Will PlayStation lock basic controller customisation behind their $200 controller?

[andshrew]

In a recent promotional video for the upcoming DualSense Edge controller Sony demonstrated some of the OS level interface options which have been added for this controller - notable including options to customise the deadzones on both the analog sticks and the triggers.

They've now released the PS5 firmware required to support this controller, but there is no sign of these deadzone cusomisations options being made available for the standard DualSense controller. So it makes me wonder, are they really going to lock what really should be a basic customisation option behind their $200 controller? To be clear, these deadzone customisations should be handled entirely in software, so there is no practical reason they should be locked behind owning specific hardware.

If this is how it works then I really hope they revisit this. OS level button layout customisation (which is already available) and analog deadzone customisation (currently locked to DualSense Edge only) should be the absolute bare-minimum level of controller customisation offered by any games system. Ideally they should offer per-game customisation for both as standard too (and then take a look at Steam Input if they want to see what the gold standard for controller customisation looks like).

Edit:- added a screenshot of the stick dead zone adjustment screen from UrAvgConsumer's hands-on video.

 

[nolifebr]

Yes

 

[Valet Jay]

Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yes. They want to push people into buying this expensive controller. Once they hit they internal threseholds, then Sony will consider releasing a patch to allow standard controller support.

 

[dex3108]

Remember we are talking about company that blocked use of DS4 gamepads on PS5, of course they will lock it.

 

[Piggsy]

Yes, they will.

PS: This thread could use a poll.

 

[brokenswiftie]

Sony is as scummy as it gets when it comes to planned obsolescence
But I have hope
Considering they don't have to do any extra work

 

[LongDongJunon]

Yup

 

[HelloItsPulse]

It's the same reason why they don't allow the Vita to remote play with the PS5 even for just PS4 games, not allowing the Dualshock 4 to work with PS5 games despite having the exact same inputs, making some classic games only available via the most expensive service option, etc.

They want to force those that want the feature to use their new product/idea. Vita was replaced by phones, Dualshock was replaced by Dualsense, they want to force nostalgia hungry people into an overpriced tier of their service, and now they want anyone looking for customization with how you use the Dualsense to buy their $200 edge controller.

So yes, they are going to lock it behind a $200 controller. If that controller flops, then maybe we'll see the customization come to normal controllers. The more likely outcome though is that the controller flops and Playstation decides that nobody wants customization after all and kills it.

 

[BloodHound]

It's the same reason why they don't allow the Vita to remote play with the PS5 even for just PS4 games, not allowing the Dualshock 4 to work with PS5 games despite having the exact same inputs, making some classic games only available via the most expensive service option, etc.

They want to force those that want the feature to use their new product/idea. Vita was replaced by phones, Dualshock was replaced by Dualsense, they want to force nostalgia hungry people into an overpriced tier of their service, and now they want anyone looking for customization with how you use the Dualsense to buy their $200 edge controller.

So yes, they are going to lock it behind a $200 controller. If that controller flops, then maybe we'll see the customization come to normal controllers. The more likely outcome though is that the controller flops and Playstation decides that nobody wants customization after all and kills it.

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When the $200 elite initially came out, it was the top peripheral in multiple NPDs.

Companies like SCUF created an entire industry off of $200-300 controllers.

If your hope is that this controller flops....well the likelihood is damn near 0% based on market precedence.

 

[DC5remy]

For sure

 

[laxu]

Since it's Sony, I am sure they will implement it in a way that is stupid.

Console makers should be following Steam Input's premise in this. One configuration system to rule them all, capable of supporting any controller you want to plug in (or use via BT).

 

[number8888]

Of course they will. There's no way to do with the basic controllers before anyway. It's just a new feature for the Edge doesn't matter if it's software or not.

 

[HelloItsPulse]

When the $200 elite initially came out, it was the top peripheral in multiple NPDs.

Companies like SCUF created an entire industry off of $200-300 controllers.

If your hope is that this controller flops....well the likelihood is damn near 0% based on market precedence.

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The elite was $150 at launch, and it got pushed hard by Xbox at their E3 show and beyond. I don't think a controller that's $50 more in a worse economy releasing next to a more desired (and expensive) PlayStation accessory is going to do well at all.

