Sony’s DualSense controller for the PS5 has been crowned the best video game controller of all time, in a public vote held by BAFTA Games.
Ahead of the eagerly-anticipated BAFTA Game Awards on April 7, the PS5’s pad emerged victorious over luminaries like the Nintendo Wiimote, SNES controller, and even peripherals like the Guitar Hero III guitar.
After a series of public polls, the DualSense emerged victorious over 1998’s DualShock controller from the PlayStation 2 console in the final round. While there may be a bit of recency bias involved, the DualSense racked up 72.6%, compared to 24.7% won by the DualShock.
The Dreamcast, NES, Mega Drive, Switch JoyCon, GameCube, Kinect and Nintendo 64 controllers also fell by the wayside in a tournament largely dominated by the pads released by Nintendo down the years.
The DualSense is a big leap forward for the PS5 and a major selling point for gamers over the Xbox Series X pad, which was a much more iterative update.
In awarding the DualSense a 4.5/5 star rating our reviewer wrote: “It’s rare that the most enthralling aspect of a new console is its controller, but that’s exactly the case with PS5 and the DualSense. It’s a stunning peripheral, and one which introduces features we’ve simply never seen executed like this before.”
“Adaptive triggers and haptic feedback introduce a newfound level of immersion, and while I’ve only seen it in a few games, it has the potential to be something really special,” they wrote upon the PS5’s launch in November 2020
We praised the bold departure from previous designs, premium feel, truly next-gen haptic feedback and vibration, and improved battery life over the DualShock 4 predecessor. We were less keen on the white colour scheme that has a tendency to scuff up, but that’s a minor quibble.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
