Sony unveils PlayStation 5's wireless DualSense game controller

UPDATE 8/4/20: Sony has confirmed PlayStation's DualSense controller will still feature an audio jack, following some apparent confusion around last night's reveal. Although onlookers weren't permitted a glimpse of DualSense's underparts in the carefully selected announcement images, Sony Interactive Entertainment's director of product management, Toshimasa Aoki, has since confirmed on Twitter that the controller "still [has] an audio jack so you can plug in your own headsets like DS4". So there you go.

ORIGINAL STORY 7/4/20: Sure, getting the run-down of all those terraflops and megaboops crammed majestically into the powerful heft of your preferred next-gen console is exciting in an abstract kind of way, but the real show doesn't start, I'd say, until we've seen the controller - that hunk of hopefully ergonomic plastic set to be clenched betwixt your digits for the next half decade. And here we are, with a first look at DualSense, PS5's new wireless game controller.

According to Sony blog post reveal, the DualSense's design has now been finalised and is currently winging its way to developers, meaning it's ready for its first public showing.

The goal this time, around, says Sony, was to retain "much of what gamers love about DualShock 4... while also adding new functionality and refining the design". To that end, the PS5 controller features haptic feedback to "heighten that feeling of immersion", alongside adaptive triggers in the the L2 and R2 buttons "so you can truly feel the tension of your actions".

The former, suggests Sony, could be used to conjure the sensation of driving through mud, while the latter might be used to enhance the feeling of drawing a bow to fire an arrow.

Elsewhere on the DualSense, there's a new built-in microphone array for easier communication with friends (although you can still use a headset if preferred), and DualShock 4's Share button has now made way for a new Create button. Sony's is remaining tight-lipped about its exact function, but teases that it'll offer "pioneering new ways for players to create epic gameplay content to share with the world, or just to enjoy for themselves".

All this is in addition to familiar carry-overs such as a rechargeable battery and central touchpad, all squeezed into a striking two-toned design with repositioned light bar illumination that sorts of makes the DualSense look like it fell off a conveyor belt at Aperture Science.

"In all, we went through several concepts and hundreds of mockups over the last few years before we settled on this final design," says Sony, "DualSense has been tested by a wide range of gamers with a variety of hand sizes, in order for us to achieve the comfort level we wanted, with great ergonomics.

"Our goal with DualSense is to give gamers the feeling of being transported into the game world as soon as they open the box [and] to feel like the controller is an extension of themselves when they're playing - so much so that they forget that it's even in their hands!".

To conclude its reveal, Sony reiterated that PlayStation 5 is still anticipated to launch in "Holiday 2020", with more information, including the console's final design, due in the coming months.