PS4 owners have recently had a bunch of major updates announced for the coming week and confirmed removal of Facebook integration just yesterday. While things seem to be changing for the current-gen console, the eyes of many more may have been caught by recent announcements concerning the PS5. In fact, Sony has officially announced the release window for the next-gen console, confirmed some new specs, and even given details about the next-gen controller.
The PS5 is set to release Holiday 2020, bringing with it a new controller that comes with two confirmed major changes as of this writing. For the most part, impressions made about the controller state it looks incredibly similar to the PS4's DualShock 4, but there seems to be hints about the PlayStation Assist AI worked into the controller, with system architect Mark Cerny deflecting the question, stating "We'll talk more about it another time."
The controller doesn't have a name yet (likely DualShock 5, though), but Cerny did touch on two new features. The first is "adaptive triggers" which seemingly reacts to whatever in-game weapon or mechanic players are interacting with. Examples given are how the tension of the PS5 triggers will tighten when players shoot a bow and arrow, and how the triggers will make firing an SMG different from that of a shotgun.
The second is new haptic feedback worked into the controller, creating more of a rumble and reacting to a game's environment more so than past generations. It also has highly programmable voice-coil actuators in each grip of the controller and uses a USB Type-C for charging. This, combined with the improved PS5 controller speaker, provided an incredibly in-depth tactile experience: sand felt slow, mud felt sloggy, ice made characters feel more of a glide, and water created a bouyant sensation. Reports indicate that all of these additions (and likely other unconfirmed ones) also add more weight to the controller than that of the PS4.
Although the PS5 is more than a year away from launch and not everything rumored for the console has been confirmed, it definitely appears to be a step in the right direction. The full extent of the controller and its upgrades hasn't likely been fully explored either, leaving only one thing for certain: it'll be interesting to see what happens when both the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Project Scarlett release in Holiday 2020.
PlayStation 5 releases Holiday 2020.
Source: WIRED