Sony have just unveiled new controller technology which uses a hydraulic press mechanism in each of the sticks. This would allow the controller to tell how hard you were pressing down when playing. But do we even need a feature like this?
Did you know that the PlayStation 5 controller's triggers can have varying levels of resistance? No, most people don't because no games use this feature. And it feels very unnatural when they do (the bow from AC: Valhalla being a prime example). But the more of these features Sony can make, the higher they can price the console, and the more "new features" they can boast in marketing material.
Guess what? They've just thought up another useless innovation...
Sony Patents Hydraulic Press Tech For Controller Sticks
Sony have just patented a new analogue stick that would use a type of hydraulic press to detect how much pressure the user was applying. It uses non-Newtonian fluids, as their viscosity changes under pressure (in the same way that custard is more fluid until something presses down upon it, and it becomes "firmer"). None of this technology is ground-breaking, but it hasn't been applied to gaming before. That's the real innovation here.
You can see below how it would be put together:
What do you think, impressive? Exciting? We're certainly not against innovation, but we're left wondering why anyone would need this feature? It's difficult to think of a genuinely compelling use for this in-game, and to be honest, it sounds like one of those snazzy feature that will never get used.
It reminded us most strongly of the Xbox Kinect. That was an exciting idea when it was revealed, and the applications seemed limitless. But when it actually came to playing games with the Kinect, we were all underwhelmed. It was new technology for its own sake, without enough thought given to why we play games in the first place: fun.
At the end of the day, we shouldn't criticize Sony for bringing something new to the market. But we would much rather see them focus on the real things gamers want: a more competitive PS Plus to rival Game Pass, better treatment for their exclusive games (which are set for a bad year), and increased production of the elusive PS5.
You know what else Sony are ruining? Remasters. TLOU for PS5 will come with no gameplay upgrades or even a Factions mode...ouch.