Sony Wants You to Sit Up Straight While You're Playing PS5, PS4

Yes daddy Sony. Please also tell me what images and language is acceptable for my fragile and corruptible mind (oh, you already do!).

I wonder what the game intervention server would make of me playing Elden Ring while lying on the sofa with a Crunchie and a glass of rum and coke?

EDIT: Not at this time of day, I might add. That would call for a completely different type of intervention.

@Gremio108 It's 12pm somewhere bud.

I've had neck issues for years, so I'm definitely intrigued by this. In fact the reason I don't play my games more often is because I can't stay comfortable for very long, or can't get that sweet spot in the first place.
I can't imagine what it turns out to be though. If you dont sit up correctly you get a small electric shock through your controller & a stern warning from Jim Ryan through the controller speaker

How many people play on ps4 or ps5 exorcist spider walk style 😃😄.come on sony.be better.word up son

I sit like Marge Simpson in a state of catlike readiness

I play games lying on my bed, what now Sony?

"hypothesises"

This word broke my brain lol. It kept trying to insert more "S"s and it became stuck.

I really don't want immersion breaking notification telling me to sit up straight. Trying to take down Demon of Hatred in Sekiro and a message pops up telling me sit up straight.

@mariomaster96 I sleep in a racing car, do you?

The PS5 will detect you're slouching and a couple of big robo arms will come out of the console and straighten your back.

Jokes aside, the only time I get into a bad slouching position is when I play Splatoon 3, and that's mainly due to the motion controls.

"hypothesises systems that could potentially detect repetitive strain, based on the buttons you’re pressing and the way you’re using the analogue sticks."

Does this mean they're going to let us us controllers with offset sticks now? Because Sony's sticks have been causing repetitive strain due to the way they're used since 1998....

Sorry but slouching gives me extra focus when dealing with difficult boss/levels

My seat is a recliner, so I have the opposite problem. Too much leaning back. Probably why I've been known to fall asleep while playing games. 😴

Nahhh sitting up straight is reserved for use when you're down a few goals in fifa and nothing else 😤

I have a great gaming chair with lumber support and i dont get back ache or neck ache..i really want a lazy boy with a cup holder but the ball and chain wont let me...

@NEStalgia By offset sticks, do you mean asymmetrical controllers? I sure hope not. It may sound like hyperbole; but I would stop playing games on the Playstation in an instant, without hesitation, if they were to move over to that controller style. Its not optimal where its located on the Playstation controller, certainly, but its far, far worse on the asymmetrical controllers.

On to the topic, I can't imagine how they would monitor it (six axis?) or what feedback they would give the player (on screen prompts?) unless they are monitoring your position with a camera, I cant imagine it would be accurate enough to know if I am slouching or not.

Shut up Sony, I do what I want!

@Wolfie_Pie I’m 37 and slouch while gaming, not a problem with my spine at all so I wouldn’t attribute it all to that.

@thedevilsjester You are simply, factually, wrong, and that is fact!

I know, it's Pepsi vs Coke, but I will never understand how anyone could ever prefer the symmetrical stick layout of PS controllers vs the asymmetrical stick layout of every single other controller ever except those intentionally imitating PS controllers. Sega did it right on DC, Nintendo's done it right since GCN. XB has done it right since the start.

Here's the thing: The main control device for the left hand is supposed to be in the upper position, parallel to the face buttons. Sony at least agrees that far, see the main control (dpad) on the OG PS1 controller. The problem is they had to shoehorn sticks onto the PS1 controller, once Nintendo introduced a stick, and the only available space to do that on the stock design was stick it below the existing layout, assuming dpad would remain the primary input for most games. Sony's original design, just like everyone else, was that the upper position is where your thumb should be for the main input, most of the time!

The difference is on PS1 they assumed dpad remains primary input. And they didn't want to mess with the existing controller. And then PS1 was so popular and now has so many people that just grew up with that layout that it seems "normal" for the main input to be in the intended SECONDARY position, that they're stuck not changing it. But it's an ergonomic nightmare.