Market precedence doesn't matter at all when the competitors entry into the market came 8 years ago at a lower price and a more stable economy. Also have to keep in mind that at that point (and currently) the Xbox controller was THE controller for PC gaming, I know many people purchased it specifically for that.

 

[andshrew]

Of course they will. There's no way to do with the basic controllers before anyway. It's just a new feature for the Edge doesn't matter if it's software or not.

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That's really the point of the post. They've gone and spent the time to implement a software/OS level solution for adjusting dead zones on a controller and then seemingly locked it behind their new controller. They've done all the heavy lifting now, making it available for normal controllers should be no harder than it was for them to make button customisation available.

 

[NaikoGames]

they probably will, the backlash will be pretty crazy i think

 

[YaBish]

They absolutely are.

 

[Traxus]

They released this less than a year before making the DS4 obsolete so yeah lol

 

[danhz]

That's really the point of the post. They've gone and spent the time to implement a software/OS level solution for adjusting dead zones on a controller and then seemingly locked it behind their new controller. They've done all the heavy lifting now, making it available for normal controllers should be no harder than it was for them to make button customisation available.

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I expect them to do the same as Xbox.
Be it only premium controller options. On Xbox you can adjust it on the elite controllers, but not the on the regular one.

 

[BloodHound]

The elite was $150 at launch, and it got pushed hard by Xbox at their E3 show and beyond. I don't think a controller that's $50 more in a worse economy releasing next to a more desired (and expensive) PlayStation accessory is going to do well at all.

Market precedence doesn't matter at all when the competitors entry into the market came 8 years ago at a lower price and a more stable economy. Also have to keep in mind that at that point (and currently) the Xbox controller was THE controller for PC gaming, I know many people purchased it specifically for that.

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SCUF got acquired by Corsair and has been building controllers for far more than $200 for years.

The market has proven fruitful. The high end competitive niche is strong enough to have this controller succeed easily.

There's a reason why Astro, Victrix, etc are all in this market. It's a growth sector, especially with more F2P titles breeding more and more competitive players.

 

[VCFL]

What does deadzone mean?

 

[BloodHound]

What does deadzone mean?

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Area of motion where no input will register.

 

[HelloItsPulse]

SCUF got acquired by Corsair and has been building controllers for far more than $200 for years.

The market has proven fruitful. The high end competitive niche is strong enough to have this controller succeed easily.

There's a reason why Astro, Victrix, etc are all in this market. It's a growth sector, especially with more F2P titles breeding more and more competitive players.

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I'm not talking about third party controllers. That has been a market for years before Xbox brought out the Elite. I'm strictly comparing First Party to First Party, as comparing Third party companies to Sony is irrelevant when it comes to a product being a success.

A successful sell through for Scuf could be a complete failure for PlayStation. Sony has the entire PS5 userbase to attempt to sell this thing to, and with a bunch of factors going against them (Economic stability, pricing, launching next to another expensive accessory), it's nowhere near a guarantee that this thing is going to be a success.

 

[Snornex]

Based on how Sony has been the last few years… yeah they probably will.

 

[VariantX]

Yep. Stick drift could be mitigated and controllers could last alot longer with that software. I can take the same PS5 controller and put it on steam and use it just fine because of the software

 

[LightKiosk]

Unless a magical server side switch gets flipped on the DualSense Edge release day that also lets you do it on the regular DualSense I wouldn't count on it.

 

[Vex]

We are back in arrogant/evil Sony ruler era, so yes. We were fine before in the PS3 era. But as soon as the PS4 era took off, they were back to being violent/bloodthirsty unfortunately this has carried over into PS5 era. The worst part? WE created this monster. It's our fault.

 

[BloodHound]

I'm not talking about third party controllers. That has been a market for years before Xbox brought out the Elite. I'm strictly comparing First Party to First Party, as comparing Third party companies to Sony is irrelevant when it comes to a product being a success.

A successful sell through for Scuf could be a complete failure for PlayStation. Sony has the entire PS5 userbase to attempt to sell this thing to, and with a bunch of factors going against them (Economic stability, pricing, launching next to another expensive accessory), it's nowhere near a guarantee that this thing is going to be a success.

Click to shrink...

They aren't trying to sell this controller to the entire ps userbase. They have the dual sense for that.

