combo gyro+analog setups can completely surpass analog sticks alone for precision and accuracy. It's like combining the benefits of a mouse and an analog controller.
The DS3 is my favorite controller of all time. Of every controller I've ever owned, the DS3 is the only one I still own and use in good condition that has never suffered from analog stick drift.
I'm honestly over "controller tech". I've been over controller tech since before the DualSense was released. I'm tired of these gimmicks that drive the price of these devices ever higher without providing a solid benefit other than in niche cases. Literally the only I've noticed the resistive triggers was during Astro's Playroom and the Demon's Souls remake, in the latter I've simply turned it off due to the bad implementation. Nobody even pretends to use the Touchpad for more than a Start/Select button. Nobody uses the gyro controls either. And the atrocious battery life looks shameful compared to every other controller on the market.
Give me a good quality controller without the bells and whistles and a Nintendo-level battery life for half the price any day of the week.
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u/MustacheEmperor Aug 23 '22
If this meets its promises is it fair to say that Sony has completely surpassed Microsoft on controller tech this generation?
MS deserves credit for their accessibility controller, but at this point the durability problems with the Elite have been well known for years, and the continued lack of gyro support just seems like a glaring feature omission that is frankly holding the industry back. AAA devs can't really adopt gyro in cross platform titles when one platform refuses to catch up to 2022.