PlayStation has a spotty track record when it comes to motion controls. The early days of the PlayStation 3 are best swept under the rug as SIXAXIS tortured us with the likes of Lair and Haze, and then the cycle repeated in 2010 with the introduction of PlayStation Move. Despite a few diamonds in the rough, we'd be hard-pressed to consider Sony's motion-based investment during the previous generation a solid success.
Fast forward to 2018 though, and things are a little different. The PlayStation Move controllers have been refitted into a complementary pair of controllers for PlayStation VR, and the DualShock 4 allows for motion-based gaming that hardly seems to be being taken advantage of. The likes of Gravity Rush 2 allows you to move the PS4 controller in order to control your aim, while the DualShock 4 becomes a physical object in VR title Moss. That's pretty much the extent of it though, and it appears that Sony may be missing a trick here.
Gyro aiming is the latest motion based craze, and it's one that has found its current home on the Nintendo Switch. With the likes of Splatoon 2, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, and the Switch version of Fortnite incorporating the feature into their control systems, players are able to control and fine-tune their aim by physically moving the controller in their hands. It is supposed to complement the aiming done by a thumbstick, making up for slight changes in movement speed and height by allowing you to quickly react using your hands rather than adjusting your thumb.
This feature may benefit the more competitive of you as you play Destiny 2, Overwatch, or the latest Battlefield and Call of Duty titles. So, is this motion based mechanic you'd like to see implemented into more PS4 games? Place your vote below and then expand further in the comments section.
Do you want gyro-aiming capabilities to come to PS4? (151 votes)
- Yes, I love the idea of it
- I'd give it a try, it looks interesting
- I'd have a go, but I'm skeptical
- No, I don't care for motion based controls
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Comments 52
@LiamCroft It's like you read my mind. I was talking about this like yesterday. I wish more games included it as an option.
I liked the way it worked on the PlayStation Vita in games like Uncharted, but it always felt like it was compensating for the fact that the analogue sticks weren't very good.
I did end up using it in Gravity Rush when they ported it to the PS4 because it felt like the "right" way to play there, but I've never ever once played any shooter on the DualShock 4 and thought, "This needs gyro controls!"
I'm not opposed to developers including the option if people want it, but at risk of opening myself up to the usual suspects, this just seems like one of those things Nintendo fans blither on about.
All that said, the gyros are more than good enough in the DS4 to do this properly. I don't think people realise how accurate the motion sensing in the DS4 is — it's pretty good, and works great in VR.
Whenever it appears in a game, it just highlights the fact that I hold my controller like an idiot, as my character suddenly ends up looking at the floor.
I never got the hang of it when they used it in Killzone; it felt really sluggish and just not right.
To be honest I never liked or care for motion controls. It always felt as a useless gimmick.
Motion controls for vr games only imo! They don’t improve the experience in any way on a standard game. Only console I ever hated was the wii
hated it on the vita.
@Tsurii Because it's such a complex idea, right?
I’m far to lazy to try. Most my gaming now comes at the end of a long day at work or with the kids. My brain at which point is on energy saving mode
The gyro aiming in Golden Abyss was top notch. If they could get the same precision with a DS4, I'd certainly give it a whirl.
I hate having to move the pad around to aim - it's usually something I immediately switch off in the options if a game has it. Much rather just use the sticks.
The only game I've tried that did this was Splatoon 1 on Wii U. It worked really well for that particular game, but whether it would be suited for other games and PS4 I'm not so sure.
Options are nice. As it stands you have gyroscopes in the DS4 that no one uses, just wasting money.
At least if it was option people could use it and it wouldn't just be there for no reason.
Hell, it's not just a "Nintendo fanboy" thing. Ask PC players, they want that little precision to be matched with thumbsticks. It removes a lot of the need for AA and honestly, if implemented correctly can be a great boon.
As it stands though, I see the PS5 forgoing motion outside of VR altogether. Want motion? Buy a Move.
I would play Overwatch if it allowed it. Gyro aiming and the third person perspective are the main reasons I prefer Splatoon 2 over it.
So I used to hate gyro aiming (especially in splatoon) and always switched to normal aiming but something clicked when I played Breath of the Wild. I use it for fine tuning my aim and I find I’m far more accurate with it.
I played horizon afterwards and really missed the fine tuning when aiming in it.
