DualShock

• 1. Introduction

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  The DualShock is the best-selling gamepad of all time by units sold, once controllers packed in with consoles are set aside. Sony Interactive Entertainment developed this line of gamepads for the PlayStation family of consoles. The name points to two ideas, vibration feedback and analog controls. In November 1997, the first DualShock reached players as a secondary peripheral for the original PlayStation. It was an optional extra, not the way most people were expected to play. So how did an add-on become the standard? What exactly did the name describe, and what did each new console ask of the controller? Follow the line from 1997 to the PlayStation 5, where it took the name DualSense, and you find hardware that kept changing shape while a few signature details stayed put.

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• 2. Two Motors

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  The first DualShock Analog Controller carried the model number SCPH-1200, and its name came from a pair of vibration motors. Both motors sit inside the handles. The left one is larger and more powerful than the right, which lets a game blend strong and gentle vibration.

  Nintendo took a different route with the Rumble Pak for the Nintendo 64. That accessory holds a single motor and runs on a battery. Every corded DualShock instead draws its power directly from the PlayStation.

  A Sony pad had rumbled a few months earlier. The Japanese version of the Dual Analog Controller included the feature, while Dual Analog controllers sold outside Japan had no rumble at all.

  Gran Turismo and the PlayStation port of Quake II used the two motors to produce vibration in stereo. A crash on one side of the car could be felt on that side of the pad. Vibration was only half of the name, though. The other half was a pair of analog sticks.

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• 3. Sticks and Symbols

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  A red indicator light on the DualShock tells the player that the analog sticks are switched on. A dedicated Analog button toggles between analog and digital mode. In digital mode the light goes dark, the sticks turn off, and the pad acts like the original PlayStation controller using only its digital buttons. The button exists to solve control problems in certain games when the pad is in analog mode. On the DualShock it sits slightly recessed, which helps stop players from switching modes by accident.

  The earlier Dual Analog pad let players press that button a third time. That unlocked a mode for the PlayStation Analog Joystick, shown by a green light instead of red. The DualShock did not carry this feature forward.

  The sticks themselves changed between the two pads. The Dual Analog had smooth plastic tips with concave grooves. The DualShock used textured rubber grips with convex domed caps. Both measured stick movement with 8-bit precision. The Dual Analog also had longer grips and handles, while the DualShock had slightly larger L2 and R2 buttons.

  A green triangle, a red circle, a blue cross, and a pink square mark the face buttons on every pad in this line. They first appeared on the original PlayStation controller, alongside a directional pad, Start and Select buttons, and four shoulder buttons. Simple geometric shapes took the place of letters and numbers. They became a trademark woven deeply into the PlayStation brand. Developers soon had to decide how much of this new hardware their games would actually use.

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• 4. Optional to Standard

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  Waku Waku Puyo Puyo Dungeon, Crash Bandicoot: Warped, Spyro the Dragon, and Tekken 3 all supported vibration and dual sticks shortly after launch. Capcom went back to older titles. It re-released Resident Evil: Director's Cut and Resident Evil 2 with controller support added.

  Some games designed around the Dual Analog's vibration also work on the DualShock, including Porsche Challenge and Crash Bandicoot 2.

  Beginning in 1998, the DualShock became the standard bundled controller for the console in every region. It replaced the digital-only pad that had shipped since the Japanese launch in 1994 and the Western launches in 1995.

  Ape Escape, released in 1999, was the first PlayStation game to explicitly require a Dual Analog or DualShock-type controller. Its gameplay depends on using both analog sticks at once.

  The PS one, a redesigned version of the original PlayStation, arrived in 2000 with a slightly redesigned DualShock, model SCPH-110. A "PSone" word mark replaced "PlayStation" under the logo. The buttons and sticks took on a purple hue to match the console, and the connector became semicircle-shaped. The body came in multiple colors, with white as the standard. The PlayStation 2 controller would arrive in black.

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• 5. Pressure and Weight

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  The DualShock 2 Analog Controller, model SCPH-10010 or SCPH-97026, shipped with the PlayStation 2 at launch. Outside, it looked almost identical to the DualShock. It had different screw positioning and one fewer screw. A blue DualShock 2 logo sat on top. The connector was squarer, and the cable and connector turned black instead of grey. The analog sticks felt stiffer.

  Inside, the DualShock 2 was lighter. Every button except Analog, Start, Select, L3 and R3 could be read as an analog value, sensing 256 levels of pressure. Ten colors followed, from black and satin silver to ceramic white, ocean blue, lemon yellow and candy pink.

  The PlayStation 2 accepts the older DualShock because it uses the same connector and protocol as the original console. Games that rely on the pressure-sensitive buttons, such as The Bouncer, do not work with it. Namco's Tekken 5 and Konami's Winning Eleven Arcade Championship 2012 went further and added ports to arcade cabinets for DualShock or DualShock 2 pads.

  The DualShock 3, model SCPH-98050 or CECHZC2, was announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show. It succeeded the Sixaxis, a wireless PlayStation 3 pad that sensed motion but could not vibrate. In March 2007, Sony settled a patent infringement lawsuit with Immersion after a lengthy legal battle. That settlement cleared the way to put vibration back in. Vibration and motion sensing can run at the same time without interfering.

