What You Need to Know about DUALSHOCK 4 | PS4 FAQs

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So what do you need to know about the DualShock 4, the new controller for the Playstation 4. You need to know that it is awesome! I have been playing video games for as long as I can remember, back to the NES generation of consoles. And this is probably the best controller that I have ever used. But beyond that, there are some things you’re want to know about the DualShock 4. For one, it looks a lot like the DualShock 3, which also looks like the DualShock, which also kinda look like the Playstation controls. They haven’t changed the overall design very much over the years, but there are minor differences that obviously make it look like a different controller. The first up is this touch pad. So this is a touch sensitive pad that developers can use and utilize into the game however they see fit. For instance, in Assassin Creed 4, you use the touch pad to navigate through the maps similar to the way you would do on a smartphone or tablet. It also doubles as a button you can click down on. On top of that, the DualShock 4 has a Share button and an Options button, and they replace the Start and Select. So the options is sort of the new Start button, and that would bring up your game options.

And the Share button is exclusively right now used for initiating Twitch streams or setting up Ustream streams, or sharing photos and videos on Facebook, any sort of social networking sharing you can do through the share button. It’s got a couple of other things worth noting. For one, it’s got this little headphone/powerjack down here and what’s great is this is where you would plug in your headset for your controller, so you can plug in any sort of official PS4 headset and use it. You can also plug in pretty much any pair of headphones and it would route all of the game audio to the controller and to your headphone, so you don’t have to worry about making too much noise with the television if you are playing late at night. The other thing that’s worth noting, and that is if you want to buy extra cables, is that the DualShock 4 uses a Micro USB and the important thing to note there is that Micro USB is different from Mini USB. Mini USB is sort of, I think, the more popular cable out there that you see with a lot of Android cellphones and any sort of little computer peripheral out there. But micro is slightly different so if you’re looking for like a longer cable, for charging your controller, you’re gonna wanna do it with a Micro USB cable.

And speaking of charging, what you’re gonna want to know about the DualShock 4 is that the battery life because it’s got this little light here, and because it’s got so much going on, is slightly shorter than the DualShock 3’s. The good news is charging it is very simple. Anything that has a USB plug will actually power the DualShock, so you can charge it that way. You can even use the DualShock while you’re charging it with something completely separate. So, for instance, I can plug in my DualShock 4 into the Playstation and charge it while I’m playing. But I can also plug it into my laptop and I can charge it through my laptop while I’m playing. So if your console may be too far, you don’t have a long enough cable, you can charge it that way. It sort of gives you that freedom. So that is just a quick look at all the different changes of the DualShock 4 and why you definitely want to use it over any other DualShock out there and what you need to know before you start using it.