@get2sammyb " I don't think people realise how accurate the motion sensing in the DS4 is"
It would help if people could play games that use it ;P
@Boxmonkey Nobody is talking about traditional motion controls though. This isn't the Wii waggle. I hated that too. Skyward Sword? Worst Zelda game because of the motion controls. Star Fox Zero? Straight in the bin.
Gyro aiming is different though. It's completely optional. It allows for a similar precision you get with mouse on PC. And it can be used in combination with dual sticks too. I've played Splatoon 1 and 2 that way and I love it.
No thanks
At this point? No
PS5? Um ok try for it but um USE IT or trash the feature so DS5s can be just a tad cheaper...
I mean, I'll try it but only if it's optional and totally not needed for a game.
People aren't going to like the idea right away so they'll need some time to adjust and play a few games. I tried it with Splatoon 2 but I found it odd though I guess I just need more time with it, (though not posible because I used a friends Swith to play).
If the PS5 can have more games with it than cool but other than that, it's just not need as this article implies.
No one would support it now. Maybe in the future, Sony should ask for support for PS5. It's rather accurate too (i.e. Infamous Second Son), Microsoft should have it as well, so Nintendo fans can shut up for good.
@Knuckles-Fajita There are absolutely dozens of PSVR games that do.
@get2sammyb I'll rephrase this then.
Games that do it without needing an additional accessory that costs as much as the console.
No thanks, nontraditional controls are why I ditched Nintendo. As far as I'm concerned take out the gyros, the touch pad, the light, and the mic to make the controller cheaper.
It's extremely important to me, and it's a big reason why I prefer shooters on the PC. Stick controls are fine for movement and camera manipulation, but they're annoying as hell when it comes to quickly lining up a shot.
Until the PS4 version gets patched, as far as I'm concerned, DOOM on Switch is the funnest console version of the game.
This is something Sony should have pushed hard for developers to implement over the years. At the minimum they should have pushed their first party developers to allow for this feature in action aim shooting games like Unchartered or Horizon Zero Dawn. Playing Uncharted Golden Abyss was so much fun on Vita because of the gyro motion aiming. I absolutely love the idea. Unbelievably slack on Sony's part if it takes Switch to popularise the idea.
@Derpie1 It's not going to be trashed. They have a whole first party exclusive that is controlled using Gyro in the form of Dreams by Media Molecule. Then you have PSVR.
@GarySan I’m talking in the future...
Heck yes, it works like a dream in Splatoon 2 and the Switch ports of Doom and Wolfenstein 2.
The Dualshock 4 touchpad wouldn't be a bad alternative either. I've used it in some shooters on my PC, and it works pretty well.
@Derpie1 I am also talking about 'in the future'. Dreams, which yet to have a released date, is planned to have a 10 year support plan, and Sony will eventually release PSVR-2 with PS5. The Gyro control isn't going away anywhere anytime soon in the near future.
This is kind of a side note but, do a lot of games on Steam now natively support the Dualshock 4, and/or its TouchPad? I've always just played with my Xbone controller that I've had for the past 4 years. Plug & play, simple, don't have to think about it. The 360 was the "default" system last gen, so most games didn't support DS3, but thus gen is different. Just wondered what the current state was like?
As for the topic question, control options are always nice to have. Despite my love for Nintendo, I typically don't use the gyro aiming cause I consciously try to keep my hands frozen unless I need to move them to correct my aim, and it just cramps up my hands; I don't know, it's just weird, I can't explain it.
Sure, have gyro aiming as an option going forward.
The option would be good, personally I love splatoon 2s use of gyro aiming. It would be great to play uncharted or the last of us with it. I would use it. The gyro can't be too bad in the ds4 as every section with a "stay still" in until dawn meant death for whoever I was trying to save!! 🤣🙄
@GarySan I’d argue but I’m not gonna bother...
I'm more interested in pointer aiming using the PS Move for first-person shooters like can be done with VR technology. Ever try CoD on Wii/Wii U? A few tweaks to the settings, and the controls were extremely quick and precise, so I'd always destroy traditional controller users, including my friends. It was fun. I like those types of controls for first-person shooters because you point and aim, like your character does (also because I can move my hand around more naturally than having to just rotate a controller); however, for third-person shooters, I think gyro controls might be better because rotating a controller can give you a similar feeling of how your perspective rotates around your character.
