PS5: Someone predicted adaptive triggers four years ago

Prior to the release of the PlayStation 5, everyone wondered what the next big thing in gaming would be. Virtual reality? Motion controllers? These had been tried but never really caught on in a way that they had become mainstream. But one gamer — a Reddit user by the name “rubenssm” — actually predicted a future of gaming with “force feedback” on the controller triggers. And he did this four years ago, well before the PS5 and DualSense was revealed.

In the post, rubenssm explains his vision of the next generation:

"This is an idea that I think could become standard for the next generation of consoles: force feedback on the triggers and maybe on the analog sticks….So depending on the scenario, the analogs and triggers could increase or decrease resistance to the player fingers by applying force feedback. A weapon with no ammo would have no resistance in the trigger; when a car goes out of the road, the controller would respond differently."

Rubenssm predicts this would become the standard for next generation and the relative simplicity of implementing it would mean widespread adoption by developers.

Fast forward to April 2020 and Sony introduced the DualSense, the new wireless controller for the PlayStation 5. And what does it have? Haptic feedback and adaptive triggers — the very same functionality rubenssm predicted! Sony wrote:

"This is why we adopted haptic feedback, which adds a variety of powerful sensations you’ll feel when you play, such as the slow grittiness of driving a car through mud. We also incorporated adaptive triggers into the L2 and R2 buttons of DualSense so you can truly feel the tension of your actions, like when drawing a bow to shoot an arrow."

It’s now been several months since the PlayStation 5 has been available and we’re starting to get a good sense of how developers are wielding the power of the DualSense. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart made tremendous use of haptic feedback to give various things in the world a distinct feel. You can feel the drops of rain in Returnal through your controller as haptic pulses.