The DualSense controller has been one of the most exciting parts of the PlayStation 5, serving as a concrete example of what Sony is doing differently from its competition in terms of hardware. As the DualSense becomes easier for developers to program, and as these same developers find new ways to incorporate haptic feedback into their games, the benefits of the controller's tech should hopefully grow more apparent.
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But in the meantime, older games might get a chance to be enhanced by the power of the PS5's DualSense. According to a recent patent, Sony is looking into ways to apply haptic feedback to older PlayStation games. This would be achieved by programming the DualSense's haptics based on audio files, rather than by altering the ROM files of the older games directly, which would be more complex. If and how the DualSense's adaptive triggers would come into play here is unclear, but the advanced rumble features of the controller have more than enough potential to alter the experience of playing classic PlayStation titles.
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Making Older Games DualSense-Compatible Could Make for Radical Improvements
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Sony's DualSense Is More Than Just a Gimmick
Though it has been argued that the DualSense, like the DualShock 4 before it, is more gimmicky than practical, there are plenty of examples of how effective it can be for the purposes of both immersion and gameplay. Games like Astro Bot prove how powerful a tool the DualSense can be, especially if all its disparate features are used in concert; the combination of nuanced haptic feedback, gyroscope controls, and adaptive triggers might not "make" a game, but they can certainly take it from good to great.
Astro Bot, much like Astro's Playroom, can wind up feeling like a toy in the best way possible: it feels less like a video game and more like a tangible, expressive physical object at points.
Sony may never be able to reach the heights of Astro Bot by retroactively adding DualSense features to classic games, but these older titles can achieve similar effects through these same methods. If older titles can take advantage of modern haptic feedback systems on PlayStation consoles, a new generation of players could be motivated to engage with them, and some of their more immersive and cinematic aspects could be elevated.
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The Benefits of Adding Haptic Feedback to Older Games
While Nintendo has experimented with HD rumble, and VR devices like the Meta Quest 3 have their own suite of haptic features, things like controller vibration can often be overlooked by hardware manufacturers. Take PC gaming, for instance, where haptic feedback is essentially nonexistent, or Xbox controllers which, while ergonomic and versatile, don't prioritize haptic feedback in a meaningful way. With such a dearth of these sorts of features on other devices, PlayStation consoles could wind up being the definitive way to play certain games, at least for those who value these immersive tools.
Older games, especially those from the seventh console generation, when games were becoming more cinematic and bombastic, could certainly benefit from the haptic feedback features offered by the DualSense. A few examples of games that could be sharpened through these means include:
- Uncharted 2
- Skyrim
- BioShock
- Metal Gear Solid 4
- Heavy Rain
- Infamous
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Games with a variety of different terrains, weather effects, and other variable environmental factors may be particularly suited for this kind of update, as the DualSense has been known to improve the sensation of moving through game worlds. Titles that act as power fantasies may also be a good fit for modern haptics, as the DualSense can better ground players in intense or unnatural scenarios. Time will tell if and how Sony pulls this off, but done correctly, retrofitting haptics to classic games could be a godsend.
PlayStation 5
Sony's PlayStation 5 is part of the ninth console generation and debuted with a launch lineup that included Demon's Souls and Astro's Playroom. The console comes with a Blu-ray disc, although a digital-only edition is also available for a cheaper price.
