Controllers

Released in 1994 with PSX,the Playstation pad featured a basic design of a D-Pad,4 Main select buttons (Triangle,Circle,Cross,Square)and start and select buttons and four shoulder buttons,denoted as left and right (L1,L2,R1,R2).

A further design was created which included two analog joysticks known as the DualShock controller, this added vibrations to the controller which were triggered in various games, and also was another form of navigation instead of using the directional arrows.This was a response to the Nintendo 64's 'Rumble Pak.

When the Playstation 3 was announced they showed a control at E3 2005,which was silver and a very stylised design. It's shown below.

It was heavily critiqued for its looks and the design was later abandoned,Sony stated it was a 'Design Concept' and was never intended to be the final controller ,despite what everybody said about it.

If it was never intended to be used,why show it off at a eve when a new console is being shown??

So they went back to the much safer Playstation 2 controller.But added bluetooth connectivity so that it would be wireless and had a internal battery which lasted 30 hours of continual gaming,also had an added 'PS' button ,similar to the 'X' button on the centre of an Xbox controller.Dualshock was initially removed from the controller due to legal issues but a statement from Phil Harrison, Sony's president of worldwide studios, said: "Now, rumble I think was the last generation feature; it's not the next-generation feature. I think motion sensitivity is." He added that rumbling would, in the future, only come from third-party controllers.

Eight months later, Dualshock 3 was added to future console bundles,not because of the feature being so last generation, but because the legal issues had been sorted.

Playstation Move Controllers

The Playstation move is a motion-sensing game controller platform for the Playstation3, it is wholly based on the Nintendo's Wii's system.It uses the Playstation eye camera to track the 'wands'(Controller) position and using sensors it detects it's motion as it's being used.It was supplied in it's own 'Playstation Move' package and included one of the motion controllers and a supplementary navigation controller.

It uses bluetooth to communicate to the console and eye controller,using inertial sensors and accelerometers it can figure out a full 360 of motion, including twist and turns while holding it.It also has a system which enables the controller to know where it is ,even if the controller is obscured but the players back.



Its development started in 2001,which it was developed alongside the EyeToy. It took several years for a working prototype to be developed which was shown at Sony's presentation at E3 2009, Sony showed the final motion controller design and name at the Game Developers Conference on March 10th 2010.