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The goal is to “forget its existence”! ? PS5 DualSense Controller Developer Interview Reveals Design Secrets

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Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE)’s latest generation of amusement console “PlayStation 5 (PS5)” was officially launched globally in November last year. In addition to the dramatic increase in graphics processing performance and reading speed, one of the key features is its equipment. The new “DualSense wireless controller” has added two new functions, “haptic feedback” and “adaptive trigger”, which greatly enhance the immersion and control changes of the gaming experience.

SIE Director of Product Management (Director of Product Management) Aoki Aoki (Toshimasa Aoki) and SIE’s own studio Housemarque representative Gregory Louden (PS5 exclusive game “Return of Death” screenplay director) recently received a written interview from Bahamut GNN through Q&A The method further conveys the design concept and practical application experience of the DualSense wireless controller for players’ reference.

Interview with SIE Product Management Director Junya Aoki

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SIE Product Management Director Junya Aoki

GNN ：When did the development of DualSense begin? What are the main teams or partners involved?

Aoki:The development of the DualSense wireless controller started in 2016 and was jointly completed by the SIE hardware team and the PlayStation Studios team. In the PlayStation Studios team, the Asobi team is highly involved, because their headquarters is in Tokyo, and the hardware team is also in Tokyo, making it easy to share early hardware prototypes and discuss efficiently. Soon after, we started to work with other PlayStation Studios teams to get further feedback from the development team.

GNN ：What are the goals set at the beginning of development? Have you tried those ideas?

Aoki:We hope to provide a higher level of immersion through the controller. The goal of DualSense wireless controller is to seamlessly connect players and games, allowing playersForget about holding the controller in your hand. We want the controller to be part of the overall gaming experience on PS5 as if it does not exist.

To achieve this goal, we tried many different ideas, just like when we develop other products.

GNN ：In the end, why did you choose to add haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, based on what kind of considerations?

Aoki:Including game developers at PlayStation Studios, our team members believe that haptic feedback and adaptive triggers are two key features that can provide advanced immersion. Among the ideas we have tried, these features can best help us achieve the goal of seamlessly connecting the player and the game-by actually feeling the effect of the operation in the hand, allowing the player to integrate into the game.

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GNN ：Vibration motor technology has been around for many years. Why did you feel that this part needs to be changed in the first place?

Aoki:The traditional vibration motor is not delicate enough to create a touch that is closely related to the experience in the game. In the first few mainframe generations, this technology has not been further improved. “Touch” has not received the attention it deserves in the industry, so we think this is an opportunity to try something different. Our engineering team has developed a demo of the ball rolling in a box. The material of the ball can be changed to wood, plastic or metal. Once the material of the ball is changed, it will be obvious that the experience of tactile feedback has changed. Therefore, we decided to choose the haptic feedback experience as one of the potential new features of the DualSense wireless controller.

GNN ：What alternative technologies have been sought during the development process? What was the reason for choosing Linear Resonant Actuators (LRA) in the end?

Aoki:Linear resonant actuator (LRA) was selected as a feedback device because of its wide-area fidelity and low latency. It helps us to use sound waveforms as input means to achieve “touch”.

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    Linear resonant brake used by DualSense ※ The photo is taken from ifixit.com

GNN ：Is there any specific data or magnification that can help everyone understand how much the tactile feedback is compared to previous vibrations? Like the frequency range that can be presented? Power level or something?

Aoki:Sorry, we do not share the comparison figures with the DualShock 4 vibration function.

GNN ：Based on what kind of idea is the adaptive trigger function added?

Aoki:The L2 and R2 buttons are the two most frequently used buttons on previous controllers, and they are also the largest in size and depressible range. We hope to use these buttons to show a more realistic “touch”. We used a dynamic controller equipped with an adaptive trigger to test the early demos in a VR environment. It feels incredible, especially since you can see what your hands are doing in the game. Later, when the adaptive trigger was tested in a non-VR environment, it still achieved the goal of seamlessly connecting the player and the game, deepening our confidence in this new technology.

GNN ：Have you tested those trigger designs during the development process? How did you choose the current plan in the end?

Aoki:In order to ensure that the finished product can provide a targeted gaming experience and meet the ergonomics and design of the DualSense wireless controller, we have tested many different trigger designs. The final choice is a solution that can balance both aspects.

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    Adaptive trigger drive components used by DualSense ※ The photo is taken from ifixit.com

GNN ：Joining these new technologies is bound to pay more costs. How does the development team make a trade-off between function and cost?

