Sony’s PS4 is inching ever closer to release, as the company finally showed the console’s hardware during its E3 2013 press conference.

Up until June 10, the only part we really laid eyes on was the DualShock 4, but even then it was in the hands of others, or encased behind glass.

But leave it to E3 to give us our first chance to grip the controls for the next-gen console ourselves. After the long wait, which started with the PS4’s February reveal, we were very pleased with what we felt.

The DualShock is appealing not just to the eye but, more importantly, to the hands as well. We caught ourselves grinning from the mere feel of the thing, which, at once is slight (perhaps a little too slight) yet fills out the hands with its nubbed ends.

This is the final version of the DualShock 4, and though we played DC Universe Online on a dev version of the console, it operated as though we were knuckling up to the bad guys with a premiere controller.

Response time was excellent, and the buttons had a buttery quality – no need to mash down to have your character (in our case, Bizarro) do what you wanted him to do. We liked the textured, roughed-up feel of the trigger buttons, and the L2 and R2 brought about extra functionality from the standard triangle, square, cross and circle.

Track pad

The most noticeable addition to this DualShock edition is the track pad. It lacked functionality on the first game we tooled around with, DC Universe Online, but we did discover that it acts like a button itself. It reminded us a little of a diving board in that regard, as there’s a space between the end of the button and the body of the controller.

However, we later played around on a different game that did have functionality set up, and found the track pad had difficulty differentiating between directions. Different moves were defined by different directional swipes, and it proved too much for the DualShock 4’s pad. Perhaps time will lend itself to further refinement (the console isn’t out until the holidays, anyway) but for now, it wasn’t up to par.

As for the rest of the controller, the share button is also a little too far away, and a stretch of the thumb is needed to reach it. Same goes for the option buttons. Your hands are so spread out on the sides of the controller, it’s hard to naturally jump either up or down, depending on what you’re trying to do.

The tether on this controller won’t be there during final launch (it served a security function, we were informed).

The analog sticks are responsive and smooth. So much so that we stopped thinking about using them as we flew around an underground lab. They’re set in the controller in a secure cradle.

Early verdict

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed holding and playing with the DualShock 4. It felt lovely, had a decent amount of balance and worked like a charm.

There were a few times we caught ourselves thinking it was a little too light, but we soon forgot about that once were kicking bad guys’ butts.

There was a good amount of clicky-clack to the buttons, which may or may not bother you. We noticed it, but we’re a little sensitive to such things.

As mentioned, the track pad had issues as we tried to use it in our game play, but that may be solved by release. Share and option peggers were too far as well, but it looks like there’s no turning back on that now.

With a controller like this and $399 (£349, €399) price tag, the PS4 is going to be mighty attractive to legions of gamers. We can’t wait to give it a go again.

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