  The DualShock 3 weighs 192 g, which is 40% more than the 137.1 g Sixaxis. Its internal 3.7 V lithium-ion battery is rated at 570 mAh and gives up to 30 hours of continuous play. A Sony representative confirmed on the 2nd of April 2008 that the Sixaxis would be discontinued when the DualShock 3 arrived in mid-April. The next PlayStation would trade this motion-sensing pad for a controller with a touch pad.

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• 6. Touch Pad and Light Bar

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  A two-point capacitive touch pad that can be clicked sits on the front of the DualShock 4, model CUH-ZCT1 or CUH-ZCT2. In the PlayStation 4 version of Elite Dangerous, its four corners map to separate clickable actions. The controller also has a three-axis gyroscope, a three-axis accelerometer, and vibration. It weighs 210 g and measures 162 by 52 by 98 millimeters. Its rechargeable 3.7 V, 1000 mAh battery can charge while the console is in rest mode.

  Three LEDs form a light bar on the front that glows in many colors. It was developed for PlayStation VR. It can match a player's color to the character they control, and it works with the PlayStation Camera to judge the positions of several players. In Grand Theft Auto V, the bar flashes red and blue when the player is wanted by the police.

  A mono speaker also sits inside the pad, like the one in the Wii Remote. It was only the second major controller in video game history to include one.

  The Start and Select buttons merged into a single Options button. A dedicated Share button lets players upload screenshots and videos from their play. Apart from the L2 and R2 triggers, every button went back to digital input, the first time since the original DualShock. Few games used the pressure input, and rival controllers lacked it, which probably explains the change.

  In January 2014, Sony acknowledged that the rubber on the analog sticks of early CUH-ZCT1 controllers wore or tore after short-term use. The problem affected 10% of controllers. The light bar caused its own complaints because it stayed lit and drained the battery. Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida first answered in the negative in July 2013, though developers could switch the light off within their games. Update 1.70 in April 2014 finally let players dim it.

  On the 15th of September 2016, the second version, CUH-ZCT2, arrived with USB communication, improved triggers and joysticks, longer battery life, and a light bar visible from the top of the touch pad. Exclusive console bundles carried the pad into themed editions. The Days of Play and a 500 Million Limited Edition PS4 Pro were among them.

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• 7. DualSense

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  On the 7th of April 2020, Sony unveiled the DualSense, model CFI-ZCT1W, the controller for the PlayStation 5. It is based on the DualShock 4, with changes shaped by conversations with game designers and players. It weighs 280 g and measures 160 by 66 by 106 millimeters.

  The pad is primarily white with black facing. Its monochrome action buttons are the first non-colored ones on a standard PlayStation controller, though the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation Vita handhelds had monochrome buttons. The body is bigger, rounder and heftier. The light bar moved to the horizontal edges of the touch pad, and five LEDs below it show the player number. The Share button became Create. The black plastic around the sticks comes off without tools.

  Voice coil actuators in the palm grips deliver vibrotactile haptics. The analog triggers, called adaptive triggers, gained force feedback from two DC rotary motors. Games can use this to let a player feel wind and sand in a sandstorm. Sony's own example is feeling the tension of a bow string as the trigger is pulled.

  A 3.5 mm audio jack remains, and USB-C replaces the microUSB port. Copper pins allow charging docks. A dual-microphone array lets players talk without a headset and enabled voice typing on the PS5. The rechargeable battery is rated at 3.65 V and 1560 mAh.

  Forty thousand tiny symbols cover the lower shell of the DualSense as a hidden easter egg. Each is a triangle, circle, cross or square, stacked on top of each other, with the larger ones half a millimeter wide. Designers hand-drew several versions, digitized them, and tested prototypes. Morisawa, a senior art director in Sony's Design Center product design group, described aiming for a look that was good, a grip that was comfortable and non-slip, and a surface that would not hurt hands over a long session. Sean Hollister of The Verge examined the design and noted one downside: "it picks up dirt extremely easily and doesn't want to let go."

  The DualSense Edge, model CFI-ZCP1, was unveiled in August 2022. It went on sale on the 26th of January 2023 through PlayStation Direct, and other retailers began selling it on the 23rd of February 2023. Its modular design offers replaceable stick modules, interchangeable stick caps, rear paddle buttons, adjustable trigger lengths, multiple control profiles, and customizable input mapping. A lockable braided USB-C cable comes with it.

  The standard DualSense has become the subject of a class-action lawsuit over perceived drift in one analog stick. The same firm is challenging Nintendo over a similar drift problem in the Joy-Con controllers for the Nintendo Switch.

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• 8. Beyond the Console

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  DS4Windows is an open-source application that lets PlayStation controllers work on PCs running Windows, up to version 11. It does this by emulating a virtual Xbox controller or a DualShock 4. It matters for the DualShock 3, DualShock 4, DualSense and DualSense Edge. The software supports key remapping and rebinding, USB and Bluetooth connections, and customizable profiles. These features help with games that do not natively support PlayStation controllers.

  The program also works with some Nintendo controllers, including the Joy-Con and the Switch Pro controller. Third-party controllers for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 work with it at varying levels of compatibility.

  On Apple hardware, the DualShock 4 and DualSense are fully compatible with Mac computers running macOS and with iOS devices. The DualShock 3 is natively supported only on macOS. On iOS it needs third-party software or jailbreaking, because its Bluetooth pairing requirements are non-standard.

  On the 8th of January 2007, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences gave the DualShock a Technology & Engineering Emmy Award. The award honored peripheral development and the technological impact of video game controllers. It arrived before the DualShock 3 was announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show.

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