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PS4 controller: touchpad + share button + dualshock

W

weekend_warrior

Banned
Duffyside said:
Ok, so to the people who think the touchpad is a great idea; why? What do you think it's going to bring you?
Click to expand...

Alex said:
I don't get the touchpad, what use is it going to be?

Share button sounds neat, other than that I hope they use something akin to the Vita's D-Pad and I want different analog sticks. I don't care if they're concave or convex, just something different in feel and tighter.
Click to expand...

  • Keyboard input. Sony has a technology were a touchpad can detect your finger hovering above it, and you'd have a keyboard on the screen which you'd use you located your finger and input the correct keys.

  • Extra buttons, you could easily fit 8 extra buttons on a decent sized touchpad, you wouldn't actually see them on the controller but you'd know where to touch the pad to activate them.

  • A 3th or 4th stick input. Just slide your finger around the pad and it acts like a stick or laptop mouse cursor. Would be great for map control, just imagine pinch to zoom, rotate, etc.
 
P

pieatorium

Member
weekend_warrior said:
  • Keyboard input. Sony has a technology were a touchpad can detect your finger hovering above it, and you'd have a keyboard on the screen which you'd use you located your finger and input the correct keys.

  • Extra buttons, you could easily fit 8 extra buttons on a decent sized touchpad, you wouldn't actually see them on the controller but you'd know where to touch the pad to activate them.

  • A 3th or 4th stick input. Just slide your finger around the pad and it acts like a stick or laptop mouse cursor. Would be great for map control, just imagine pinch to zoom, rotate, etc.
Click to expand...

Also menu navigation,web browser and OS stuff would be the most obvious use
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
jdl said:
If the screen capture on the controller is instantaneous, that's a huge win. Especially if it's BC.
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, MS has this too, doesn't it? I'm curious as to the extent.

weekend_warrior said:
  • Keyboard input. Sony has a technology were a touchpad can detect your finger hovering above it, and you'd have a keyboard on the screen which you'd use you located your finger and input the correct keys.

  • Extra buttons, you could easily fit 8 extra buttons on a decent sized touchpad, you wouldn't actually see them on the controller but you'd know where to touch the pad to activate them.

  • A 3th or 4th stick input. Just slide your finger around the pad and it acts like a stick or laptop mouse cursor. Would be great for map control, just imagine pinch to zoom, rotate, etc.
Click to expand...

Honestly, all of this can be done with scroll buttons and extra face buttons, and probably be cheaper too. It's also awkward to have to use the pad for something like grenades for obvious reasons, but swiping for UI reasons could be cool in-game. And it acts like giant buttons, we have at least four extra buttons, which IMO is fantastic. I'm guessing the big draw is OS stuff, but I would have to see how big of a thing that is, I'm most worried about placement.
 
A

AkIRA_22

Member
Mista Koo said:
mk7iJuW.png
Click to expand...

kairu said:
ps4-mockup-2.png
Click to expand...

I prefer the top, the bottom one looks like it has down-syndrome. It's all about the raised circles for the d-pad and face buttons. I also think the PS button will stay, share will just be an option there in. In game XMB is absolutely crucial, partying up, launching games friends are in, they MUST keep it.
 
D

Duffyside

Banned
weekend_warrior said:
  • Keyboard input. Sony has a technology were a touchpad can detect your finger hovering above it, and you'd have a keyboard on the screen which you'd use you located your finger and input the correct keys.

  • Extra buttons, you could easily fit 8 extra buttons on a decent sized touchpad, you wouldn't actually see them on the controller but you'd know where to touch the pad to activate them.

  • A 3th or 4th stick input. Just slide your finger around the pad and it acts like a stick or laptop mouse cursor. Would be great for map control, just imagine pinch to zoom, rotate, etc.
Click to expand...

I didn't know about this. That sounds alright, though I wonder about how well it well it would function on a TV. I guess about as well as a tablet, which is good enough.

Menu navigation sounds potentially good, but as I think about your third point, I wonder if this might be the needed component to make strategy games viable on consoles?
 
G

Ghazi

Member
I think the best use for the touchpad would probably be gestures. You could do so much with that and introduce many innovations in-game. Frankly I think using it to get to buttons would be annoying because you can't "feel" the button there, unless it was like te whole right side is start and the whole left side was select.
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
VanWinkle said:
Microsoft? First I'm hearing about screen capture on 360.
Click to expand...

Thought it was in the Kinect 2.0 patents?

If this is common across all three then it wont be as big of a deal, I'm curious as to how Sony is going to separate from MS. If this is indeed exclusive, then it's a huge plus for Sony.
 
C

CLEEK

Member
AlucardGV said:
isn't a "always recording feature" a big waste of processing power? ok if you can turn on/off, but always on?
Click to expand...

Not necessarily. I doubt it would eat up any rendering or CPU power to achieve. Just take the output from the frame buffer or display port and save to local storage.
 
D

Drek

Member
Duffyside said:
How would you type though?
Click to expand...

On screen keyboard just like we've been using.

It's a chore, but you can't fix typing with anything short of a small QWERTY of some sort. The touchpad is addressing the other major issue for web browsing/PC based interfaces on consoles: the ability to control a cursor without relying on analog sticks.

