7. Astro's PlayroomSo Tuesday I get an email from sony saying "yo Wednesday, 2pm EST show up and buy a console". Which was like great, it worked. Throw them my email to buy a console, and roughly 3 weeks later they got consoles. Show up, wait, get put randomly in queue, wait more, get selected...try and buy the thing as fast as possible while trying to not make any errors in my information. AND...I got lucky, paid for the fast shipping because...these things don't grow on trees and I'd like it now, so it shows up Friday.
Cool, get the thing situated in the entertainment center and get things set up, go to transfer my ps4 saves/account stuff over.
QUICK AND EASY That started at 5pm, "finished" at 11pm...alright. Pay $10 to make my Gran Turismo 7 the ps5 version, start the download...uhh...it's Saturday right now and the download should finish in the next 45 minutes...I ain't got the fastest internet and GT7 is a hundred gig game, but like...it'd be done yesterday if it was steam download speeds...at least the ps5 can download things in rest mode, which the ps4 and switch can't seem to do, so that's cool at least.
But my new toy! I've nothing to do with it! The heck is this game on my console? Well figured I'd mess around with it to test the new "Dual Sense" controller.
I thought this was just a tech demo for the controller, which it is...but it's a lot more fleshed out than it has any right being. Finished all the levels and got all the collectables, it's a pretty cool little mario ish thing. The new Dual Sense controller is actually really cool, the haptics feel fantastic. The mic sounds a thousand times better than the 20's era radio sound of the ps4 controller. And the triggers will give force feedback depending on the game, and they can take a good bit of force to depress. Even if using on pc with games that take no advantage of the features, it's somehow more comfortable than my previous favorite controller...the ps4 controller. The thing doesn't really look very attractive, but it makes using my switch pro controller feel like a significant downgrade in comparison.
The game...the game...it's cute. It's controller tech demo, but also PlayStation museum filled with cameos from crash bandicoot, to parappa the rapper, to death stranding, to more obscure stuff like vib ribbon. I know it's free, and if I wasn't waiting for GT7 to download I wouldn't even bother trying it. But it's a surprisingly good time, I wouldn't mind shelling $10-15 to play a small fun little platformer thing. I was never a fan of the ps3 era (never owned a ps3, only played one like...twice, hated the controller, wasn't interested in little big planet, uncharted, killzone, whatever), and ps4 had Knack...which you couldn't pay me to care at all about that showing off the new console, but this feels charming to me. I like it.
Good job Sony, this was more than any controller tech demo had any right to be.
*edit*
GT7 on Dual Sense is crazy. The ps4 version looks great, and you can easily see the road in wet conditions, but on ps5 the wet spots are like photorealistic. AND THE CONTROLLER PICKS UP RUNNING THROUGH PUDDLES, the force feedback was already elite enough on ps4 to where I noticed how good it was, but this is next level. Mind you the ps4 version runs fantastic and looks fantastic, so the upgrade isn't THAT much better, but in the spots you see it, it shows. Dual Sense ain't replacing a DD wheel, but it is nice for those who (rightfully) aren't willing to invest in a wheel.
*edit*
I don't know how I just noticed this but outside of game the triggers have no force feedback so feel like ps4 triggers more or less. But in game when the force feedback is on, I actually notice the break trigger is a bit more stiff than the accelerator...
I didn't even buy a ps5 thinking about the controller one bit, but this thing is the coolest console controller I have experienced since my first time using an n64 analog stick.