The new buttons – “Share,” “Options,” and the touchpad – are both unobtrusive and easy to access and use, so much so that the loss of “Start” and “Select” never feels like a sacrifice. I have found that most PS4 games use “Options” as they would “Start,” which makes sense, while the launch line-up only occasionally gives the touchpad any clear purpose. But when the touchpad is employed – typically, as in Assassin’s Creed 4 or Trine 2, to emulate a mouse – I find it works well, if not spectacularly. Clearly, this is a feature most developers are going to need more time to make use of, which is fine by me. I like the concept of the touchpad very much, and in what practice I have had with it so far, I cannot wait to see what shape it will take in the future.
In addition to playing games, the DualShock 4 interacts with the PS4 user interface in a number of clever, satisfying ways. Most obviously is the inclusion of a standard, 3.5mm headphone jack on the bottom of the controller, which allows users to stream the audio of the game to almost any standard headset (Sony cannot guarantee every pair of headphones in existence will work, but most should do just fine). It works beautifully – from settings, users can choose whether or not to stream everything or only chat audio, and once that decision is made, all you need to do is plug in the headphones; the system will do the rest. This is undoubtedly one of my favorite features of the PS4. There are a variety of situations where one might need to use headphones while gaming – playing late at night, playing with other people in the house, sound system problems, etc. – and the PS4 makes doing so the easiest thing in the world. Not only does the sound transmission work flawlessly, but it is also of amazingly high quality; even using a simple pair of Apple Earpods, I found the sound quality extremely impressive, and using better headphones and headsets only sweetens the deal.
Pairing the DualShock 4 with the system is easy, and having multiple users use multiple controllers is astoundingly simple. When an additional controller is turned on, the PS4 asks which account it would like to use, with the option to sign in as a guest. Until the controllers or system are turned off, those controllers are then paired with the selected account, meaning there is no confusion as to which controller belongs to which player, nor any difficulty in one player accessing their own profile or data. These are all things that could be difficult or awkward on the PS3 and Xbox 360, but never on the PS4; playing locally with friends has never been easier, something I frankly did not expect in an era when local multiplayer is on the decline.
For further personal identification, the DualShock 4 also includes a nifty if overlarge triangular light, which shines a different color for each player (blue by default) and orange when charging. The light is angled down, so it will never get in your eyes while playing, but I do find that the light is so bright and so large that it can reflect off the television when the image being displayed is dark. That is an annoyance, though a relatively minor one. Certain games use the light bar in creative ways – Killzone flashes red when you are about to die, and turns green when you come back to life – but overall, it is the only part of the DualShock 4 that lacks a clear and obvious purpose.
Nevertheless, it is quite possible the DualShock 4 is the best controller I have ever used. That statement will be put to the test in the months and years to come, of course – the Xbox 360 gamepad is tough to beat, and I’ve used and loved it for eight years now – but it is undeniable the DualShock 4 makes a strong, immediate impression, and that it is one of the Playstation 4’s single greatest assets.
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