On The Edge Of Sensibility
An Elite Take On PlayStation’s DualSense Edge Controller
As a medium of art, gaming excels in the one place where other forms of media fail or simply can’t succeed: Immersion. Each time we dive into video games, we extend our arms into the void and are often greeted by the gentle caress of vibrations in the palms of our hands. Soft taps at the edge of our fingertips nudging us even deeper into the unexplored. Ultimately, the handshake that pierces the veil and draws us into virtual reality is initiated by the gaming controller. An object where worlds collide. The bridge between reality and virtual reality. Sony Playstation’s greatest innovation with their current generation controller isn’t the adaptive triggers which change tension depending on context, rather it is the haptic feedback. The haptic motors add more texture and quality to the vibrations that emanate from the controller. These offer a greater degree of creative freedom to developers who choose to use them especially in environmental storytelling. The pitter-patter of raindrops through the controller adds richness and depth to the environments created especially when paired with headphones that support three dimensional sound. However, seldom do third party developers/publishers make full use of the DualSense’s full feature set. I suspect this is partially due to the fact the video games published also have to launch on multiple platforms which may or may not support the additional features.
Ultimately, the handshake that pierces the veil and draws us into virtual reality is initiated by the gaming controller. An object where worlds collide.
While Sony’s unit offers more bells and whistles (in-built microphone & speakers, dynamic light strip) it still fails to hold a candle to the brilliant industrial design of Microsoft-Xbox’s gaming controller. With its offset sticks and compact design the Xbox controller has been over-engineered and can fit into the palms of most of the world’s populace. Rather than being greeted with clammy hands, gamers are pulled in with a warm yet firm grip of a compadre.
In gaming culture, gamers have shown an immense affinity to customisation in-game. Anything from customising the look and feel of weapons in a looter shooter via skins and mods to customising in-game companions. Microsoft-Xbox has capitalised on this by offering customisation options to gamers via the Xbox design lab in select markets. Essentially, all their controllers can be fully customised offering limitless combinations ensuring that each controller is unique. To top this off, Xbox routinely offers special edition controllers for a slight price increment over the standard controllers. In contrast, while Sony does offer limited edition and custom controllers it is a far cry from what Microsoft offers.
This exemplifies Microsoft’s ability to reach back into the past and pull into the present items from its pool of nostalgia. For Microsoft, compatibility’s stream doesn’t just flow forward, it runs backwards.
At the top of the controller hierarchy are the pro controllers offered by both console manufacturers: The Elite Series II Controller for the Xbox and the DualSense Edge Controller for the PlayStation 5 consoles. While the Elite Series II is compatible with last generation consoles (Xbox One X|S), the DualSense Edge is not. Much like the standard DualSense controller. This exemplifies Microsoft’s ability to reach back into the past and pull into the present items from its nostalgia pool. For Microsoft, compatibility’s stream doesn’t just flow forward, it runs backwards. Perhaps emblematic of the current state of the Xbox brand. Withering in the present while its roots still anchored in the past draw from an ever receding wellspring of ingenuity. Meanwhile, Sony’s Playstation is firmly set in greener pastures reaping bountiful harvest as its branches stretch further out and into the future.
Both controllers offer the ability to remap all the buttons to various configurations as desired by the player. However, the menu and screen recording buttons on the DualSense edge cannot be remapped. Additionally the lack of two extra paddles on the back of the controller make it hard to map anything but very specific buttons to the two paddles present.
The pro controllers both feature in-built batteries. It is rather telling that the promotional page for the DualSense Edge does not highlight anything about the battery life, which is abysmal in actual usage. This controller has a much smaller battery pack compared to the standard one with charge lasting for about 6 – 10 hours depending on one’s particular gaming habits. In practice this translates to two or three gaming sessions at best. Meanwhile, Microsoft isn’t shy about the 40 hours of claimed battery life for the Elite Series II. This is proudly emblazoned on the promotional page for the controller. In normal usage this easily translates to about two weeks of gaming on a single charge. However, it is worth noting that as both controllers can be used for PC gaming, in the professional e-sports scenes battery life isn’t an issue as these are usually plugged in during competitive events. Both retail for the same price with the Microsoft offering a cheaper variant of the Elite Series II sans the extra swappable parts. It can be argued that the PlayStation unit offers better value as it features an in-built speaker and microphone as well as the adaptive triggers. The thumb sticks can also be replaced at a cost for the replacement units in the event of stick drift. Sadly, it does offer less in terms of practicality. Third parties in the space which retail for not much more may be a better fit for hardcore gamers. It does seem that the DualSense pro controller is riding on the very edge of sensibility.
Image credits in order of appearance: Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay; Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay