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Sony tested Xbox stick layout for DualShock 4

I think whoever doubts the DS4 (as I used to) due to it's symmetrical placement of the thumb sticks should watch Sessler's video where he talks about the very subject and how the controller redesign has completely negated the need for an asymmetrical design. Also, I have yet to find a negative impression on the DS4, with a lot of people actually preferring it to the xbone controller.

Quite frankly, I don't care where the sticks are as long as it works. I used to however subscribe to the idea that the DS3 design just wouldn't work unless the thumb sticks were moved. I was wrong.

I don't really care what Sessler has to say, I've tried the controller for myself and it still uncomfortable to play with. It still has a shitty layout.
 
Good. At least they tried other layouts and realized how shitty it would be. PS has a lot of diverse games. Don't cater to the shooter crowd.
 
If anybody has stuck with convention this time around its Microsoft. I have never read a good argument for the left offset stick. Particularly for shooters, where the shoulder buttons have primacy.

It's not hard to get used to either but I think, personally, the dark truth of this supposedly hugely consequential design decision is that MS did it to set their controller apart from the dual shock, and in practicality it simply does not matter very much, apart from creating some initial muscle memory confusion when trying the competitor's controller. It's not hard to get used to both of them; I bounce constantly between the two and I think anyone with functioning hands can do the same. There's lots to prefer between the two but the stick placement is really not one of them.

(I do wonder what it's like for lefties though, if some of you wouldn't mind commenting on that.)
 
"For the triggers, we did test having the triggers not be shit, since the Xbox has good ones," Sony's Toshimasa Aoki said. "Especially from the shooter teams--we got feedback that that's what they wanted. They knew that consumers liked the 360 for shooters."

Ultimately, "tradition" was what won out at Sony, with Aoki saying shitty triggers are part of the company's DNA. "The prototype team, myself, and also the management team really felt that having this shit feel is the PlayStation feel, and we had to keep that."

I can’t wait to try those.
 
In this thread it's easy to see who loves FPSs and who doesn't. Try playing Call of Duty with a 360 controller for a few days, then switch over to the PS3 controller and play Call of Duty with that. It's like hell times 10.

I do fine on both. I can honestly switch back and forth and do well. And my KD ain't bad either (1.95 or so). I just need to have a slightly higher sensitivity on PS3.
 
Damn, wish no one posted this. It's my one big gripe against the PS3.. that I prefer the 360 controller so much more.

If Sony did the 360 stick placement it would have been no-brainer to adopt PS3 as my main console.
 
Xbox layout is better, sorry. Shame the XB1 pad is a bag of shit.
The fact the XB1 controller seemingly messed things up should be proving to many people that the problem was almost certainly mainly if not entirely with the ergonomics, not because of stick layout alone. And it's not as if the DS was out and out awful, it's just the made some forward progress during the PS1 days then froze, if you compared the original PS1 pad, the first Analog controller, then finally the DualShock 1 you should be able to see they were modifying and improving the ergonomics each time, but then stopped trying with the DS2 and worse with the PS3 modified L2/R2 to be triggers without really modifying the controller to accommodate this change otherwise. Had they continually sought to iterate much like the DS4 ultimately did we may well have had more and more comfortable controllers.

Well, maybe not in regards to how some people want sticks anyway, you compare the DS1, 2, and 3 sticks you can tell they clearly changed them each time, and the Analog sticks had straight up concave plastic caps entirely unlike every other Playstation analog stick since. Hell, like every other since period, Xbox only used concave rubber and Nintendo/Sega did convex plastic sticks, and while the Saturn had a concave top it wasn't even a stick.
 
Sad that there are people who still think the stick position matters. It doesn't.

Absolutely does. Asymmetrical sticks are superior, every time. Sony's controller design has annoyed me since the introduction of the Dual Analog. I get that they don't want to change it because the look is iconic, but it's an awkward and ridiculous holdover from an era that just didn't know any better. There's no reason in this age of modern ergonomic thinking that we should be reaching across the controller to the center just to operate the sticks. They were originally placed there because Sony didn't want to alienate people who would be slow to adapt to the analog sticks over the D-pad (and they didn't even know if it would catch on, really), but they have never updated the design to take into account the fact that the left stick is now the primary input element of the controller.

