By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
TheLastStarFighter on 22 October 2013
Edit Thread
platformmaster918 said:
TheLastStarFighter said:
I think they did want it, but it was a mix of cost, development challenges and value. The Wii U gamepad has zero latency - it's actually quicker than the interaction on the TV. This has marveled a lot of tech people who analyzed the system. Getting that up and running on PS4 probably would have been a challenge in the time frame between when they saw it displayed for Wii U and when they wanted to ship PS4. Cost is obviously huge since they knew they couldn't do a $600 system again. And really, every Playstation has essentially been a more powerful version of the one before and the market likes that, so is there really a value in a touch screen for Sony?

Personally I would have enjoyed if Sony (or Nintendo) made a system a little weaker than PS4 and with a small touch screen on a Wii U Pro controller type interface as a standard controller for all players on the system. Would have been cool if sold between $300 and $400.

Also, I think Sony really should have thought harder about the thumb stick position. The low placement is not ergonomic, no matter how used to it PS gamers are.

people didn't seem to have a problem with it on PS2.  I've heard way more people (not on this site just in general around campus) who like the symmetrical sticks compared to the 360 type or have no preference compared to the Xbox and Wii fans who like to state it like it's a universal truth that asymmetical or lower stick placement is inferior.

People don't have a problem with it because they are used to it.  It works just fine.  But from a biomechanical perspective it is a poor design.  Your thumbs aren't at rest.  It stems back to Dualshock 1, when the thumb sticks were the secondary imput and the buttons and d-pad were the primary.  The d-pad and buttons on a Sony controller are placed at the natural hand resting place becuase when PS1 was designed they were the primary imputs.  On almost all games now the left thumbstick is the primary mover, so it should be at your thumb's natural position.  Whether the right stick should by asymetrical (XBox) or symetrical (Wii U) with the left depends on whether you view the right thumbstick or the buttons to be the primary use of your right thumb.  I would argue that Wii U and XBox are actually reverse in layout than they should be, since XBox games are dominated by dual-stick shooters and Nintendo leans heavily on platformers and has seldom used the dual-stick style.  Regardless, PS controllers are fine because humans can figure out how to use them, they are just a poor design from a muscle fatigue perspective.  Not a big issue since thumbs are strong muscles.  Sony even subtly admitted this in the OP, as they didn't say they stuck with the low-placed thumb sticks because it is ideal or correct, but rather due to "muscle memory" ie, Sony gamers are used to it so we need to keep it.