I tolerate PS controllers because I must, but I buy anything on XB I can both because their controller layout is more ergonomic (and batteries last longer, and digital ecosystem is better run.) I don't mind the stick position on the DS5 as much as I did on the smaller prior controllers, a wider stance does help with that greatly, and I got the Edge which helps a little more (however what would help most is low tension sticks, IDK why Sony marries painfully high tension to improperly located left sticks!) but, man, I can really FEEL it through my hand when playing PS for long periods, while on XB and Switch Pro I can play endlessly with no discomfort. Ironically, the VR Sense controllers are the most comfortable PS controllers ever because the sticks are WHERE YOUR THUMBS REST!!!

The monitoring idea makes me think of Virtual Boy and early 3DS games that told you every 15 or 20 minutes to take a break. Kind of funny.

This is actually somewhat of a problem. When I was younger me & my brother had bunk beds. I would probably game for 3+hours at a time slouched forward on the bed & I had a really bad back.

It kind of straightened itself out over time though😉

@NEStalgia Right. Game design on PS1 was basicslly forced to keep the dpad as the primary controls for movement due to having two different controllers on the console. They should have introduced DS2 with asymmetrical. By that time game design had shifted to favoring movement with the left analog stick. Now I assume they keep it symmetrical for branding reasons more than anything else.

They could atleast release a variant of the official controllers with asymmetrical analog sticks and let the sales numbers do the talking on what players prefer.

@Haruki_NLI I'll drink to that

@NEStalgia
First, I agree that the primary control should be in the upper position, I disagree; however, that the analog stick is that primary control. I play a pretty good mix of modern and retro games and I find that I use the DPad far more often (in fact the game I have been putting many many hours into recently, Slay the Spire, I haven't touched the left analog once). When I do actually use the left analog its almost exclusively just holding it in the up direction to move a character forward.

Secondly, for the sake of argument, lets say that the analog is the primary control, and that it should be given the optimal placement. The XBox style controller has the left analog too high, so to have the best throw on the stick when pressing up (what 99% of the left analog is used for!) you have to shift your hand up on the left side (making the DPad even worse to access). When I have said this to people in real life, they have almost always replied with "No I don't do that" but then watching them use a controller (without them actively trying to not do that to prove me wrong) shows that they do indeed do just that.

Lastly, Playstation not having the analog in the right spot, doesn't automatically mean that the competing style has it in the right spot. They can both be wrong. I find (oddly enough) the best controller style to be the Steam Deck style (and I thought I would hate it when it was originally shown)

@veryhoudini11 Yep. Branding, and, as the dominant platform (well, Switch really is by hardware units, but...) there's too many people that have become used to the "wrong" way as "normal" and would revolt (like Jester above!), if they changed it...which is really sad. It's unfortunate, they didn't do it wrong on purpose, it was right on PS1, and it was game design that changed to make the layout wrong, and it's too late for them to change their existing market now. But I agree, they should have options. At this point I'd be happy if they just released low tension stick modules for Edge. You shouldn't have to spend $240 to half-way improve the bad ergonomics that stem from them making a bad decision to not update DS2 in 1999, but I'll take it if they ever offer it...

@thedevilsjester Well if you're a retro gamer, there's a bunch of third party controllers like 8bitdo that are much better for the task than any of the modern controllers anyway.... Modern controllers are based around the sticks being primary, both symmetrical and offset. Dpad as primary would be a very very tiny niche of gamers. Mostly retro or FGC, but, then serious FGC would be all about full size sticks first, controller second. And even then DC set the standard for offset there.

For most games intended for a PS5, the analog stick is the primary control. Dpad is never more than a menu selector, weapon changer, inventory tool, etc, etc. Though Naughty Dog games could be controlled with just a dpad (j/k (not really))

You're probably right about the hand shifting for the dpad on XB, I don't know if I do that, I probably do....but I also probably do on PS. What I do know is the wrist and palm don't lie, and PS makes me FEEL my playtime, and XB and Switch Pro do not (switch pro, not to be confused with handheld and the cramped joycon which is another matter entirely.)