A secondary keyboard peripheral will likely still wind up being a popular product for both MS and Sony.
 
G

Graphics Horse

Member
weekend_warrior said:
  • Keyboard input. Sony has a technology were a touchpad can detect your finger hovering above it, and you'd have a keyboard on the screen which you'd use you located your finger and input the correct keys.
Click to expand...


  • Being able to click down on the touchpad is another spin on this, rub your finger on the pad and it shows it where it is, then push down as a button for input. I think the click button makes the floating touch option less likely but it should be possible to have both.
 
S

Sickboy007

Member
NeoCTN said:
Handles look a little elongated. Aside from that, I came.
Click to expand...

By many accounts, the ps3 boomerang and similar controllers were very comfortable, I'd like to see them try something similar in concept that doesn't look so terribly awful.

Duffyside said:
Don't see why you can't fit three buttons on that space. Also... colored buttons? You know you wanna.

Gonna be so disappointed when the real thing is announced, haha.
Click to expand...

What's the function of Select anyway? Seems like it's vestigial at this point, the only thing I've used it for this gen is for selecting bookmarks in the browser.

edit:and maps in some games
 
D

Duffyside

Banned
Sickboy007 said:
By many accounts, the ps3 boomerang and similar controllers were very comfortable, I'd like to see them try something similar in concept that doesn't look so terribly awful.



What's the function of Select anyway? Seems like it's vestigial at this point, the only thing I've used it for this gen is for selecting bookmarks in the browser.

edit:and maps in some games
Click to expand...

Yeah, maps in a lot of games, "spotting" in shooters, all sorts of little things, really. It doesn't have to be called a "select" button though. I think controllers should have more buttons in general, so if the select went away and others came in, I'd be fine.

Like, I'd like to see some more buttons on the shoulders. Not even triggers/bumpers, necessarily. Just a little button on the inside of L1 and R1 that could be used for reloading, weapon switching, anything to keep a player's hands on the sticks.
 
C

Commanche Raisin Toast

Member
I'm expecting stuff like sliding your thumb around on it in a circular motion to turn a dial on a safe/lock you're looking at on screen. Using it as a mouse like pointer is obvious too. Sliding a finger or thumb upward quickly to throw an object? Stuff that can feel second nature and won't require you to look down at the controller.
 
B

bobbytkc

ADD New Gen Gamer
nib95 said:
Think this is my fave thus far. No real hard edges or anything that would leave a mark or annoy even after several hours of play.
Click to expand...

Yep. Looks great and is probably comfortable. I'd be fine if this were to be the next controller.
 
B

Bgamer90

Banned
Share button sounds like a good idea. Having quick access to be able to tell/show others what you are doing in your game via Twitter and/or Facebook would be nice.
 
W

weekend_warrior

Banned
Graphics Horse said:
Being able to click down on the touchpad is another spin on this, rub your finger on the pad and it shows it where it is, then push down as a button for input. I think the click button makes the floating touch option less likely but it should be possible to have both.
Click to expand...

I think having to click the touchpad would become a little tiring if you using it for a keyboard input. I guess it would depend on how accurate the "floating tech" is, or how resistive the clicky touchpad is, and it's just guessing right now. I just hope they have something that makes this an actual useful thing, and not just some gimmicky "slide your finger to toss a grenade" shit.
 
F

famousmortimer

Banned
I've heard rumors from pretty legit sources that the 'handles' coming down are longer and a bit straighter... if you guys want to work that into your mockups.


I've also heard it's far, far more comfortable. And has proper triggers.
 
W

WalkMan

Banned
I'm still trying to figure out the ergonomics of using a touchpad on a dualshock. Is your primary pointer supposed to be the index finger or your thumb?
 
K

kittens

Unconfirmed Member
Yeah, I'm not sold on the touchpad. Seems niche as hell, and yes, I've read the ideas about how to use it in this thread. I'm curious to see how Sony will make justifiable use out of it.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
Ditching select in favour of the share button makes a lot of sense. I agree the Select button is a relic of a time since past.

SPE said:
:'(

12823630108480.jpg
Click to expand...

was already fazed out in MGS4 by making it a option in the pause menu. It might be the same for Rising. Not sure.


Plus I think any backwards compatibility problems with start/select could easily be avoided by using the touch pad.


And loving the controller mock ups you guys are making. I dont mind symmetrical sticks but I think a lot of the problems people have could be fixed by making the grips bigger and just make it feel bigger in your hands.
 
N

nib95

Banned
Duffyside said:
Would it work better than a good dpad? I think quickly flicking past icons with a dpad would be easier than swiping on a pad without precise feedback.
Click to expand...

Thinking about it, I'd prefer a touchpad for mouse use, or say to move the slider in a movie or something. Right now finding a spot in a movies time line is a bit of a chore.
 
B

bobbytkc

ADD New Gen Gamer
Now that I think about it, even if the touchpad fails to bring anything meaningful gameplay wise, the buttons it is replacing certainly aren't much of a factor in games anyway, so it definitely could do worse, and it will make UI elements easier to navigate at very additional little cost.
 
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