This is a higher margin, low volume product that is for a specific highly engaged segment.

I'm willing to bet my account this tops peripheral NPD a few times this year due to the high ASP and very little overlap of products for this specific segment (competitive gamers).

Era is definitely not the segment for this controller so I'm not surprised at the reactions for this device.

 

[Kami]

Don't most games have sensitivity and dead zone built in nowadays? At least shooters where it really matters.

 

[NewDust]

I mean, why do you think a $200+ controller still uses regular potentiometers?

 

[Getting Away With It]

They released this less than a year before making the DS4 obsolete so yeah lol

Click to shrink...

Wow I never saw this, what did that even do?

 

[astro]

Wow I never saw this, what did that even do?

Click to shrink...

Back peddles.

 

[Traxus]

Wow I never saw this, what did that even do?

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It adds back paddles to the DS4, has an OLED screen you use to map the paddles with any of the DS4's face buttons or triggers, allows you to save multiple profiles, and is powered entirely through the Aux port on the bottom of the controller.

One of the coolest things is the button mapping being totally self-contained and not tied to a PS4 app, so it works the same with ANY Bluetooth capable device you pair the DS4 with. I bought two and still use them on my DS4s paired with retro consoles. It completely changed the way I approach some older games with awkward default control schemes like Outrigger on Dreamcast.

It's an amazing little device that augments the DS4 in so many ways. Just blows my mind that Sony released then immediately abandoned it.

 

[laxu]

Don't most games have sensitivity and dead zone built in nowadays? At least shooters where it really matters.

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They do but honestly shouldn't. A big issue on consoles has been the lack of an universal and comprehensive control customization system. You should have one system that lets you set per game controller settings, one system that can be used on any game without each developer making their own set of menus with varying functionality.

 

[TSM]

The assumption in the OP is that the controller itself isn't handling these changes. If it's like the elite controllers the modifications you make are stored as a profile on the controller itself and not just handled through software on the platform. The parity they are asking for might not even exist as a system wide software solution on the PS5 for the Edge.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

Remember we are talking about company that blocked use of DS4 gamepads on PS5, of course they will lock it.

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Also locking Cloud Saves behind a subscription service while simultanously disabling the ability to manually save your files on an USB-stick.
So yes, this will most likely be exclusive for the 200$ controller, lol.

Yep. Stick drift could be mitigated and controllers could last alot longer with that software. I can take the same PS5 controller and put it on steam and use it just fine because of the software

Click to shrink...

Just another reason to further migrate from consoles to PC. Most new PlayStation games will end up on Steam as well anyway.

 

[laxu]

The assumption in the OP is that the controller itself isn't handling these changes. If it's like the elite controllers the modifications you make are stored as a profile on the controller itself and not just handled through software on the platform. The parity they are asking for might not even exist as a system wide software solution on the PS5 for the Edge.

Click to shrink...

There is no reason why the controller needs to have memory for this beyond configuring some of the Edge specific features (like the trigger physical behavior). Most of the stuff is something you could apply to any controller, like Steam Input does.

 

[Menchin]

Yeah, of course they will. Why wouldn't they make you pay more money for basic features rather than less? Especially since people have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to do so

 

[Bonfires Down]

Can't add it to the normal controller sorry we are not good with computers.

 

[Kill3r7]

Absolutely. Remember cloud saves being behind PS+ only.

 

[BeI]

I still find it crazy that Steam has better software support for all console controllers than Microsoft / Sony / Nintendo do for their own creations, and it's free.

Hopefully there is enough backlash to get some of that software support for standard Dualsense controllers too.

 

[GTVision]

That's really the point of the post. They've gone and spent the time to implement a software/OS level solution for adjusting dead zones on a controller and then seemingly locked it behind their new controller. They've done all the heavy lifting now, making it available for normal controllers should be no harder than it was for them to make button customisation available.

Click to shrink...

Isn't that just how price strategies and product development works for every kind of product? Keeping features exclusive to the more expensive model(s) even though they (seemingly) could be easily implemented into the cheaper model(s) as well? I mean I recently bought a new house which was created via a kind of standardized production method and because of it the house is full of features which I didn't pay for. So at the end of building the house on site they actively 'deleted' these extra features again, because I didn't pay for them. I don't have any issues with it, since I get what I paid for.