Aoki:This is a trade-off. For us, the focus is to ensure that our products are innovative and at the same time provide players with a quality experience.

GNN ：In the past, many unconventional features of consoles failed to bring substantial impact because they were rarely adopted. So how does the development team ensure that the new features of DualSense are welcomed by game developers and widely adopted this time?

Aoki:When we first revealed the new controller prototype to game developers, their response was very positive. The joy and smiles on their faces made us feel shocked and excited. Developers immediately started to think of ideas and wanted to implement these features in their games. This goal of providing an immersive gaming experience is consistent with the goal we want to achieve with the DualSense wireless controller. The reaction from game developers in the early stage makes us convinced that it will be welcomed by many other developers.

In the game development process, the actual operating experience of the new controller is very important, so we shared the Demo of “Space Robot Game Room” with all game developers to show how the new controller functions are applied in the game. We make it easy for developers to use the functions of the new controller and make it work. Whenever developers have questions or technical support needs, we will provide advice to ensure that they understand that the DualSense wireless controller has the potential to add immersion to their gaming experience.

GNN ：At present, DualSense can only play PS4 games downstream of the PS4 compatible mode of PS5, but it cannot be used directly on the PS4 console. Would you like to ask if there are any plans for PS4 to add support for DualSense through an update in the future?

Aoki:There is currently no relevant information to reply to this point.

Interview with Housemarque representative Gregory Louden

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Housemarque represents Gregory Louden

GNN ：Could you please share your first impression of DualSense with the production team?

Greg：When we first saw the prototype of the DualSense wireless controller inside Housemarque, we were deeply shocked by the potential of the tactile feedback and adaptive trigger. It demonstrates the potential to increase texture and touch and feedback of different materials in the game experience, while at the same time elevating the immersion and overall atmosphere of the game to a new level. I clearly remember that when Pedro Sousa, the producer of XDEV, brought the prototype to Helsinki and let us play with this brand new controller from Japan, we deeply felt how special the new thing in hand was.

GNN ：At what stage did you get the DualSense development kit? Before or after the game is put into development?

Greg：Housemarque is one of the first teams in the world to have the opportunity to experience and learn about PlayStation 5. “Return of Death” has been finalized as a PS5 exclusive game from the beginning of the project. Our goal is to create breakthrough games while demonstrating the amazing new-generation hardware performance of the PS5. And we also received the trial version of the DualSense wireless controller in the early development stage of “Death Return”, giving us time to research and develop “Death Return” and functions related to haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.

GNN ：DualSense’s new featuresDeath returnWhat impact does the design and experience have?

Greg：Based on our first experience using the DualSense wireless controller, we hope to provide a physical experience of feeling, fighting, and exploring Atropos in “Death Return”. We have seen the potential of this controller to increase texture and touch and feedback of different materials in the game experience, and at the same time, it can also raise the immersion and overall atmosphere of the game to a new level. In order to achieve this goal, we have conducted in-depth cooperation with the “Creative Services Group” sound design team of PlayStation London Studio in London, and successfully added tactile feedback that supports texture differences in “Death Return”.

With the adaptive trigger on DualSense, we began to plan how to use this new feature in “Death Return”. We plan to let players use alien weapons in Atropos, so we naturally think of using adaptive triggers to control the firepower of weapons. We designed that the player can just get stuck when pressing the L2 button halfway to enter another firing mode. In this mode, random secondary weapons such as lightning or explosive launchers can be used. This design provides a new experience for PlayStation and the game itself. We are very proud of this, and have seen other games follow up with this design.

GNN ：For games like “Return of the Dead” that are completely designed for PS5, will they be different from other cross-generational or cross-platform games in terms of introducing the new features of DualSense?

Greg：“Return of the Dead” is a game specially built for PlayStation 5, so we don’t have to consider any other platforms when developing.

GNN ：Does the introduction of haptic feedback and adaptive trigger support bring additional burdens or challenges to game development? How does the production team manage these previously unavailable functions?

Greg：The DualSense wireless controller has undoubtedly opened up a whole new field for developers to explore and innovate. It does bring more work and development time, but I think if players can be more integrated into the game experience, the extra time and energy spent are worth it.

In the case of “Death Return”, our player experience team spent a lot of time improving and fine-tuning the mechanism of using the adaptive trigger for secondary weapon shooting. In terms of haptic feedback, we have arranged a special time for sound design in the production schedule to ensure that video transitions and key moments that support haptic feedback in the game can record sound effects in a way that supports the haptic feedback experience.

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