DualShock 4 Will Only Work With PS4 Games On PS5PS4 

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Robin

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I know there is a thread about the supported peripherals news (such as wheels) in the Sim Racing section but I thought the announcement that the DS4 effectively won't fully work with the PS5 deserved its own discussion in here. I am honestly surprised that the DS4 won't work with any PS5 games, only PS4 games running on the new system and right now we don't know how many games that will be.

I understand there might be limitations due to how games use the new Dual Sense tech but basic functionality should have been quite do-able as all your normal Playstation buttons are still there! Also them releasing that Back Button attachment to 'upgrade' the DS4 seemed like a sure hint that they would be fully compatible with PS5. Sony do seem keen to not embrace whole BC thing this gen, which seems to be the polar opposite stance MS is taking.
 
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Sony:
*puts extra functionality most developers will ignore into new controller*

SEE. THE OLD CONTROLLER CAN'T BE USED!


I am honestly surprised that the DS4 won't work with any PS5 games, only PS4 games running on the new system and right now we don't know how many games that will be.
I'm not. They did the same thing in 2013. This time they just couldn't also take potshots at Microsoft for doing it at the same time, because this time Microsoft isn't.
 
I dont understand why people are surprised at this.

Firstly, there's clearly a lot of new tech that is more than just a gimmick which may potentially make it difficult for a DS4 to work correctly with PS5 games. Haptic feedback is clearly more than just dual shock style vibration and the pressure triggers are game changing (forgive the pun).

Secondly, bar a few random games on PS2 that could work with the PS1 controller, the previous gen pad not being compatible with the new console is absolutely nothing new, and therefore could be totally expected.

Maybe it's MS and their Xbox peripherals being compatible thay triggered expectation, but its the opposite of the PS in how the controller is virtually identical and probably harder to not make Xbox One controller compatible.
 
The PS1 controller worked with the PS2 fine apart from games that used the pressure sensitive buttons of which there weren't that many. Even then the controller would still work, you would just get 100% on each press. The PS2 controller could work easily on PS3 with an adaptor, the same with PS3 to PS4.

Yes they were 3rd party connectors but it works. You would think that as the systems are both X86 DS4 to PS5 would be pretty straight forward, certainly more straight forward than the previous generations. If they are going to make it work with PS4 games anyway why not just go all the way.

Sony:
*puts extra functionality most developers will ignore into new controller*

SEE. THE OLD CONTROLLER CAN'T BE USED!

Literally the first thing I thought, I guess we will see if it ends up being as big a gimmick as the Sixaxis and the DS4 light bar.
 
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The PS1 controller worked with the PS2 fine apart from games that used the pressure sensitive buttons of which there weren't that many. Even then the controller would still work, you would just get 100% on each press. The PS2 controller could work easily on PS3 with an adaptor, the same with PS3 to PS4.

Yes they were 3rd party connectors but it works. You would think that as the systems are both X86 DS4 to PS5 would be pretty straight forward, certainly more straight forward than the previous generations. If they are going to make it work with PS4 games anyway why not just go all the way.
Couldn't it be possible Sony has done this to render some of the existing third party connectors useless (Drivehub etc) for the PS5? Perhaps they've built in stronger counter measures to the DS5 to make it harder to use for the chip recognition (or whatever they do) to prevent unlicensed wheel use.

Just a guess on my part though. :)
 
Couldn't it be possible Sony has done this to render some of the existing third party connectors useless (Drivehub etc) for the PS5? Perhaps they've built in stronger counter measures to the DS5 to make it harder to use for the chip recognition (or whatever they do) to prevent unlicensed wheel use.

Just a guess on my part though. :)

Yeah, maybe they do want to be more in control of what peripherals can be used going forward, basically 'do an Apple' and have very strict 3rd party licensing rules.
 
Or the new controller has new functions that will be used in games? Just a thought. I seriously don't understand the backlash on this when it was completely obvious and expected.

The haptic feedback feature for example, is way more than a gimmick devs won't use. This effectively replaces the rumble motors. The rumble motors haven't really changed since the first dualshock, and amounts to not much more than a weighted piece of metal on the end of a rod, usually inside the grips.

Microsoft furthered this with their version of 'haptics'with the impulse triggers on the Xbkx One pad, however the haptics part was a bit misleading, while technically haptic feedback can include basic rumble, its not what haptic feedback is usually meant to describe. The impulse triggers were just smaller rumble motors of old located in the trigger area.

The haptic feedback being talked about with the PS5 controller, is a big step up from this, it can take many forms, lots of applications use small pads among other things to transmit it. A good example of modern haptic feedback is in the iPhone 8. The home button when the phone is turned off, isn't a button, its just recessed glass with a ring around it, it doesn't push or depress like a traditional button. When the phone is on however, it uses haptic feedback so that when you press the button, it clicks, or feels like it clicks, in an extremely convincing manner. A slightly less proniubced example while still using phones is the keyboard on my Galaxy Note 10, the haptic motor is a relatively small square pad but it can transmit its vibrations in very specific ways, I.e. when I'm typing on the keyboard, every keystroke has a tight vibration to replicate the press, but it pinpoints it to feel like each individual letter has its own touch feel, and the space bar has a slightly more powerful vibe. That kind of tight tactile feel can't be replicated with traditional rumble motors which just spin weights at different speeds.

So when they talk about the haptic feedback being able to recreate feeling texture and so on, its this extremely tight and responsive feedback that will achieve that. It will feel much more nuanced and reactive to your hand placement.

This is why this will be more than a gimmick, devs either use it or you don't get vibration feedback. And people love the controller feedback so it will be utilised. Granted to varying degrees but it will be used and will feel excellent.

I think this is how the adaptive triggers will work, haptic feedback can create a feeling of tension in extreme cases by creating extremely tight vibrations. Although this part remains to be seen.

This means in a nutshell, the DS4 would simply lose a huge part of the detail the DualSense will provide, without having to be reprogrammed to use dual shock as well in the game.
 
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Yeah, maybe they do want to be more in control of what peripherals can be used going forward, basically 'do an Apple' and have very strict 3rd party licensing rules.
It's probably more straightforward than that. With a console that is going to be in a bitter price war while also being expensive to produce, it's an easy and fast revenue stream.
 

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