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FEATURE - Sony Playstation Controller Evolution

This is a Feature Article from us here in Animation Game. Today we are going to take a look back of how the Sony Playstation controller has been evolving to what is now known as the Sixaxis. We'll discuss about the features and functions of each one, how it started, what new things were added and some in betweens.

PLAYSTATION CONTROLLER

Directional	8-way: up down left right
Buttons	Standard: square triangle circle X Shoulder: L1 L2 R1 R2 Front: select start
Extra Features	(none)

The first official Sony Playstation controller was this. It was said to be based on the Super Famicom or Super Nintendo controller having the normal direction pad (up, down, left, right) for your left thumb and 4 standard buttons (square, triangle, X, circle) for your right thumb with the same "select" and "start" buttons but instead of just 2 shoulder buttons at the top Sony decided to put 4 being 2 for each side (L1, L2, R1, R2). They decided to add this for the reason of Sony's forecast of 3D gaming giving depth to the controller. They also added 2 handles at the bottom of the controller to fit your palms perfectly which was kind of a problem on the Super Nintendo controller.

Sony originally wanted to co-op with Nintendo giving a proposal with their geometry engine (which was later used for the Playstation) to make the next big console. Later Nintendo refused the deal which pissed Sony off. So Sony decided to just make their own console which turned out to be the Playstation. This was themed also for the younger audience just like Nintendo. That is why they decided to name it PLAYSTATION with the controllers with cute colorful shapes. In no time, the Sony Playstation became a monster console and Nintendo and Sega couldn't do anything about it. It took over the video game world.

DUAL ANALOG

Directional	8-way: up down left right Analog: left analog stick right analog stick
Buttons	Standard: square triangle circle X Shoulder: L1 L2 R1 R2 Front: select start analog
Extra Features	-analog light

During the reign of the Playstation, they decided to amp'd up version of the controller dubbed Dual Analog. These gave very much more control to sensitive aspects of a game such as looking around in first person's perspective or walking and running in platform games. They gave 2 analog sticks where you could slip your thumbs down for easy controlling. They also added an analog button to turn on and off the function to give way to games that didn't use it.

It was said that this was to defend against the Nintendo 64's single analog controller and also the later Sega Saturn Analog controller for Night's Into Dreams.

DUAL SHOCK

Directional	8-way: up down left right Analog: left analog stick right analog stick
Buttons	Standard: square triangle circle X Shoulder: L1 L2 R1 R2 Front: select start analog L3 R3
Extra Features	-analog light -rumble

Once again, Sony gives another boost to the revolutionary controller. This time they add the L3 and R3 by pressing on the analog sticks. And for the first time rumble was added and it surely gave such a feedback and realism to games that sometimes gets you letting go of the controller (saw a friend throw the controller in Resident Evil).

Nintendo also had rumble but Sony had 2 rumblers inside each handle making good use of the empty space. Dreamcast had a rumble add on.

DUAL SHOCK 2

Directional	8-way: up down left right Analog: left analog stick right analog stick
Buttons	Standard: square triangle circle X Shoulder: L1 L2 R1 R2 Front: select start analog L3 R3
Extra Features	-analog light -rumble -pressure sensitive buttons

The Dual Shock 2 was built for the Playstation 2. It looks and feels no different from the first Dual Shock. The only feature added to this new version was the pressure sensitive buttons. All the buttons except the front buttons (start, select, L3, R3, analog) was given this feature. This added a bit more control to racing games which makes good use to gas and breaks.

Sony was the only one to have this feature and gamers loved it. Even though not alot of games used the feature it was nice to have just in case a company had some bright ideas.

SIXAXIS

Directional	8-way: up down left right Analog: left analog stick right analog stick
Buttons	Standard: square triangle circle X Shoulder: L1 L2 Trigger R1 R2 Trigger Front: select start PS Console Button w/ light L3 R3
Extra Features	-pressure sensitive buttons -controller light indicator -USB port -motion sensor tilt controls -wireless -rechargable internal batteries

Finally we come to the Sixaxis. This controller is probably the hybrid of all controllers. This controller was built and designed for the next generation of gaming. Going against 2 tough competitors it must be ready to rumble, but the final designs turns out to leave out the rumble feature. Losing the rumble, it gains more features.

One of these features is wireless. No need to connect anything to the console except signals.

Replacing the rumble button is a PS console button that lights up (going against Microsoft's XBox 360's "Xbox Button") which is used to bring up the main dashboard menu of the Playstation 3.

Another important upgrade was the 2 far shoulder buttons (L2, R2) are now triggers (going against the 360's trigger buttons) giving more accurate analog input.

Also worth mentioning is the 4 lights at the top of the controller (XBox 360 had it on the "XBox Button"). This indicates which controller is assigned to which player making it easy to know.

We're not done yet. Since the Sixaxis is wireless, batteries can be a problem. So Sony added a USB port at the top of the controller. All you have to do is connect the cable from the controller to the main console to charge the batteries built in the controller (XBox 360's rechargable batteries are sold seperately).

But the biggest addition would probably be this. The Sixaxis Motion Sensitive Tilt controls. Going against the Nintendo's Wii-mote, Sony has decided too to add a motion input. Not as agressive as the Wii-mote but surely developers has tons of ideas to do with this feature.


Conclusion
As you could see, Sony has done their best to give you the best input device a video game console and offer. People has said that Sony copied most of these features from their competitors. Whatever the story, the Playstation controller has been though alot of battles and eras. No doubt that it is a fine piece of technology.


Extended - Development and Future Plans

This was the controller in it's early development.

This is a design that everyone rejected and good thing Sony responded or we'll be all playing boomerang instead of video games.

This is a patent submitted by sony. It shows full 3D capabilities eliminating the whole controller in itself. Instead, have some sort of glove like input device. I only assume that it will register all your hand movements as you use it.