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DualShock 4 Back Button Attachment review thread

TMC

TMC

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,248
thisismadness said:
Why would that be impossible for Sony to do?
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Because the attachment doesn't interface with any actual software like mentioned above. There is no menu within the PS4 OS to configure this. It just clones a pre-existing button. I don't see the PS5 being able to recognize this attachment and assign the new DS5 buttons to the back buttons on a DS4. What makes you think you would connect this to a PS5 and then magically see the new button options show up on the screen?
 
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thisismadness

thisismadness

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,447
White Glint said:
The xbox controller does not work similarly at all if a PC recognizes the Xbox Elite paddles as separate buttons. PS4 paddles do not interface with any software at all, that's the whole reason why it has its own screen. It handles its own keybinds so that you could use and set up the paddles on whatever system you're using the controller on.
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Xbox works exactly that way. It doesn't have an OLED screen but it does have built in memory and the paddles clone whatever buttons a profile is set up for regardless of what it is plugged into. They are not seen as brand new buttons on a PC, what people have basically done is create software that lets the paddles clone all the additional keyboard/mouse keys you have on a PC. Whether they'll be able to do that with this attachment remains to be seen. And I definitely don't see why it would be impossible for Sony to update their software to work with any additional buttons the PS5 might have.
 
Evolved1

Evolved1

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,619
Noisepurge said:
yeah i think that´s overkill for regular controllers, there might be a Pro-controller separately or this attachment is also compatible with the DS5.
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It's not overkill. We don't have proper lean ability on console Siege because there literally isn't enough buttons to implement it. And devs will not add it unless everyone can use it. The default PS5 pad needs paddles.
 
Noisepurge

Noisepurge

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,490
Evolved1 said:
It's not overkill. We don't have proper lean ability on console Siege because there literally isn't enough buttons to implement it. And devs will not add it unless everyone can use it. The default PS5 pad needs paddles.
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leaning in Siege is an expert-level maneuver :D people casually playing Overcooked will be even more confused with additional buttons everywhere
 
thisismadness

thisismadness

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,447
TMC said:
Because the attachment doesn't interface with any actual software like mentioned above. There is no menu within the PS4 OS to configure this. It just clones a pre-existing button. I don't see the PS5 being able to recognize this attachment and assign the new DS5 buttons to the back buttons on a DS4. What makes you think you would connect this to a PS5 and then magically see the new button options show up on the screen?
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Because its not magic, it is programming. Sony can easily have the PS5 detect this attachment and have it support additional buttons. Just because it has an OLED to program its on board memory instead of a PS4 UI doesn't mean its not able to be detected/interface with the system... Its possible that Sony has designed it that way but I haven't seen anything beyond guesses at this point.
 
TMC

TMC

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,248
thisismadness said:
Because its not magic, it is programming. Sony can easily have the PS5 detect this attachment and have it support additional buttons. Just because it has an OLED to program its on board memory instead of a PS4 UI doesn't mean its not able to be detected/interface with the system... Its possible that Sony has designed it that way but I haven't seen anything beyond guesses at this point.
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I highly doubt it, but I guess we'll see. I would be more of a believer If we had the ability to customize this within the current PS4 UI. I'm hoping you're right though. Would be nice for sure.
 
Skyfireblaze

Skyfireblaze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,257
I honestly don't know why people clamor that making the extra buttons function as additional buttons would take a big leap of rocket-science o.o

Currently at its heart the DS4 is mostly a Direct Input controller with 14 buttons, 4 axis, a d-pad and a touchpad. Internally the Back Button Attachment could simply register as buttons 15 and 16 and these are just told by default to mimic whatever other buttons you chose unless software, like the PS5 OS, tells it to do otherwise.
 
TMC

TMC

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,248
Skyfireblaze said:
I honestly don't know why people clamor that making the extra buttons function as additional buttons would take a big leap of rocket-science o.o

Currently at its heart the DS4 is mostly a Direct Input controller with 14 buttons, 4 axis, a d-pad and a touchpad. Internally the Back Button Attachment could simply register as buttons 15 and 16 and these are just told by default to mimic whatever other buttons you chose unless software, like the PS5 OS, tells it to do otherwise.
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Why not provide the functionality within the PS4 UI to do this now then? I'd much rather configure the buttons and profiles within the UI. I understand the screen is there for non PS4 use, but why not provide functionality via the PS4 UI as well?
 
Skyfireblaze

Skyfireblaze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,257
TMC said:
Why not provide the functionality within the PS4 UI to do this now then?
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Because that would mean they would have to spend resources on the PS4 OS, testing and supporting such a change and I can image the PS4 OS is now seen as "Bugfixes only" quasi-EOL while they work on the PS5 OS. And not to mention they would have to update the PS4 SDK to allow games to access them as actual L4 and R4 and whatnot, I'm sure they just want to stop worrying about the PS4 at this point. Remember Sony is not a software company unlike Microsoft. But then again of course I'm just speculating here.
 
