PS4 to abandon DualShock design – report

Sony’s PlayStation 4 will be the first machine in the series to abandon the DualShock joypad design, according to online reports.

CVG claims to have word from a studio source working on an unspecified Sony game who says that several designs have been tossed about, some of which are closer to the existing DualShock than others.

They also contain a wide assortment of tech including biometrics and LCD touch screens.

A separate source claims that PlayStation designers are trying to emulate the sort of technologies seen in the Vita.

Sony has flirted with the idea of ditching DualShock before, most notably with the notorious ‘boomerang controller’ (pictured) that was pictured with the PS3 when that was first unveiled. However, a wave of criticism from consumers led to that design being ditched.

In recent times most gamers tend to regard the Xbox 360 pad as the go-to controller of choice, but with next-gen consoles having to push the boat out if they wish to win vital market share in an increasingly violent games sector, joypad innovations of some sort must be a near certainty.