COG Considers: The DualShock 4 Had A Good Run
Gosh, how have you been? What a hectic couple of weeks this was. What with the hard facts, the soft coups, the hot new consoles, and the cold weather. With the release of a new set of consoles comes an age-old tradition I honestly forget about every single time: waxing poetic about the previous generation’s amazing controllers. They were just so, so great, weren’t they? But were they good enough to keep using them for this generation? The short answer is no. The long answer is too long for me to tackle here, but it’s also no. Let’s try out a medium answer instead!
People on Twitter, aka The Hellsite, aka DOOMscroll Eternal, aka the new TikTok Recycling Center that just opened up down the road, are getting riled up about the DualShock 4 not working with PS5 games. The new console plays most PS4 games you see, so you can kind of use the controller with the console. So why not go that extra step, huh? We can have a little more DS4, you know. Just as a treat. Maybe every other weekend. To do things this way is Anti-Consumer, they say.
Okay so first of all, calling a multi-billion dollar corporate entity anti-consumer is what we in the writing business refer to as a “synonym.” As long as they continue referring to you as a consumer, they’re telling you that your value is directly connected to how much money you spend on their products. Generating continuous revenue is like, their whole deal. A cross-gen controller might mean you spend less money on controllers, so that’s not happening.
Secondly, all accounts suggest that the DualSense is a literal game-changer. The haptic feedback for shooting guns is so fresh people are going to get flashbacks. Things like slight breezes, pebbled ground, full-plate armor, and fresh-cut grass are coming out of that controller now. Sony is, quite understandably, supremely psyched about this product. They’re not gonna squeeze out its spotlight with some old-ass kit from 2013.
Look at it this way, troubled gamers: you’re now part of a respected, decorated class of consumers. You too can join the ranks of bitter, stubborn diehards absolutely certain that the older model is infinitely superior. Those somber scholars who clean their glasses, sigh heavily, and declare to the lecture hall that this will not stand. Also you can still use the DS4 for backwards compatible PS4 games and the PSVR, so it’s not a total wash.