TMC

TMC

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,248
Skyfireblaze said:
Because that would mean they would have to spend resources on the PS4 OS, testing and supporting such a change and I can image the PS4 OS is now seen as "Bugfixes only" quasi-EOL while they work on the PS5 OS. And not to mention they would have to update the PS4 SDK to allow games to access them as actual L4 and R4 and whatnot, I'm sure they just want to stop worrying about the PS4 at this point. Remember Sony is not a software company unlike Microsoft. But then again of course I'm just speculating here.
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Yeah, good point. I wasn't specifically referring to Sony providing support to allow games to handle the back buttons as brand new buttons. That's just crazy as the PS4 is definitely at the end of it's life cycle. It wouldn't be worth the time nor money to support that at this point. I was just referring to a UI equivalent of what the screen does on the back of the controller.

I do hope it can be configured on the PS5 to support the new buttons (if the DS5 does have them) to mimic a DS5.
 
Skyfireblaze

Skyfireblaze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,257
TMC said:
Yeah, good point. I do hope it can be configured on the PS5 to support the new buttons (if the DS5 does have them) to mimic a DS5.
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I hope so too and I think this might be Sony's plan. Like this they could make the DS5 much more premium and increase the price while they keep the DS4+BBA around as the budget option.
 
ValeYard

ValeYard

Member
Oct 25, 2017
445
BeImonkey said:
This actually looks pretty interesting as an alternative. Although the site for the adapter seems to suggest that it only supports what I want (touchpad click) for PS4 use only, and that it doesn't support motion control / gyro for PC(dunno why it wouldn't allow that though).

Would you happen to know if you could still use gyro with it on PC (like through Steam games) or if you can actually bind the touchpad or not?
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Next time I start bootcamp I can give it a try. But yeah, officially motion control and touch pad is only on PS4, PS3, and Switch.
 
LBsquared

LBsquared

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Nov 22, 2019
1,603
Target now also closed pre orders. This thing might be scarce for awhile.
 
jerf

jerf

Member
Nov 1, 2017
6,236
Ordered this from Walmart. It said it would ship the 29th, but it arrived today. Didn't really get a chance to play.

Initial impressions:
It's smaller than I thought. It took me a solid 3-4 minutes to put the thing on. I'm not even sure what I did that worked. I'm scared to break it.

Once on it does add considerable heft, but it feels snug in my hand (I'm also using analog stick extenders). The clicks feel good.

Played Need for Speed: Heat. Using left click for gas (R2) and right click for boost (X). Played for about 15 minutes and instantly felt as home and was drifting with ease, I use gas drift so lots of double tapping R2. Felt really good, responsive and sturdy. I was scared to break it putting it on but now that it's there it feels solid.

Tried Knack 2 next. Only played for a minute using left click for block and right for jump. Felt as expected, didn't really add anything like for NFS which felt great and will be how I play going forward.

Lastly Red Dead Redemption 2. Left click for aim, right for shoot. Played a few minutes and shot up a town and again, Felt as expected. Too tired to continue.

So far not bad, I tried using it for main inputs to test it out. Controller feels really natural with it, buttons are easy to click but feel sturdy. I don't believe I did an accidental click in my playtime. Time for bed.
 
darkwing

darkwing

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,970
jerf said:
Ordered this from Walmart. It said it would ship the 29th, but it arrived today. Didn't really get a chance to play.

Initial impressions:
It's smaller than I thought. It took me a solid 3-4 minutes to put the thing on. I'm not even sure what I did that worked. I'm scared to break it.

Once on it does add considerable heft, but it feels snug in my hand (I'm also using analog stick extenders). The clicks feel good.

Played Need for Speed: Heat. Using left click for gas (R2) and right click for boost (X). Played for about 15 minutes and instantly felt as home and was drifting with ease, I use gas drift so lots of double tapping R2. Felt really good, responsive and sturdy. I was scared to break it putting it on but now that it's there it feels solid.

Tried Knack 2 next. Only played for a minute using left click for block and right for jump. Felt as expected, didn't really add anything like for NFS which felt great and will be how I play going forward.

Lastly Red Dead Redemption 2. Left click for aim, right for shoot. Played a few minutes and shot up a town and again, Felt as expected. Too tired to continue.

