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[Version 3.0]

If I'm not mistaken, the original intent of light bars on the Dual Shock 4 was so that the Playstation Camera can track the controllers. But now they're an odd gimmick, changing colors when you're hurt in Killzone, (trying to) keep time with the music in Sound Shapes, and so on. But they're on the opposite side of the controller, so a player doesn't even have direct line-of-sight to them. I occassionally notice my fingers are green or pulsing red.

My TV has a matte screen, so I can barely see the reflection. I wonder about people with glossy screens. I do see the reflection in the frame of my TV, but I don't notice it while I'm playing, normally. However, in Sound Shapes, when it's trying to pulse in time with the music (and falling behind, and re-setting), then I do notice it, and it's pretty distracting.

Given that I don't even have a PS Camera, I'd much prefer that these be turned off. It's such a silly gimmick. There should be an option to disable them. Failing a system-level option, there should at least be in-game options to stop them from flashing and such, just like we've had for rumble all these years (which is now a system-level option as well).

If there are options, I've missed them.

Who agrees?

Oh, and...yeah, I know, a strip of tape.

 

[Ouren]

No, they are cool. You're just a party poo.

 

[Ilúvatar]

The light bar hasn't bothered me at all, I think it's rather nifty. Pretty sure there is no way to turn them off from the OS (yet?)

 

[BigDug13]

I think the light should have been on the bottom of the controller or something so you could see the light hitting the floor beneath your controller

It makes no sense for a light to be pulsing and changing colors when it's pointing in a direction that will only reflect off your screen and is otherwise invisible to the gamer.

 

[Mifune]

The light doesn't reflect in my screen either (only the border). But jesus what a pointless, gimmicky, wasteful "feature" on an otherwise great controller.

 

[todd360]

Just buy fancy 60 dollar tape to cover up light with. Then your friends will know just how fancy you are!

 

[Beer Monkey]

Electrical tape leaves some nasty fucking residue.

Devs, turn it off. You can do this in code.

Anybody who can't see this reflecting in a glass plasma screen (like my Pioneer Kuro) is fucking blind.

 

[la flama blanca]

I think the light should have been on the bottom of the controller or something so you could see the light hitting the floor beneath your controller

It makes no sense for a light to be pulsing and changing colors when it's pointing in a direction that will only reflect off your screen and is otherwise invisible to the gamer.

I think of this everytime I play Killzone. I literally have to turn it around just to see if it's doing something unique.

 

[Raymo]

Their primary use is to indicate which player you are by color. You are no longer player 1, 2, 3, and 4. You are Player Blue or Red. It's pretty useful when you are playing with multiple people on one console. Come into a room and could easily identify which one was my controller from a distance.

 

[Carnby]

I don't see it on my television screen. I want to disable it to save battery life. If the option to disable is never introduced, I won't mind.

 

[Facism]

not something that bothers me, but there should really be an option to turn it off if it's not needed.

 

[Atomski]

I think the light should have been on the bottom of the controller or something so you could see the light hitting the floor beneath your controller

It makes no sense for a light to be pulsing and changing colors when it's pointing in a direction that will only reflect off your screen and is otherwise invisible to the gamer.

Its there so the camera can see it..

 

[dragonflys545]

Doesn't bother me one bit... Just focus on playing your games lol.

 

[Oppo]

I like the way it makes my fingertips glow with powah.

The light is also there as player indicators, I.e. player 1, player 2 etc.

I play in a dark basement 10' away from a glossy Panny plasma and I simply don't notice an issue. I think I hold my controller lower than the edge of the screen though.

 

[spookyfish]

While it hasn't bothered me personally, I definitely don't see the issue in having the option.

Can you have firmware updates for things like this?

 

[graywolf323]

The light doesn't reflect in my screen either. But jesus what a pointless, gimmicky, wasteful "feature" on an otherwise great controller.

really? I actually liked it while playing through Killzone

the bar reflecting your health level was better than I expected

and I have not had it reflect on my screen at all

 

[Mindlog]

It honestly bothered me much less than I had anticipated. Almost forgot it was there.
Until I had to scratch my eye once. AH, I'm blind!

 

[djplaeskool]

I noticed a slight reflection for about 2 minutes when I first set up my PS4, and since then, it hasn't bothered me in the least.

 

[nhlducks35]

The light doesn't bother me, the 8 hour battery life does however.

 

[reKon]

Haven't noticed it reflecting off my TV yet. My TV has a Plasma screen.

 

[Desaan]

You're just a party poo.

Never invite me to one of you're parties.

 

[k4n3]

i wonder how much it eats into the charge.... seems kinda a waste id turn it off if i could

 

[TheGrue]

I don't even notice it reflect off my TV. The way I hold the controller, I can't even really see the bar when it's in my hand, which is kind of bad for games that use it for purpose.

 

[Anticitizen One]

Its annoying. Sony is so stupid for coming up with that. Did they even consider it would annoy people especially in darker rooms and at night?

 

[j-wood]

I have a glossy screen and I have no idea why people are complaining. When I hold the controller naturally, the light bar is actually almost pointing at the floor. I only see it (and just barely, if i'm looking for it) if I force myself to hold the controller tilted back.

Non-issue for me.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

I think the light should have been on the bottom of the controller or something so you could see the light hitting the floor beneath your controller

It makes no sense for a light to be pulsing and changing colors when it's pointing in a direction that will only reflect off your screen and is otherwise invisible to the gamer.

