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[famfrit]

Is anyone excited about the touchpad inclusion? I would have been happier with an actual screen for typing or drawing. I hope there's more to this new controller like detachable sides and built in motion controls.

Buy a PSVITA and you can do it with VITA/PS4 connection.

 

[Castef]

So Sony's playing it pretty safe? At least in controller department Wii U has an edge it seems

Uhm... Edge cited a new PlayStation Eye too, and even the Move.

I don't know and I'm actually not that confident: this is the very same management which planned and launched PSVita...

 

[watershed]

There is no way to have proper "touch" accuracy without a screen, however, swiping can still be utilized to great effect.

I think it intentionally minimalistic - swiping is simple enough you don't need to look at what you are doing, no need to break immersion to look at your controller.

No need to complicate what works - controllers are exceedingly simple devices. Adding swipe gestures sticks with that theme - simple and intuitive, low learning curve, you keep staring at the TV like you always do, etc. Familiar yet just enough "newness" to make it interesting without over-complication.

I don't think controllers are simple devices at all. The Wiimote was the simplest controller we've had in a while and it left many lacking when it came to available buttons. I don't count swiping to be substantial enough to draw my interest or even justify the inclusion of a trackpad. I can see menu navigation and a few other functions working with touch input but without an actual screen it seems limited.

 

[famfrit]

Huh, why not a screen, to save a penny? A touchscreen can do anything a touchpad can (location context swipes, presses, cursor control, etc), a touchpad can't do everything a touchscreen can (you can't visually separate it into precise locations to use for as multiple hotkeys in an MMORPG, a virtual keyboard, direct interaction with screen elements, etc). Or is it on its back?

Because:
1. They want to sell PSVITA;
2. COST;
3. BATTERY LIFE;
4. Nintendo fanboys hate for stealing Nintendo idea;

 

[Giant Panda]

Wait you prefer motion controls to standard controls?

If you had a dual analog Move, you could have both. Also the IR pointing is pretty awesome.

 

[Sinistral]

This is very rough but its more or less the ergonomics I had in mind for the back.
The curved sides in the back are there to compensate the added chunkiness of the grips

...this is fun.

My biggest(of many) problems with the 360 Pad is the "huge" separation between the Bumpers and Triggers. It looks like you have the same motif going on the back side there. I think the "paired" treatment the DS has is much more comfortable IMO. Great designs though! Keep going.

There is no way to have proper "touch" accuracy without a screen, however, swiping can still be utilized to great effect.

I think it intentionally minimalistic - swiping is simple enough you don't need to look at what you are doing, no need to break immersion to look at your controller.

No need to complicate what works - controllers are exceedingly simple devices. Adding swipe gestures sticks with that theme - simple and intuitive, low learning curve, you keep staring at the TV like you always do, etc. Familiar yet just enough "newness" to make it interesting without over-complication.

I have to agree with this. Therefore having a touch surface on the front leaves little to no sense unless it was a screen to offer visual feedback. If it's just for gestures, having it on the back for use with your middle or ring fingers would suffice. The quoted images shows a nice implementation of that. There would be no need to remove any current finger from their station.

Edit: Trying it out on my Wired 360 controller, it has the perfect area for a gesture surface. Trigger extrusions/curves get in the way though.

 

[B.O.O.M]

Guys, shouldn't we consider the possibility of a clickable track pad? Like that one rumor suggested?

 

[famfrit]

I have to agree with this. Therefore having a touch surface on the front leaves little to no sense unless it was a screen to offer visual feedback. If it's just for gestures, having it on the back for use with your middle or ring fingers would suffice. The quoted images shows a nice implementation of that. There would be no need to remove any current finger from their station.

You have a point. Its more easy to use a touch screen without changing the position of the fingers.

 

[TimeEffect]

Guys, shouldn't we consider the possibility of a clickable track pad? Like that one rumor suggested?

This doesn't seem hard to implement, and would solve the Select/Start issue

 

[RoboPlato]

Tweaked my controller shop

Vita buttons

Scale comparison

Holy shit this perfect. Does it come in black?

 

[famfrit]

I humbly submit another mockup that's pretty bad compared to MYE's.

Change the position of L3 and i'm okay with that. Looks more ergonomic to me.

 

[kittens]

I can't say I care about the touch pad. Seems only marginally useful. It's not bad, just not great.

 

[weekend_warrior]

Because:
1. They want to sell PSVITA;
2. COST;
3. BATTERY LIFE;
4. Nintendo fanboys hate for stealing Nintendo idea;

I don't think a tiny little 1.5"x2" touch screen would cost a lot of money or drain the battery quickly. It don't need to be Vita sized to be useful.

