DualShock 4 PS4 PlayStation 4 Controller 1

For our money, the DualShock 4 is comfortably the best default controller on the market – and we're not the only ones who think so. However, the PlayStation 4's primary input device has been let down by generally poor build quality and bad battery life. Sony, however, may be about to update the device – if a patent for an upgraded controller is to be believed.

The plans were submitted on 6th January, and reveal a DualShock 4 similar in size and shape to the current device, but with a few adjustments. For starters, there are now paddles on the handles of the device, similar to those you'd find on a SCUF controller, or the Xbox Elite. Also, the diagrams show how you could potentially customise the button layout, making it – shudder – asymmetrical if you prefer.

It's worth noting that companies file patents for products that don't get released all of the time, so this could be yet another case of that. However, there are plenty of people who would pay good money for an upgraded PS4 controller, so Sony may be leaving cash on the table if it doesn't introduce one. Could this ship with the PS4K, for example? We'll see.

Update (19:00PM BST): Further investigation from the NeoGAF crowd suggests that this patent has been bubbling around for a few years. Why was this refiled, then? Maybe it wasn't and Google Translate's acting up again. Either way, it does beg an interesting question: should Sony be looking to upgrade the DualShock 4 at this point?

Note the new paddles on the handles
It looks like the layout can be changed

[source ipforce.jp, via neogaf.com]