That's because it's supposed to be interacting with the camera. Sony wants us to believe that it actually adds something to gameplay but we all know that bull.

Just give us the option to turn it off

 

[enzo_gt]

Really is a silly gimmick. Even sillier when the main justification is that the Playstation Camera uses it to figure out who is who, when Kinect doesn't need anything of the sort and you still need to confirm the face as well using your controller. Two, redundant identifiers.

 

[Septimus Prime]

I don't even notice it. It's angled slightly downward, so you have to kind of tilt the controller to even see it.

 

[Speevy]

It's the future man! Glowing blue controllers!

 

[The End]

I don't see it on my television screen. I want to disable it to save battery life. If the option to disable is never introduced, I won't mind.

The LEDs powering the lightbar only use slightly more power than the Player 1234 LEDs on the DS3 did. That's not a huge issue.

 

[Iced_Eagle]

I agree. Its an absolutely useless gimmick if you don't have a camera that sucks away battery life. Battery life on these controllers really, really sucks compared to the Xbox One controllers.

I have a reflective screen but likely the TV is mounted high enough so I don't see the reflection while on the couch (if I stand I can see it, but I don't play controller based games standing).

I hope Sony includes a system option to turn it off or release a controller without the light bar entirely since I'm not planning to pick up the camera.

 

[LordCanti]

I see it reflecting in the bezel of my Panny plasma, and yeah, it's annoying. Patch in an OS level slider so I can just turn it off.

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

Doesn't bother me aside from the presumed impact on battery life.

 

[TheTwelve]

The light doesn't reflect in my screen either. But jesus what a pointless, gimmicky, wasteful "feature" on an otherwise great controller.

Admittedly, the controller batteries would probably last longer if this wasn't part of them.

I'm happy I bought two controllers to switch in and out because I'm having to charge them quite a bit.

That being said, I do like the light and especially late at night. I can look around the room for snacks without having to get up and turn on the big light!

Ah, life is tough, isn't it?

 

[Ocelott]

My only grip is that some games don't even use it correctly and therefore it is a waste. DCUO just flashes different F'kin colors randomly...like come on

 

[AzerPhire]

Playing in a pitch black room the lightbar actually lights up the room a bit. The light reflecting off the TV is there but when I am playing it is not that noticeable since I am usually looking at other parts of the screen, but if I look for it it is there and it looks bad.

This is playing on a 60" Panasonic plasma.

 

[bunbun777]

I love the colors but it saddens me to think I will never see that pretty pink color ( or the third color either) so yea would be nice to pick your primary color.

 

[Oppo]

Really is a silly gimmick. Even sillier when the main justification is that the Playstation Camera uses it to figure out who is who, when Kinect doesn't need anything of the sort and you still need to confirm the face as well using your controller. Two, redundant identifiers.

two factor auth

 

[Mifune]

really? I actually liked it while playing through Killzone

the bar reflecting your health level was better than I expected

and I have not had it reflect on my screen at all

How could you see it though? I had to turn it around and actually look at it. I think a health indicator should be easier to see than that.

 

[Gamefreaks221]

I want to turn it off for battery life. I think its cool otherwise.

 

[turnbuckle]

It's not an issue on my TV at all, but it's definitely noticeable when I play on my brother's. He's resorted to elevating his TV a couple feet higher to avoid the light bars reflecting. Granted his TV has a glossy surface and his room isn't all that big so it's easy to notice the reflection, but it's still something that should be able to be turned off by the user.

 

[SolsticeZero]

I have a glossy screen and I have no idea why people are complaining. When I hold the controller naturally, the light bar is actually almost pointing at the floor. I only see it (and just barely, if i'm looking for it) if I force myself to hold the controller tilted back.

Non-issue for me.

You're not playing right, apparently, as most seem to have their arms fully outstretched and as close to the TV as possible.

 

[XGRaViSmOrSX]

My TV isn't at my sitting level (slightly above) so unless i'm sitting on the back of my couch it will never be an issue.

 

[jediyoshi]

Did they even consider it would annoy people especially in darker rooms and at night?

Wasn't there a generation not too long ago that had regular ass LEDs positioned prominently on front facing parts of the controller?

 

[captscience]

The light hasn't bothered me while playing games, but it is terrible that's on during movie playback. I had to bury the controller under a pillow when I was watching a blu-ray in a darkened room.

 

[twentytwo22]

Don't even notice it.

 

[TriniTrin]

The light on these damn controllers are so bright that they have already caused my dog to go blind. Also, they use about 90% of the battery life for the controllers while they are on. THANKS ALOT SONY!

But seriously, the light isn't a big deal for me at least. Never see it on my TV, you gotta have some shiny ass TV screens to see that reflection. I think its funny that of all the things to complain about with the new systems, some people are complaining about this.

ProTip: You don't like the light? Put some tape over it until sony allows you turn off the controller light that disrupts your gaming so.

 

[jacob armitage]

While i do hope they add an option to turn them off for people who want that, i've not once had it draw my attention from the game i was playing and enjoy the glow when its late in my living room.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

Both of my TVs are matte screened and I have seen no reflection of the lightbar whatsoever. I honestly expected there to be some too. I think this is way less of a problem than people made it out to be initially.

 

[Dead Prince]

it doesn't affect me since i'm sitting below the tv. even when having the lights off i don't notice it.