 

[TGO]

Change the position of L3 and i'm okay with that. Looks more ergonomic to me.

You basically want a 360 pad Haha
Too each his own, I personally can't stand the high placement left stick, feels odd

 

[ASTROID2]

I'm thinking a touch pad on the back instead of the front would be more useful. If it's not a screen it doesn't need to be on the top.

 

[famfrit]

It's impossible to say if that controller would be ergonomic or not until holding it. You can't see the depth of the controller handles, how it curves to fit the hand etc. even though we are talking about a fake controller

I agree though, it's time they changed the analog position.

But that is the fun part. And yes don't make sense the analog is in the same line as the buttons. Playing Dark Soul with X360 controller looks to be a better choice i think, because the analog position.

 

[famfrit]

You basically want a 360 pad Haha
Too each his own, I personally can't stand the high placement left stick, feels odd

Yes, time to change the little dualshock to something for bigger hands.

But not the boomerang thing, please.

 

[Nuklear]

I hope they have Twitch.tv support on the PS4. If it's going to continuously record video you might as well add the ability to stream to the Internet.

 

[MYE]

edit: can you make it black? just to see how it holds up visually.

Holy shit this perfect. Does it come in black?

Maybe tomorrow I'l give it a shot. My eyes are tired *__*

 

[TGO]

I'm thinking a touch pad on the back instead of the front would be more useful. If it's not a screen it doesn't need to be on the top.

Yeah being a screen would allow devs to add additional buttons
Start and select are usually inventory or options or pause
For instance MGS:GZ's display map thing could be displayed on the pad and with a quick double tap it can be displayed on the TV like in the demo

 

[Luthos]

I'm wondering if Sony will ever switch the left stick with the d-pad, like most other controllers are set up.

 

[TheGreyHulk]

I just want a good d-pad, stick and triggers. That is all!

Share button better be positioned so it doesn't interfere with my gaming!

damn straight!

 

[Duffyside]

Why aren't more people upset about the touchpad? If we're loud enough now we can make a difference, and not have the first year of PS4 games have shitty forced-gimmicks like what has happened the last two times Sony has released a console.

 

[VanWinkle]

I'm wondering if Sony will ever switch the left stick with the d-pad, like most other controllers are set up.

I think a lot of people really like the sticks symmetrical.

 

[ArynCrinn]

I like the idea of the Share button, a lot. Was something I was hoping Nintendo would implement with Wii U, editing and adding stuff could have been awesome on the Gamepad.

 

[famfrit]

Yeah being a screen would allow devs to add additional buttons
Start and select are usually inventory or options or pause
For instance MGS:GZ's display map thing could be displayed on the pad and with a quick double tap it can be displayed on the TV like in the demo

I don't like the idea, because every developer will be forced to make something for the display even if they don't have a good idea or function for it. Just look to the majority of ds games, the best use are from Nintendo first party and 3rd party don't make anything good or relevant with the touch (have some exceptions).

By the way, i think that would kill the battery life of controller...

 

[AndyD]

I think you can bring the PS/Start/Select buttons to the front or top edge and have the touch area seamless. After all PS/Start/Select can be slim edge buttons like this:

 

[TGO]

Yes, time to change the little dualshock to something for bigger hands.

But not the boomerang thing, please.

Never got that( the too small thing) I don't exactly have small hands either
Guess I've grown with it lol
and if you play on the 360 pad a lot I guess its noticable and vice versa

I personally hope they keep it as it is, maybe bigger just for you though ;-)

 

[Uno Venova]

Why aren't more people upset about the touchpad? If we're loud enough now we can make a difference, and not have the first year of PS4 games have shitty forced-gimmicks like what has happened the last two times Sony has released a console.

I don't find it a big deal, there will be a few 'turn the sixasis to turn the wheel type' spots and it will fizzle out.

 

[Pachterballs]

Why aren't more people upset about the touchpad? If we're loud enough now we can make a difference, and not have the first year of PS4 games have shitty forced-gimmicks like what has happened the last two times Sony has released a console.

It's not probably going to be used for the kind of features people are talking about here.

It's there to replace start selecthome

Way to get upset before there's a need to be.

 

[famfrit]

I think you can bring the PS/Start/Select buttons to the front or top edge and have the touch area seamless. After all PS/Start/Select can be slim edge buttons like this:

Looks weird... don't help casual players too, i think.

 

[Nuklear]

Why aren't more people upset about the touchpad? If we're loud enough now we can make a difference, and not have the first year of PS4 games have shitty forced-gimmicks like what has happened the last two times Sony has released a console.

