Although it may not be the most expensive part of a new console, the controller's arguably the most important. After all, a new console's only as good as its controller. Needing to be small, yet comfortable, light, yet sturdy, and packed full of all the inputs you'll ever need, whilst organised well enough to be functional, a heck of a lot of work goes into getting controller designs right - and the recently announced Playstation 4 is no different.
Sticking to the motto if it ain't broke, don't fix it, the Playstation 4's controller, known as the DualShock 4, takes a design that'll be instantly recognisable to anyone who's played on a Playstation 3 - after all, the basic design is still pretty much exactly the same, with Triangle, Circle, Square, and Cross buttons, a D-Pad, and two analogue sticks, even if the shape has been slightly tweaked, being made slightly fatter , and with concave analogue sticks to provide extra grip. Look a little closer, however, and you start to see how much Sony have crammed into this thing.
The first, and most striking difference, is the addition of a touch pad on the front of the controller. Unlike the Wii U's gigantic touch screen, however, this won't be lighting up in games, or even displaying pictures like a Dreamcast VMU (although we'd love it if that changed between now and launch). In fact, it hasn't actually been announced quite what the touch pad will be used for in games - but if Sony felt the need to include it, you can bet developers asked for it. Below the touch pad are two other new additions - a speaker, that lets the controller make noises, a bit like the Wii Remote can, and near the bottom of the controller, a headphone jack, letting you plug in a headset and chat with your friends.
Potentially even more interesting, though, is the addition of two new buttons - gone are Start and Select, consigned to the scrapheap of controllers past, instead replaced by two new ones that have been crammed into the extremities of the centre - one, labelled Options, which is for browsing through menus, and another, labelled Share.
And it's this that's one of the most impressive parts of the Playstation 4. At the touch of a button, you'll be able to access a stream of footage from the last few minutes of the game you've played. Choose where you want to start, where you want to stop, hit a button, and you can upload the video to share with your friends. Taking screenshots is equally as simple - meaning you'll never miss any of those incredible moments.
Aw. He's happy to see you.
Meanwhile, on the front/top of the controller, things have been similarly redesigned. The triggers have been reworked to make them more comfortable (they're now slightly concave, so your fingers shouldn't slip off), the trusty USB charging port is still there, but the most notable new addition is the blue, grinning mouth. Playstation fans may recognise this as being rather similar to the giant blue glowing ball that comes perched on top of the Move motion-controllers - and with good reason, as pointer/motion control functionality will now be built into the DualShock 4. Coming partnered with a Kinect-style tracking camera, the Playstation 4 will be able to track your controller in 3D space, judging not only what angle you're holding it at, but also how close to your TV, or far away it is. Again, no examples have yet been shown, but we're assured that it'll role the practicality of a controller, and the ease of use of Move into one tidy package.
