Killzone Devs Pushed for Curved Triggers on DualShock 4

[MikeWehner]

Killzone Devs Pushed for Curved Triggers on DualShock 4

Developers weighed in on DualShock 4 design, and Sony listened.

For the first time in the history of the PlayStation brand, Sony has introduced a completely redesigned controller. The DualShock 4 was shown off publicly for the first time at the company's PlayStation 2013 event in New York, and now we're beginning to learn just who had input on how the new controller turned out.

"We all had a secret meeting after E3 last summer and shared our own prototypes, we called it our science fair," Evolution's Matt Southerns admits. "There was lots of very open feedback and constructive criticism from a wide variety of studios. That was important because it meant we could build a controller that was a design classic but also embraced a new age."

And when it came to ergonomics, Killzone developer Guerrilla had plenty of advice to offer, most notably the desire for curved trigger buttons, rather than the slanted designs we've seen on PlayStation controllers for two generations now. "We also pushed for the headphone jack because we wanted to lower the threshold to multiplayer gaming," Killzone: Shadow Fall director Steven Ter Heide explains. "Everybody should be able to go online and chat. It ended up on there and it's awesome. These sounds like really simple features but it makes all the difference; and just those little tweaks to the indentations on the sticks - they're slightly raised so there's more positioning. It feels really nice."

Source: Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2013/feb/27/playstation-4-developers-console]

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[Proverbial Jon]

Curved triggers, headphone jack, indented analog sticks...

So... basically it's more like the Xbox 360 controller now then?

About bloody time. I have a preference for my 360 as a console simply because it has the superior controller.

 

[Souplex]

Curved triggers, headphone jack, indented analog sticks...

So... basically it's more like the Xbox 360 controller now then?

About bloody time. I have a preference for my 360 simply because it has the superior controller.

Agreed.
Somewhere between the Gamecube controller and the 360 controller lies the formula for the perfect controller.
The PS4 controller looks like the first comfortable Sony controller, although they still need to swap the left stick and control pad.

 

[ZZoMBiE13]

I literally had hand cramps every single time I played a PS3 game. So this is good news. The 360 controller has been comfortable and damn near perfect for years. I'd even considered getting one of those expensive adapter thingies that lets you use a 360 controller on your PS3 for exclusives (love me some InFamous).

 

[fat american]

Oh good it looks like Sony finally got their act together a bit and have at least a half decent controller. I think the one feature I'm most excited for though is that headset input. I'm tired of having my fancy Turtle Beach headset with great sound and the ability to talk to other players, and then having to turn the chat option all the way off; since, apparently, everyone feels the need to have the levels on their microphone turned to full blast so as to deafen everyone who can hear them.

 

[Alandoril]

Strange...because to me those buttons look near enough identical. Sure the bottom triggers are a little pointier and the top ones have a slightly more pronounced curve to their edge but...so what? That isn't going to make the slightest bit of difference.

 

[synobal]

I think they need to move the left analog stick, it was fine for the PS1 and Ps2 days, but not days we use the analog stick far more often than a D-pad, honestly I question the relevancy of having a dpad on a controller.

 

[Slash2x]

Strange...because to me those buttons look near enough identical. Sure the bottom triggers are a little pointier and the top ones have a slightly more pronounced curve to their edge but...so what? That isn't going to make the slightest bit of difference.

Ok good I thought I was crazy... They look WORSE that the ones the PS3 has. The small straight down points look like they will be easy to miss with my big hands. I can not use the regular DSi systems because they are too small to fit comfortably in my fingers, if it is not an XL I can not play for more than 10 minutes without finger cramps. I am hoping that the PS4 does not have the same issue......

 

[Issurru]

Looks like I'm in the minority, I don't like this controller or the 360 controller either. I loved the old dualshock controllers and find the 360 controller rather uncomfortable to hold and don't like the dpad and analog stick being moved around. Sure hope they make a "classic" controller for the ps4 or something akin to that.
Albeit my complaint isn't worth much since I don't really play console games anyway, this generation is the only one I'll be sitting and waiting instead of just rushing out and buying everything within a week of it launching

 

[DigitalSushi]

Curved triggers, headphone jack, indented analog sticks...

So... basically it's more like the Xbox 360 controller now then?

About bloody time. I have a preference for my 360 as a console simply because it has the superior controller.

The Xbox360 controller was designed with FPS in mind, the original PS was designed with fighters in mind, so the ergonomics are targeted towards lots of button presses for the Sony control and lots of small finesse movements with the Xbox360. I like the DualShock since the Xbox360 gives me cramps after 5 minutes of play (I actually prefer the Duke controller when it comes to Xbox)

I'm left handed so the offset analogue sticks really fuck with me, not to mention that most games nowadays don't have natural feeling control scheme for us lefties.

I'm not sold on the touchscreen though, how the hell is that ergonomic?

Curved triggers, headphone jack, indented analog sticks...

So... basically it's more like the Xbox 360 controller now then?

About bloody time. I have a preference for my 360 simply because it has the superior controller.

Agreed.
Somewhere between the Gamecube controller and the 360 controller lies the formula for the perfect controller.
The PS4 controller looks like the first comfortable Sony controller, although they still need to swap the left stick and control pad.

Oh god, the gamecube controller felt like butter in my hands, no wait, it felt like chocolate, no wait, it felt like a beautiful woman

 

[Warped_Ghost]

Strange...because to me those buttons look near enough identical. Sure the bottom triggers are a little pointier and the top ones have a slightly more pronounced curve to their edge but...so what? That isn't going to make the slightest bit of difference.

Its the slight difference in curves that make the difference. The dualshock 3 had triggers curved like this ( so your fingers could easily slip off of the controller. The new triggers are like this ) which makes it harder for your fingers to slip. There is a reason guns usually use a curve like the new PS4 controller in trigger design.