At least they finally went back to the concave sticks like the original Dual Analog. Baby steps.
 
Absolutely does. Asymmetrical sticks are superior, every time.* Sony's controller design has annoyed me since the introduction of the Dual Analog. I get that they don't want to change it because the look is iconic, but it's an awkward and ridiculous holdover from an era that just didn't know any better.
* for you
 
Absolutely does. Asymmetrical sticks are superior, every time. Sony's controller design has annoyed me since the introduction of the Dual Analog. I get that they don't want to change it because the look is iconic, but it's an awkward and ridiculous holdover from an era that just didn't know any better.

At least they finally went back to the concave sticks like the original Dual Analog. Baby steps.

Wrong. Xbox positioning of sticks is inferior. Dual shock works for pretty much all game types
 
I prefer the Xbox layout myself.

It's not like either company would come out and say the competitors design is better anyway.

As long as the sticks are not as loose as before it should be sufficient.
 
Wrong. Xbox positioning of sticks is inferior. Dual shock works for pretty much all game types

It can be made to work. The leaving of the primary input devices on the interior of the controller so that you have to reach over 1/3 of the device to even manipulate it is just silly. Mere tradition, not any kind of rational ergonomic choice. When you're as big and successful as Sony you can make those choices, though, so it doesn't really matter. Nobody's going to refuse to buy a PS4 because of the stick placement.
 
It can be made to work. The leaving of the primary input devices on the interior of the controller so that you have to reach over 1/3 of the device to even manipulate it is just silly. Mere tradition, not any kind of rational ergonomic choice. When you're as big and successful as Sony you can make those choices, though, so it doesn't really matter. Nobody's going to refuse to buy a PS4 because of the stick placement.

Except for that reports are saying the ergonomics of this new DS4 are great, even with the sticks where they are.
 
It can be made to work. The leaving of the primary input devices on the interior of the controller so that you have to reach over 1/3 of the device to even manipulate it is just silly.
If that's the case wouldn't the Wii U pro sticks' layout be better than a MS controller?

You still have to reach alllllllll the way over to the right stick on the 360 to use it.
 
Wrong. Xbox positioning of sticks is inferior. Dual shock works for pretty much all game types

tumblr_lshc60EUuN1qdpih1.gif
 
I prefer asymm because the left thumb sits on the stick for way longer periods of time than the right thumb, so it's better if it's closer to the default resting position of the thumb in your hand. That being said I've played hours on end on the DS3 and never had any problems with my left thumb feeling tired or anything, I'm just very happy they addressed a bunch of other far more important issues with the controller like the overall shape, the shitty sticks and the triggers.
 
I couldn't stand the ps3 sticks, but I think that was mostly due to the looseness and convex nubs. Asymmetrical like the damn near perfect 360 controller is still best controller for me
 
Actually, something that came to mind for me, especially after all the "doesn't matter" posts: has it occurred to anyone else that maybe when testing prototypes they found the positioning came off as mostly arbitrary when all else was equal, and thus erred on the side of tradition rather than blindly following tradition? Admittedly this is just an extension of what I said about ergonomics spoiling the DS3 more than anything else, but do note how many people who swore by the 360 controller were blown away by the DS4, and the fact most of us who didn't mind the DS3 or even liked it are probably more than fine playing on the 360 controller so long as the D-Pad isn't important. I prefer the DS due to the D-Pad and versatility, but for the most part it's really just a small edge that only really influences where I go for a minority of games, usually platforms that don't block out the D-Pad entirely.
 
Wow tradition won out over the better stick placement. Come on Sony the PS4 looks like it is going to be a beast simply because you bucked the internal trends that resulted in the PS3's struggles and you couldn't fix the stick placement?
 