Meh, The Vita's touchscreen stuff is good. I have no problems with a touchscreen. If the Controller has a touchpad on the back of it I will have a problem because the only game I've played that has made good use of it is Katamari.

 

[TGO]

I don't like the idea, because every developer will be forced to make something for the display even if they don't have a good idea or function for it. Just look to the majority of ds games, the best use are from Nintendo first party and 3rd party don't make anything good or relevant with the touch (have some exceptions).

By the way, i think that would kill the battery life of controller...

You are absolutely right, that is the reason why it is a touchpad, lighting a screen alone would kill the battery
I was just thinking of the whole select & start functions as some games do require them

 

[Ydahs]

I love the thought of companies trying to re-invent the way we play games (Wiipad, Rift, IR, hopefully Kinect 2.0), though I can't really say I'm feeling the idea of a touchpad at the moment.

I have my dualshock in hand and swiping the middle of the controller doesn't see too intuitive with the current placement of the analog sticks. I'd assume that has to be changed to make it more feasible, as some mockups have already shown.

The best thing about it, as already mentioned, is giving the user an added method of input. For example, in an FPS, maybe swipe left/right to switch weapons, swipe up to use a grenade, swipe down to do a 180 turn, two finger swipe down to bring up a menu. It can be very useful in this regard, since we wouldn't need shitty button combinations anymore to do trivial actions in control heavy games.

From a technical point of view, it can still use bluetooth as its wireless protocol considering it's not doing any heavy video streaming like the WiiU, so the added costs should be minimal in comparison.

 

[Duffyside]

I don't find it a big deal, there will be a few 'turn the sixasis to turn the wheel type' spots and it will fizzle out.

Charcoal rubbings in Uncharted 4?

Swipe vertically to select, and horizontal to pause/start?

"Kratos, smear the virgin blood on the altar"?

It's totally a big deal. It can make the first year of the console significantly worse than it needs to be. If we make a fuss now, we can stop it. STOP THE FUTURE!

 

[MYE]

Why aren't more people upset about the touchpad? If we're loud enough now we can make a difference, and not have the first year of PS4 games have shitty forced-gimmicks like what has happened the last two times Sony has released a console.

Oh god dont do this people. Let these companies try something new without whining for once

 

[Pachterballs]

Charcoal rubbings in Uncharted 4?

Swipe vertically to select, and horizontal to pause/start?

"Kratos, smear the virgin blood on the altar"?

It's totally a big deal. It can make the first year of the console significantly worse than it needs to be. If we make a fuss now, we can stop it. STOP THE FUTURE!

whinger

 

[VanWinkle]

Charcoal rubbings in Uncharted 4?

Swipe vertically to select, and horizontal to pause/start?

"Kratos, smear the virgin blood on the altar"?

It's totally a big deal. It can make the first year of the console significantly worse than it needs to be. If we make a fuss now, we can stop it. STOP THE FUTURE!

Oh give me a break. It's just a touchpad. You don't even have to move the controller. Stop fantasizing only controls that you are familiar with and get used to a SLIGHT new control input. Your old controls aren't going away.

 

[Duffyside]

It's not probably going to be used for the kind of features people are talking about here.

It's there to replace start selecthome

Way to get upset before there's a need to be.

You know if there are no shitty touch gimmicks, I'ma take credit for it, right? You can be part of it too. Yell now!

 

[Orayn]

Charcoal rubbings in Uncharted 4?

Swipe vertically to select, and horizontal to pause/start?

"Kratos, smear the virgin blood on the altar"?

It's totally a big deal. It can make the first year of the console significantly worse than it needs to be. If we make a fuss now, we can stop it. STOP THE FUTURE!

You're thinking only in worst case scenarios and being hilariously childish and dramatic.

 

[gutterboy44]

Each touch pad, if there is a front and back one adds five or six buttons each with just the most basic gestures. Swipe up, down, left, right, tap and or tap and click. That opens up a shit load of custom controller scheme mapping. I don't think the touc pads are going to revolutionize anything, but they are a welcome addition since touch gestures and controls are second nature these days.

 

[famfrit]

Never got that( the too small thing) I don't exactly have small hands either
Guess I've grown with it lol
and if you play on the 360 pad a lot I guess its noticable and vice versa

I personally hope they keep it as it is, maybe bigger just for you though ;-)

That's my problem. Only played with x360 controller one time, but i loved it.

Dualshock is good to me only thing that need change really is the L3.

Damn, the majority of games use l3 for movement and it isn't in the same line of triangle buttons... The cross buttons aren't relevant when i play Demon Soul (change itens only) or Little big planet (change sackboy emotions only).