 

[mjc0961]

Well then, thank you Killzone developers. The way the old Dualshock sticks curved sucked. The PS3 L2 and R2 buttons really, really sucked. Glad you helped make them go away.

Too bad nobody could get Sony to fix their d-pad, though.

I'm left handed so the offset analogue sticks really fuck with me

Oh god, the gamecube controller felt like butter in my hands, no wait, it felt like chocolate, no wait, it felt like a beautiful woman

Just in case anyone else doesn't immediately spot the glaring contradiction here, this is what the GameCube controller looks like:

Note the offset analog sticks. So when Microsoft does it, it really fucks with you, but when Nintendo did it, it felt like a beautiful woman? Seems legit.

 

[-Dragmire-]

I guess I don't play many games that utilize the triggers as a focal point for user input but I've never had a problem with them. Not that I'm against the change, I doubt the new design will be off putting or less comfortable for me. Hopefully, the new design will be better for people who had complaints about the old design.

 

[seniormeld]

It's not a good sign in your article when the very first sentence is 100% false.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

One of the many reasons I never got Xbox was due to its controllers, the others being hardware failure and a lack of anything I wanted to play going on 3 generations now.

I always liked the SNES controller, and the PS3 is probably my favorite.

Wii would be my least favorite, Virtual Boy included.

 

[Jumplion]

Well then, thank you Killzone developers. The way the old Dualshock sticks curved sucked. The PS3 L2 and R2 buttons really, really sucked. Glad you helped make them go away.

Too bad nobody could get Sony to fix their d-pad, though.

I'm left handed so the offset analogue sticks really fuck with me

Oh god, the gamecube controller felt like butter in my hands, no wait, it felt like chocolate, no wait, it felt like a beautiful woman

Just in case anyone else doesn't immediately spot the glaring contradiction here, this is what the GameCube controller looks like:

Note the offset analog sticks. So when Microsoft does it, it really fucks with you, but when Nintendo did it, it felt like a beautiful woman? Seems legit.

Let's be honest; the Gamecube controller is what would happen if someone decided to slap buttons together on some fly paper. I would always mix up where the X and Y buttons were on the Gamecube, and that C-stick thing was almost never used in any game I played/ But damn were those triggers fun to use. Click-clack.

The Xbox controller always seemed to hurt my fingers when I used it. Then again I've only ever used Xbox controllers with battery packs on the back, I don't know if they have other types of wireless controllers for the console. My fingers would end up squeezed against the thing and it would hurt like hell after an hour or so. The dualshock controller was always fine for me, I dunno.

 

[Denamic]

Well then, thank you Killzone developers. The way the old Dualshock sticks curved sucked. The PS3 L2 and R2 buttons really, really sucked. Glad you helped make them go away.

Too bad nobody could get Sony to fix their d-pad, though.

I'm left handed so the offset analogue sticks really fuck with me

Oh god, the gamecube controller felt like butter in my hands, no wait, it felt like chocolate, no wait, it felt like a beautiful woman

Just in case anyone else doesn't immediately spot the glaring contradiction here, this is what the GameCube controller looks like:

Note the offset analog sticks. So when Microsoft does it, it really fucks with you, but when Nintendo did it, it felt like a beautiful woman? Seems legit.

To be fair, the right stick on the GC controller weren't used the way it is today. Today, it's common that you play games with both thumbs on the sticks and using the triggers and bumpers for all main actions, and the face buttons for minor actions. That never really happened on the GC. You used the left stick for movement and had your right thumb on the face buttons. The right stick was mainly for utility.

 

[Baresark]

Meh, I really like the Dualshock 2/3. They had a far far far better DPad. The thing is, the ergonomic shaped shoulder buttons are completely inconsequential. The P2/3 controller is way better than the 360 pad, IMO. I have also never ever had an issue with my thumbs slipping off the sticks, so all the talk about this being better just feels like posturing. These little things that everyone is thinking about are almost meaningless. All that matters is if it's going to be good feeling with the new features. And no one will know that till they use it.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Well then, thank you Killzone developers. The way the old Dualshock sticks curved sucked. The PS3 L2 and R2 buttons really, really sucked. Glad you helped make them go away.

Too bad nobody could get Sony to fix their d-pad, though.

I'm left handed so the offset analogue sticks really fuck with me

Oh god, the gamecube controller felt like butter in my hands, no wait, it felt like chocolate, no wait, it felt like a beautiful woman

Just in case anyone else doesn't immediately spot the glaring contradiction here, this is what the GameCube controller looks like:

Spoiler

Note the offset analog sticks. So when Microsoft does it, it really fucks with you, but when Nintendo did it, it felt like a beautiful woman? Seems legit.

Your thumbs rests on the same portion of the controller on the DualShock and on the GameCube controller.

On a DualShock your thumbs rest symmetrically on the same part of the controller that are the analogue nubs, on the GameCube controller your left thumb is on the Analogue nub or stick while your right thumb sits on the (A) button, which is also symmetrical to the analogue stick, essentially your thumbs are on the exact same area on opposite sides, this is not the case with the Xbox controller.

Does that make sense?, sorry that I didn't properly describe it last comment round.

And yeah, when one company does something its ok, but another does the same thing and its bad... actually yeah, that's correct, having a feel for something isn't quantifiable,

its a bit like ex girlfriends
Take Emma, she's blonde and has c cup boobs
now take Louisa, she's blonde and has c cup boobs

Which is better?

 

[Vault Citizen]

The only controllers that I have had an issue with we're the original xbox controller and the wii u pro controller. It's not uncomfortable im just having trouble adjusting to the different placket of the xyab buttons.