It doesn't matter where the sticks are as long as they feel better than before. I had no issue playing with DS3 but always knew it could be better. The improvements to the DS4 seem great but why did they not switch things up with Vita? I find using the sticks on that machine to be pretty uncomfortable.
 
Even though I dislike the symmetrical layout I'm glad that Sony decided to stick to their own thing. We don't need two exact same consoles.
 
"My opinion is correct"

"NO, my opinion is correct"

"My opinion is correct"

"NO, my opinion is correct"

"I haven't even held the controller"

"Neither have I"
 
I never had an issue with stick location, but the convex buttons were a terrible idea. I also don't know who thought to make the L2 and R2 buttons bigger since most PS games use the L1 and R1 buttons more (once again, convex, not concave). Looking forward to testing out the DS4 when they have booths at my local EB.
 
ergonomics > symmetry

Wii U Pro controller works fine w/ shooters
360 controller works fine w/ shooters
DS3 is uncomfortable for me w/ shooters

main difference is that the Wii U pro controller + 360 pad haver far superior ergonomics vs the ancient DS3 shape. it's not about the asymmetric layout on the 360, it's about the ergonomics. the right stick is the accuracy stick (aim). it's in the same position on the ds3 and 360. the left stick doesn't mean squat to me.

ds4 has great looking ergonomics. longer thicker handles spaced further apart solves the ergo issues and it shouldn't be an issue once we all get our hands on it.
 
Devs should just allow you to swap movement to the dpad.

Then everyone can be happy. This also more closely emulates the W, A, S, D movement on pc (since the dpad is digital like keys on a keyboard) and may actually be preferred by some people.

*shrugs*
 
Also because there's nothing functionally wrong with them. Most PS fans ares used to the layout anyway. If it ain't broke....

What about people who haven't sworn by symmetrical sticks since the 90s? I'm a big fan of the Saturn pad but uh, games have changed since then?
 
Absolutely does. Asymmetrical sticks are superior, every time. Sony's controller design has annoyed me since the introduction of the Dual Analog. I get that they don't want to change it because the look is iconic, but it's an awkward and ridiculous holdover from an era that just didn't know any better. There's no reason in this age of modern ergonomic thinking that we should be reaching across the controller to the center just to operate the sticks. They were originally placed there because Sony didn't want to alienate people who would be slow to adapt to the analog sticks over the D-pad (and they didn't even know if it would catch on, really), but they have never updated the design to take into account the fact that the left stick is now the primary input element of the controller.

At least they finally went back to the concave sticks like the original Dual Analog. Baby steps.

Absolutely doesn't. Ergonomics matter. Any position can be just as comfortable as the other give the right design.
 
I've been using Dual Shocks (and the Dual Analog) longer than any other controller, but I feel that asymmetrical sticks are superior.

That goes for any game that doesn't have the d-pad as its primary input method and isn't Katamari.
 
I regularly use both controllers, it makes absolutely no difference

Pretty much this. Dualshock 3 has issues just as the 360 pad does, but stick placement is not one of them. I will admit I rather dislike the way the Pro controller does things though; moving your thumb down to the buttons is incredibly awkward.
 
I'm probably one of the few people here that is fine with both symmetrical and asymmetrical sticks, generally speaking. The DS3's issues were that the sticks were convex, too loose, not grippy enough and a bit too close together. My Wii Classic Controller Pro also has symmetrical sticks and those felt great.
 
It takes like thirty seconds to adjust to the symmetrical feel. I prefer the 360 format over the traditional one, but I don't really care THAT much.
 
Unless you have asymmetrical hands I don't see a reason for asymmetrical sticks.

One of the lamest reasons that keeps being given. Stop it. I play tons of dpad-based games using dual shocks just fine despite the dpad being on a part of the controller that isn't symmetrical with the right analog stick.
 
So glad they kept the proper stick placement.
Can't even believe they entertained the notion of possibly both sticks on the top. I have a Wii U and that stick placement is horrendous. I use the classic controller attachment whenever I can.
 
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