It feels like people have more problems with this when it becomes a bit more obvious, but it happens all the time with every kind of product.

 

[Yorker14]

Sony is as scummy as it gets when it comes to planned obsolescence

Click to shrink...

Nintendo and Apple exist.

 

[TSM]

There is no reason why the controller needs to have memory for this beyond configuring some of the Edge specific features (like the trigger physical behavior). Most of the stuff is something you could apply to any controller, like Steam Input does.

Click to shrink...

If it's like the elite controllers you can have multiple profiles saved, each with their own button mappings and sensitivities so you can switch on the fly. It's also preferable because then the settings are console and platform agnostic. Any profiles you set up will just work no matter which console, PC or other hardware you connect to. No need to wait for some kind of solution from Sony, or even Valve, on PC for instance. It'll also just work on something like the MiSTer as well.

Hori also has this functionality for their Fighting Commander Octa controllers. It's fantastic for switching between platforms. Map things how you like and then just plug the controller into the hardware you want to use. You can set up a profile for each platform if you like.

Having this functionality tied only to the PS5 console itself would make it a much less useful controller overall.

 

[Cali32]

Knowing Sony, yes, they will do just that.

 

[Diogo Arez]

Yes and they will get away with BS like this unfortunately

 

[Deleted member 87246]

Remember we are talking about company that blocked use of DS4 gamepads on PS5, of course they will lock it.

Click to shrink...

This.

 

[TalonJH]

Honestly, I just assumed it would be this way because it's the same for the elite controller on Xbox. You can edit deadzones and other things with a lot of detail in the accessories Xbox app but standard controller only lets you email buttons and w swap sticks.

It probably should be system wide if possible but this just seem s like the current standard, unfortunately.

 

[Kittenz]

Nintendo and Apple exist.

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And yet I'm typing this on a 2014 iMac that still blazes and has never had a single issue. Mom still rocks my old iPhone 7. My NES, SNES, Wii, DS, 3DS all still work pretty much like new. Can't say that for most of my Sony and pre-1X Xbox stuff.

So pros and cons. YMMV

 

[TSM]

So I got curious and watched Sony's video. They aren't locking customization behind the new controller. On board profiles are intrinsically part of the Edge controllers just as they are on the Elite controllers. The ability to store on board profiles isn't built into the standard controllers. What the OP is wanting for the standard controllers doesn't actually exist in the original controller design:

To be clear, these deadzone customisations should be handled entirely in software, so there is no practical reason they should be locked behind owning specific hardware.

Click to shrink...

The new customization options configure profiles on board the actual controller and are not system wide changes to how controllers function. Anyone that has owned an Elite or an Hori Fighting Commander Octa already has experience with how this works. It'd be fantastic is it was standard on all controllers, but that's just not what either Sony or Microsoft delivered on their base controllers. Hori delivered it as a standard feature on their Octa controllers and there's no reason Sony and MS couldn't have as well.

Edit:

Apparently you need to download the W10/W11 app for the Hori PS5 FC Octa from a link in their youtube video for anyone that was interested.

 

[andshrew]

So I got curious and watched Sony's video. They aren't locking customization behind the new controller. On board profiles are intrinsically part of the Edge controllers just as they are on the Elite controllers. The ability to store on board profiles isn't built into the standard controllers. What the OP is wanting for the standard controllers doesn't actually exist in the original controller design:



The new customization options configure profiles on board the actual controller and are not system wide changes to how controllers function. Anyone that has owned an Elite or an Hori Fighting Commander Octa already has experience with how this works. It'd be fantastic is it was standard on all controllers, but that's just not what either Sony or Microsoft delivered on their base controllers. Hori delivered it as a standard feature on their Octa controllers and there's no reason Sony and MS couldn't have as well.

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It remains to be seen as to exactly how they will be making the changes on the controller, but my instinct is they are doing it in software. They don't promote profiles which follow you across device as a feature, and I almost wouldn't be surprised if the profile switching does not work at all when used on a non-PS5 device.

They should be doing this entirely in software. Having "hardware level" profiles which you can pre-program and switch when using the controller on a non-PS5 platform can be a nice to have added feature, but the option for basic OS level button remapping and dead zone adjustments should be the standard.