Before I start this blog post, I'd like to give a special thanks to all the people who posted on my last blog, but most especially to @RSM-HQ, who offered very reasoned points, reinforced by observations on the industry at large. Not only that, but for looking past the tribal gloating from the System Wars crowd. You did a lot to quiet the doubt in me, RSM, and the perspective is one I appreciate.
With that, on to the main show.
Controllers. Most of us have our favorites, from the beginning to today, and even on one system, you can find all sorts of controllers for every need.
Well, on Xbox and Switch you can, anyway.
It was something that struck me while I was getting my PS5 today - There's very little in the way of options for controllers for the PS5. The DualSense is crammed to the gills with gimmicks, but is also an ergonomic nightmare, with these sharp edges on the grips that are a lot less comfortable than controllers I've played with in the past, even as recently as the DualShock 4 and the Xbox One/X controller. How that ergonomic nightmare was missed, I'll never know, but that wouldn't be so bad if you had more options.
Unfortunately, the only other controllers that are available are even more expensive, and more crammed with gimmicks than the DualSense. The DualSense Edge, the Victrix Pro, and the Wolverine V2 are the only ones I've been able to find, and they're hellishly overpriced. Indeed, there seems to be no no-frills, gimmickless controller out there one can get to use on the vast majority of games that don't require Sony's motion or haptic triggers... Assuming ANY game really requires the latter as anything but a difficulty booster.
Contrast that with the Switch and the Xbox Series X. The former has a wealth of controllers of many shapes, sizes and themes, and that's just the officially licensed ones. On Series X, not only can you just use the Xbox One controllers, there are pads for every price range, and they've even gone so far as to enter a partnership with 8bitdo, the absolute GOATs when it comes to 3rd party controllers. Yes, 3rd party pads on Microsoft's system need to be wired, but it's a small price to pay for qualitykit. Meanwhile, on the PS5... Crickets.
This isn't limited to the PS5, either. The PS4 also had a shortage of simple controllers, unless you wanted to use the Horii mini pad or import the Horii FPS pad (a controller styled like the Xbox One controller). But hell, at least Horii was there to fill the gap. However, the drought of mass-market-minded controllers for the PS5 is much more noticeable because of the sheer amount of money being asked. I don't know what Sony's problem is, but not everyone wants to spend $70 on extra pads, be it for a Player 2 or just something that feels a bit more simple and more ergonomic. It's not going to be very long before Brook figures out how to make their accessories work on PS5 games. They're already working on it with PS5-only fighting games. Is that going to be the only option for the PS5? Why is it taking THIS long for more mainstream alternative controllers to be released on the system?
Given Sony's position in the market, I really hope we're not talking about this in another year's time. The upper end of the market is covered, now let's get something for the rest of us.
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