So far not bad, I tried using it for main inputs to test it out. Controller feels really natural with it, buttons are easy to click but feel sturdy. I don't believe I did an accidental click in my playtime. Time for bed.
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oh man, going to be hard to wait for it
 
BrickArts295

BrickArts295

GOTY Tracking Thread Master
Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,772
Bad_Boy said:
Mine got backordered from amazon or something. New ship date is like almost March :(
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DrBorisGoltz said:
Hopefully they change the date at some point.
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ThereAre4Lights said:
I still see delivery for Jan 27th on the product page and this on my order page:
Maybe I'll do a backup order somewhere else.
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Aswitch said:
In my experience Amazon normally provides an accurate date closer to release, but we'll see. Mine was set for feb as well.
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Just a heads up, Amazon updated my order, will now deliver on Jan 29.
 
demondance

demondance

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,808
TMC said:
Because the attachment doesn't interface with any actual software like mentioned above. There is no menu within the PS4 OS to configure this. It just clones a pre-existing button. I don't see the PS5 being able to recognize this attachment and assign the new DS5 buttons to the back buttons on a DS4. What makes you think you would connect this to a PS5 and then magically see the new button options show up on the screen?
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Click to shrink...

a firmware update
 
VanWinkle

VanWinkle

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,095
We got these in tonight at Walmart. There was no kind of street date or anything on the box, so we went ahead and put them out. $24.96.
 
2Blackcats

2Blackcats

Member
Oct 26, 2017
16,079
jerf said:
Ordered this from Walmart. It said it would ship the 29th, but it arrived today. Didn't really get a chance to play.

Initial impressions:
It's smaller than I thought. It took me a solid 3-4 minutes to put the thing on. I'm not even sure what I did that worked. I'm scared to break it.

Once on it does add considerable heft, but it feels snug in my hand (I'm also using analog stick extenders). The clicks feel good.

Played Need for Speed: Heat. Using left click for gas (R2) and right click for boost (X). Played for about 15 minutes and instantly felt as home and was drifting with ease, I use gas drift so lots of double tapping R2. Felt really good, responsive and sturdy. I was scared to break it putting it on but now that it's there it feels solid.

Tried Knack 2 next. Only played for a minute using left click for block and right for jump. Felt as expected, didn't really add anything like for NFS which felt great and will be how I play going forward.

Lastly Red Dead Redemption 2. Left click for aim, right for shoot. Played a few minutes and shot up a town and again, Felt as expected. Too tired to continue.

So far not bad, I tried using it for main inputs to test it out. Controller feels really natural with it, buttons are easy to click but feel sturdy. I don't believe I did an accidental click in my playtime. Time for bed.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Thanks for the feedback even if you managed to find the weirdest possible uses for the buttons. Ha.
 
Keekon

Keekon

Member
Mar 30, 2019
312
jerf said:
Ordered this from Walmart. It said it would ship the 29th, but it arrived today. Didn't really get a chance to play.

Initial impressions:
It's smaller than I thought. It took me a solid 3-4 minutes to put the thing on. I'm not even sure what I did that worked. I'm scared to break it.

Once on it does add considerable heft, but it feels snug in my hand (I'm also using analog stick extenders). The clicks feel good.

Played Need for Speed: Heat. Using left click for gas (R2) and right click for boost (X). Played for about 15 minutes and instantly felt as home and was drifting with ease, I use gas drift so lots of double tapping R2. Felt really good, responsive and sturdy. I was scared to break it putting it on but now that it's there it feels solid.

Tried Knack 2 next. Only played for a minute using left click for block and right for jump. Felt as expected, didn't really add anything like for NFS which felt great and will be how I play going forward.

Lastly Red Dead Redemption 2. Left click for aim, right for shoot. Played a few minutes and shot up a town and again, Felt as expected. Too tired to continue.

So far not bad, I tried using it for main inputs to test it out. Controller feels really natural with it, buttons are easy to click but feel sturdy. I don't believe I did an accidental click in my playtime. Time for bed.
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How are you getting on with it after a few days?
Does the headphone socket pass through with no issues?

thanks!
 
Nabs

Nabs

Member
Oct 26, 2017
15,695
It looks like every store around me has it. I might pick it up just because.
 
BeI

BeI

Member
Dec 9, 2017
5,983
Does anyone have any issues with the comfort level or whether it's too clicky or anything? Despite only having 2 grip buttons compared to the Brooks Marine, I'm thinking of getting one of these instead because it looks more premium.
 
TheGhost

TheGhost

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
28,137
Long Island
TitlePending said:
Or sprint, or melee, or throw a secondary....
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Sprint would be L3

the others are were the two additional buttons would make more sense imo.

hopefullyit's only 2 buttons because the ds4 doesn't have a lot of real estate. Hopefully they improve that with ds5 and give us 4 buttons. Don't think Sony realizes how much of a game changer that would be for me.
 
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