Being the 'Odd Man Out' : how will it effect this generation of Consoles?

[onQ]

If we get voluntary 3rd party exclusives, perhaps. I just don't see that happening by-and-large, unless the devs really do target an exclusive feature. Middleware is cross platform. Make you're PS4 game, and you can port it to PC for very little, and XB1 for a bit more. If for 10% investment you can reach a 25+% larger market, is makes sense.

I can see some devs going with a feature though to differentiate. eg. Sony's Rubber Duck game on PS3. That was bought because it was motion control. As a dev looking to make sales in a crowded market place, one way to stand out would be to offer a unique experience. You're more likely to get media coverage then. Thing with DS4's gyro control is that sixaxis allowed for similar and no-one went there. We had sixaxis bowling, for example. Using the controller for motion controls hasn't taken off, and I can't see much reason to think it will in future,

The big difference is that it's now at a point where the Dualshock can be used as a accurate Air Mouse. The motion sensing was upgraded a lot from the 2006 sixaxis to the 2010 Move controller & I'm sure that the 2013 DS4 seen some more improvements in the technology. The technology in the sixaxis & DS4 is 7 years apart & PlayStation Move was already a big improvement. They had 3 more years to improve the technology since the PlayStation Move & the SDK should be a lot more advanced & easier to work with than the sixaxis SDK on the PS3.


DS3 was more suitable for tilt controls while the DS4 is closer to a accurate pointer device. Devs that might not have seen much of a benefit using tilt controls in their games might see the potential in using the DS4 as a air mouse or making use of the touchpad.

 

[Nesh]

DS3 was more suitable for tilt controls while the DS4 is closer to a accurate pointer device. Devs that might not have seen much of a benefit using tilt controls in their games might see the potential in using the DS4 as a air mouse or making use of the touchpad.

That!

 

[onQ]

Off screen visual cues from the light bar it's not much but it's a unique feature to the PS4 & this lead designer seem to love it. (Sidenote: Wii U can also do off screen visual cues but you have to look down at the tablet to see them.)


Why Alien: Isolation Lead Designer Favours The PS4 Version

"My favourite version is the PS4 version – and I say that as a massive Microsoft fan – so to say the PS4 version is my favourite feels a bit weird," said Napper.

"The reason is – and it’s so minor – but we’ve made the DS4 to act like the motion tracker, so it lights up along with the radar blips and if the alien’s close-by it goes off quicker

"It adds so much immersion, when it’s all dark and your legs are lit up in your peripheral vision."

Napper added that when he first tried it he expected it to be little more than a "good gimmick", but "it genuinely is a very good feature".

Napper admitted that "we’ve got something specific going on with each of the platforms", but if you're interested in playing the ultimate, immersive Alien game it seems PS4 is the way to go.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Off screen visual cues from the light bar it's not much but it's a unique feature to the PS4 & these lead designer seem to love it. (Sidenote: Wii U can also do off screen visual cues but you have to look down at the tablet to see them.)

A few games are using the light bar in an informative way but I've yet to develop the habit of looking down to use it, generally my eyes are on the screen.

 

[onQ]

A few games are using the light bar in an informative way but I've yet to develop the habit of looking down to use it, generally my eyes are on the screen.

When it's a solid color it's easy to forget that it's even glowing but in a situation like he described where it's flashing I think it would be hard not to notice that in your peripheral vision.

 

[Deleted member 11852]

When it's a solid color it's easy to forget that it's even glowing but in a situation like he described where it's flashing I think it would be hard not to notice that in your peripheral vision.

The light bar isn't visible in my peripheral vision but I guess it depends how you hold the controller. I hold it low, slightly angled down. I'd have rotate it upwards to see the bar except in a darkened room with the light bar on full mega-blast (which it isn't any more!)

 

[onQ]

Rumored Steam controller that now has a analog stick.

Valve Explains Why Its Latest Steam Controller Has an Analog Stick

The fact that a analog stick has become a afterthought on a gaming controller made to play PC games says a lot about how much closer touch controls are to being a mouse alternative.

If the Steam controller is successful I'm sure there will be some Steam games created with the touch pad controller in mind.

 

[joker454]

Cool, for a while there I thought Valve was going to pull another Atari 5200.

 

[onQ]

Mirror's Edge used the sixaxis controls on the PS3 even though it was a 3rd party game because it just make sense to use sixaxis in a game like Mirror's Edge. DualShock4 motion sensors are at least 20X more precise than the DS3 sensors & the touchpad can really be used to make jump, slide , dodge right , dodge left controls simpler & funner to play like Temple Run in first person view.
If Mirror's Edge 2 or 3 was to base it's gameplay around the DualShock4 & really work well it would probably change the whole out look of this generation.

 

[onQ]

The light bar isn't visible in my peripheral vision but I guess it depends how you hold the controller. I hold it low, slightly angled down. I'd have rotate it upwards to see the bar except in a darkened room with the light bar on full mega-blast (which it isn't any more!)

Watching a live stream Destiny review and the guy says that when you use the flashlight in Destiny the light bar lights up his whole office with the white light.


I wonder if it does the same in Until Dawn. that's going to be crazy seeing the light shine as you move the controller in the game & in real life.