PlayStation 5 Gets DualShock 5 Controller With New Adaptive Triggers And Haptic Feedback

Sony has officially announced that its next-generation PlayStation 5 console will launch in Holiday 2020 with a brand new DualShock 5 controller.

Following months of speculations, Sony has officially announced that its next-generation PlayStation 5 console will launch worldwide in time for the holidays in 2020. The company will start revealing additional details in the coming months but for now, Sony wants you to know about the new DualShock 5 controller.

While attending an invite-only conference, WIRED was given a few specifics by system architect Mark Cerny that warrant attention. The new DualShock 5 controller has gone through an evolution of its own, being bestowed with features that make it fit enough to accompany PlayStation 5.

Starting with new adaptive triggers that will offer varying levels of resistance for immersion. Whether you’re pulling an arrow on a bow or firing a machine gun in a trench, the tension in the adaptive triggers will differ in each case. Sony believes that once you’re accustomed, you’ll actually be able to differentiate between weapons just by how the adaptive triggers feel.

The new DualShock 5 controller will bring back haptic feedback as well but with a lot of improvements. Instead of the conventional rumbling motor, highly programmable voice-coil actuators have been fitted into the left and right grips of the controller. They will work in tandem with the adaptive triggers to respond to every in-game action for what Sony calls “astonishing effects” on PlayStation 5.

One of our goals with the next generation is to deepen the feeling of immersion when you play games, and we had the opportunity with our new controller to reimagine how the sense of touch can add to that immersion.

The best part is that PlayStation 5 developers will have the freedom to program the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback based on need and imagination. For example, the new DualShock 5 controller can be programmed to give a distinct sense of what it feels like running through grass or mud, or crashing a car into a wall, or tackling someone on the football field, or slipping on ice.

Suffice to say, DualShock 5 will readily make DualShock 4 obsolete at launch. This may prove to be a larger next-generation jump than what many were assuming. Hopefully, Sony has priced both DualShock 5 and PlayStation 5 in a happy place, else finding a replacement controller will be pretty costly.

Last month, a Japanese journalist Zenji Nishikawa claimed that Sony might be releasing two PlayStation 5 models — a basic one with lighter specs and a premium one akin to the Pro. Sony is expected to do a full reveal, or at least a reveal of sorts, for PlayStation 5 at PlayStation Experience in December.

Keep your fingers crossed for a chance to see the next-generation console (and controller) for the first time.

Saqib is a managing editor at segmentnext.com who has halted regime changes, curbed demonic invasions, and averted at least one cosmic omnicide from the confines of his gaming chair. When not whipping his writers into ...