Good good good, good vibrations! The Beach Boys may have been on to something all those decades ago, because quality feedback in a game when done right, is absolutely magical stuff. From ye olde PlayStation days that introduced some terrific rumbllings in your hands all the way to the more modern era of tactile shaking, the technology has come a long way.
While everyone is currently focused on the PS5 console and its SSD technology, Sony has been making an effort to also up their game with a brand new generation of controllers. The DualShock is gone, replaced by the DualSense and its more handsome design. A design that Sony says will allow for more “realistic” haptic feedback.
“Although DualSense will allow for more realistic game experiences, creators will also need more time and know-how to create high quality vibrations,” a new Sony report read, detailing how the company sought to make the design of hand-delivered rumbles easier for studios. This led to Sony develping a system that could deliver force feedback to players through data based on in-game sound effects and the actions taken within a game.
In the beginning, we spent many days just agonizing over the data. Later, we studied and examined different algorithms while getting advice from experts. This allowed us to automate the generation of high-quality vibration waveforms to a certain extent, making it look as if they were created manually by the creators.
Which sounds all well and good, provided that the controller doesn’t sound like a damaged World War Two Spitfire in desperate need of a landing strip. Having a more subtle vibration would also be neat, in comparison to some games that feel like they’re going to rip your appendages off with the amount of vibes that travel down your digits.
I guess we’ll have to…wait and feel what the DualSense is like.
Last Updated: September 1, 2020