IDK about steam deck, it looks awful, but I haven't held one, myself. I'm considering either a steam deck or a logitech g cloud, almost exclusively to use for remote play/cloud play. For the insane price of g cloud, steam deck is more sensible, but I've heard such mixed things about how painful RP/cloud is to set up with side loading the apks and managing it all, with sketchy reliability, that I think it might be a worse device for my primary use than the overpriced but right-sized machine that "just works" out of the box.

Plus I figure by the time I'd get a steam deck it'll be ready for it to be obsolete by a successor (for more money) so I might be better off getting the device meant for how I'm using it (I don't have a steam library more than a few games deep to tap, but have a huge XB and PS library.)

@NEStalgia The Steam Deck controller layout does look awful, but it is surprisingly good. I mention it only because I don't just like the Playstation style because I am somehow stuck in the past like your post implies, I like it because it feels more comfortable and natural in the games I play. Retro games, turn based RPGs, tactics, etc... Games that benefit from the accuracy of a DPad vs an Analog. I do play many titles that primarily use the analog; but its a healthy mix, so having a controller thats good at both, rather than great at one, and mediocre at the other, fits my gaming style.

While XBox does have some of these types of titles, it has historically been an FPS platform, which benefits from a priority on the analog stick, so I understand the why; but it is also the biggest contributing factor to me not owning an Xbox, and if Playstation went that way, gaming would no longer be fun for me.

@thedevilsjester For some reason people associate asymmetrical sticks as originating with XB and the FPS focus, but Sega and Nintendo's controllers in the layout both predate XB. And technically so does PS1 with the Dpad as the primary in that position. XB was technically the LAST controller to emerge, it was just the first with that layout with two full sized sticks at the same time (GCN had the short right-hand stick, and DC didn't have a right hand stick.) The "primary control in the upper postion" is really industry standard with the EXCEPTION of PS2, 3, 4, 5/PSP/Vita.

For your use, it does make some sense. TBH I virtually never play such games on PS, usually going for handhelds for most of those style games (or remote playing from PS or XB to a different device that may have either control layout.) But you're definitely on the niche end of uses for controllers, when you think of most of the games, all of the 1st party games, etc, etc. I can at least see why you like that layout if that's much of what you play. It's still PS1-style game technically (not a bad thing, mind you.)

PSVR2 has NO Dpad, so there's that... I admit Tetris is a little awkward and benefits from the DS5

All that having been said: The dpad on the xb elite v2 is my favorite dpad of any controller ever except possibly the original NES....it's almost never a primary control on any xb game, and it would be the "wrong" position if it were....but it's just so nice. I'm not a huge fan of PS's dpads overall. Vita's was great, but the DS4/DS5 dpads never do it for me.

I sit on the couch or bean bag chair mostly. A bit uncomfortable playing whilst lying down but to each their own

Can’t wait for my PS to tell me to eat vegetables instead of my big burger and fries + diablo + beers. Lol

OK, but what about PS3 gaming🤓?

@BeerIsAwesome, recliners are comfy but long extended times reclined can atrophy some muscles. It happened to me.

Good looking out, Sony. Posture is key to lifelong spinal health.

@NoCode23 Don't worry, my job keeps me very active. I will keep that in mind though, thank you. 🙃

Might be showing my age but my knees ache after playing PSVR2 stood up.

I don't have enough space for roomscale (I don't think the cable length would be feasible for most homes and roomscale anyway) so I'm standing in the same area for a long period of time. More noticeable in Horizon CotM than, say, Swordsman.

@RemembersGems I was more disturbed by Raiden being butt naked at the time 😂 how am I supposed to be a badass spy with my dingle flapping around.

@thefourfoldroot1 Sounds a lot like the rest of the country in 2023.