 

[Duffyside]

You're thinking only in worst case scenarios and being hilariously childish and dramatic.

It's so hilarious, it's almost as if I'm doing it on purpose...

Though I am genuinely worried, and I do want people to "speak up" on forums and blogs and say "please no gimmickry." If enough people speak up, we might not have charcoal rubbings/cleaning artifacts/climbing ropes with the touchpad.

 

[Uno Venova]

Charcoal rubbings in Uncharted 4?

Swipe vertically to select, and horizontal to pause/start?

"Kratos, smear the virgin blood on the altar"?

It's totally a big deal. It can make the first year of the console significantly worse than it needs to be. If we make a fuss now, we can stop it. STOP THE FUTURE!

That's not happening, the others sound as bad as turning the sixasis in Killzone, takes a couple seconds and your back to the game.

 

[Orayn]

It's so hilarious, it's almost as if I'm doing it on purpose...

Though I am genuinely worried, and I do want people to "speak up" on forums and blogs and say "please no gimmickry." If enough people speak up, we might not have charcoal rubbings/cleaning artifacts/climbing ropes with the touchpad.

More likely than not, it'll be like many of the back-touch controls on Vita where you have an alternative input for certain things but it's generally not forced.

 

[Silent_Ocarina]

I'm all for these companies trying something new. I'd actually like a departure from the standard four-button cross configuration. I liked the GameCube controller for that reason.

Anyway, try to have an open mind for these things. I think if rumble were to be introduced now, some people would call it a gimmick.

 

[TimeEffect]

I love the thought of companies trying to re-invent the way we play games (Wiipad, Rift, IR, hopefully Kinect 2.0), though I can't really say I'm feeling the idea of a touchpad at the moment.

I have my dualshock in hand and swiping the middle of the controller doesn't see too intuitive with the current placement of the analog sticks. I'd assume that has to be changed to make it more feasible, as some mockups have already shown.

The best thing about it, as already mentioned, is giving the user an added method of input. For example, in an FPS, maybe swipe left/right to switch weapons, swipe up to use a grenade, swipe down to do a 180 turn, two finger swipe down to bring up a menu. It can be very useful in this regard, since we wouldn't need shitty button combinations anymore to do trivial actions in control heavy games.

From a technical point of view, it can still use bluetooth as its wireless protocol considering it's not doing any heavy video streaming like the WiiU, so the added costs should be minimal in comparison.

Wow! Great ideas, these are the kind of things I was hoping to hear. But, again, it just seems to sound so much better if they put this on the back, for two main reasons:

1) It sounds more comfortable*
2) It wont take your fingers off where they are (which IMO is very important)

*I guess I'd have to see how the front looks to judge this-- the VITA's front screen works great, but that's because the analog sticks are on the sides.

Really, if they modify the controller's shape to accomodate, it wont be a problem. But the question is whether they'd do this or not

I really want to know what's happening to motion control though. The ball is in Sony's court, and presumably, the standard controller and move controller have to match in order to ensure more devs utilize both equally.

To me, it just seems to make much more sense to have two Move controllers, as that thing is loaded with extra buttons to assign for all these functions we want out of touchpad. I guess Sony didn't want to look last gen or something, or be cast in Wii's shadow, but a breakable controller seems to make a lot of sense if such a design was well made.

Is it possible to do both trackpad and breakable controller?

 

[cutmeamango]

It's so hilarious, it's almost as if I'm doing it on purpose...

Though I am genuinely worried, and I do want people to "speak up" on forums and blogs and say "please no gimmickry." If enough people speak up, we might not have charcoal rubbings/cleaning artifacts/climbing ropes with the touchpad.

I want more gimmicks.
MORE GIMMICKS! MORE GIMMICKS!
TOUCH AND SWIPE, X AND O! QTE?! TALLY-HO!

 

[TGO]

That's my problem. Only played with x360 controller one time, but i loved it.

Dualshock is good to me only thing that need change really is the L3.

Damn, the majority of games use l3 for movement and it isn't in the same line of triangle buttons... The cross buttons aren't relevant when i play Demon Soul (change itens only) or Little big planet (change sackboy emotions only).

Haha when I first played a 360 I was like " OMG its like that Dreamcast friggin pad GTFOH!" people like the R&L T's too
I lol'd when I played PGR with them.
But I guess I see what you mean but wouldn't the Wii U's traditional pad be better suited, as oppose to your thumbs being placed in two different angles?

 

[3rdamention]

I think a lot of people really like the sticks symmetrical.

Yep I love the symmetrical design of the Dualshock sticks. I personally never liked the Xbox controller..