But that's just what I think of motion controls for shooters. I've found that I don't really like motion controls for other games.
Optional is fine.
@GodOfPie Depends on how and if the Move can stay calibrated properly.
In the PS3 days, the was pretty terrible for 'pointer drift'. Fine if you're manipulating a 3D object, like stuff in Start The Party - but a pretty poor experience for Time Crisis RS and House of the Dead Overkill.
IR like the Wii and the G-Con 3 was much better.
@get2sammyb
If it is done right, it is very useful to adjust your aim like you do in Zelda BotW when shooting with your bow. I really miss this on HZD.
But it should never be the main control system as they did with Metroid Prime Corruption. This was horrible.
@Rhaoulos I think that was just because the Wii lacked a second analog stick. It was kinda the only way you could play a first person game on the Wii. It gave the idea of motion controls, and gyro controls a bad rep IMO, partly because it was shoehorned into nearly every single game without offering an alternative or thinking twice about whether it's actually improving the gameplay or not.
Didn't realise how much I appreciated the ability to instantly fine-tune a needed precision arrow shot until I went from Zelda BOTW to HZD. Would have improved elements of combat in HZD no doubt.
Nope. Motion controls need to do one back to 2007 with flip phones and Fall Out Boy.
@EVIL-C Yes, Steam now natively supports the DualShock 4, and you can customize so that it uses gyro with any game with aiming. It's great!
It also supports the Switch Pro controller, if you're so inclined.
I can go either way on it. kinda depends how I first played the game, I guess. Its fantastic in Splatoon / S2, and I find those games almost unplayable without it. Games like Doom and Wolf2 that I played on PS4 first, I can't get used to using the gyro aiming on Switch. I'm not gonna cry about motion aiming not be there, but when it's there from the get go, it can be great.
@Octane
Exactly. They didn't really have a choice since the wiimote had just a few buttons and the pretty bad gyro prior to the motion plus. They improved it a lot with the wii u and even more with the switch.
But I wonder how precise is the ps4 gyro (I bought mine a week ago and only played HZD). Could they make the control as good as in BotW or splatoon?
@Rhaoulos It works fine in Gravity Rush.
I personally didn't notice a difference between the Wii U and Switch, I'd say the PS4 should be capable of the same precision, but I don't have any games that use it for aiming to compare it to.
@Ralizah Sweet, thanks.
@Rhaoulos Shooters on PC with the DS4 gyro properly configured beats anything on the Switch in terms of precision. Just turn up hardware sensitivity most of the way, scale down the mouse sensitivity in-game until you're comfortable with it, and it's super comfortable. I just replayed the DOOM demo on PC with a gyro-enabled DS4, and it's the best way to play the game, imo. M+K is probably better if you're really used to it, but I can't overstate how much this improves the gameplay in shooters.
So I can't imagine why it wouldn't be good on PS4 if developers bothered to patch in support for it.
For a controller like a DS4, I like it when it compliments regular aiming with the right control stick (i.e. fine-tuning your aiming), though probably only in games where aiming doesn't happen ALL the time (so in other words no FPS, unless it only happens when you look down the barrel/scope), as if gyro is constantly active that can definitely get annoying.
For controllers that have two separate haves though (like the Wii's Wiimote/Nunchuck, the Switch's separated Joy-Cons, or the PS3's Nav/Move controller combo), then I absolutely adore motion control aiming as the primary way to aim, as it doesn't feel near as awkward to do when it's just your right hand aiming.
Absolutely. If your game doesn't support motion controls when they would be a good fit, your game is an inferior product.
Gyroscopic controls (and using the touchpad for more than just an extra button while we're at it) can be super fun if done right.
Noooooooo!
@Ralizah
Thanks for the answer. I also believe the gyro the only viable solution for shooters and if it is precise enough, it should be implemented in every single shooter. It is also more natural to aim this way.
I think gyro aim is the best solution for aiming with controller. It might be not as great as mouse and keyboard but with gyro aim I think I can play fairly against someone who use mouse and keyboard. PS4 already have gyro in their controller and many switch game already have gyro aim. I think game dev should implement this feature for their fps games.
@Octane THIS THIS THIS!!! Every part of it is 100% spot on
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