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PlayStation (Games) The Courts

PlayStation 5 Controllers Are Suffering From Drift (extremetech.com) 54

Posted by BeauHD from the not-you-too dept.
Similar to Nintendo's "Joy-Con drift," Sony's PlayStation 5 DualSense controller is apparently suffering from drift: movement on-screen that doesn't correspond to any button press or input. ExtremeTech reports: Users have reported DualSense drift as quickly as 10 days after purchasing a PlayStation 5, which tracks with some of the shorter reports we've heard about Nintendo as well. We can assume that some DualSense controllers will suffer drift because no consumer company can guarantee that literally 100 percent of its products will not contain a defect of some kind. One key factor to look for when judging the seriousness of claims like this is how many people encounter the same issue repeatedly. [...] Kotaku reports that Sony is honoring requests to repair DualSense controllers under warranty, but you'll have to pay the shipping fee to send your controller to the company. Return shipping and the cost of repairs or replacement will be covered by Sony. According to IGN, the U.S.-based law firm of Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith LLP has set up a questionnaire page on its website, allowing PS5 owners to report problems with their DualSense controllers.

No action has been take yet, but CSK&D stated that it is "investigating a potential class action based upon reports that Sony PS5 DualSense controllers for the PlayStation 5 console can experience drift issues and/or fail prematurely," reads the page introduction. "Specifically, it is reported that the joystick on certain PS5 DualSense controllers will automatically register movement when the joystick is not being controlled and interfere with gameplay." The firm was one of the firms that handled the Nintendo "Joy-Con drift" situation last year.
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PlayStation 5 Controllers Are Suffering From Drift

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  • I've had this issue with controllers for as long as I've owned my ps4

    • I wonder which controllers are affected by this. I'm not a huge gamer, I only use the PC but I've never had problems of such kind with any Xbox 360 or Xbox one style controllers (not all of them original ones).
      So does this affect only the PS4,5 and Switch controllers or it's been a thing since analog controls became common?

      • I'm not a huge gamer,

        ^--: This is why you're not much affected.

        I only use the PC but I've never had problems of such kind with any Xbox 360 or Xbox one style controllers (not all of them original ones).

        So does this affect only the PS4,5 and Switch controllers or it's been a thing since analog controls became common?

        (Well, analogue controls have been the default even since the game port on the original IBM PC's Game Control Adapter card, and the game Paddle inputs on most 8bit machine)

        It all depends on the type of sensors. Since the early PC Joysticks, and game Paddles on consoles, the analogue signal is based on a potentiometer.
        I.e.: a mechanical device that relies on a sliding/rotating contact to a resistance. Which means friction. Which means wear.
        The more you use one of the

        • You forgot MS. Their design disintegrates under the level of use that comes from fighting and sports games

        • This would be easily solved by having a 'baseline' routine that would reset the zero values in the controller.

          • That solves the problem of calibration (i.e.: which voltage should be considered the centre of the stick ?)
            Indeed whereas older analogue PC joysticks used screws to set the "centre", later joystick (some with digital-over-gameport communication and all USB models) automatically try to guess the centre on the moment they are plugged-in. (Doing exactly what you suggest).

            But this does not resolve the problem of a worn out potentiometer, where the signal is noisy: the pots return a random voltage that doesn't h

    • the pursuit of increased profits and cutting costs leads to decline in hardware quality and it is a bad circle at this point

      • Yep, they spend their tiny budget for their overpriced $70 controllers on blinding LEDs and bad trackpads instead of focusing on the basics. Of course, when people are willing to spend $120/yr to be allowed to play their own games on xbox, it's hard to fault the bean counting terrorists.

    • Meanwhile, consoles as far back as SEGA's DreamCast (1998), the Saturn 3D controller released (1996) for the SEGA Saturn, and the Tapwave Zodiac (2003) are example on a long list of systems that use solid-state sensors for their analogue stick and analogue triggers (in these cases: hall effect sensors) and cannot technically fail with drift.

      (And the optical encoder sensing on most mice and trackballs come as another example of solid-state precise sensors).

      It's technology which has been deployed to consumers

    • Does this problem need to be fixed in hardware? I would think that a software fix could create or widen a 'dead spot' when the analog stick is centered, so there is no drift.

    • Why aren't you class action lawsuits! GET ON BOARD

  • It may seem silly to comment this based on a video game controller. But as we move more and more towards controlling cars and spaceship with off the shelf electronics components, these engineering quality levels can make or break not only financially expensive projects, but also those that affect human existence in the universe.

    • Re:Human engineering standards are too low (Score:4, Funny)

      by scdeimos ( 632778 ) on Thursday February 11, 2021 @08:37AM (#61050690)
      You probably won't need to worry about cheap thumbsticks. All the future space-faring vehicles will be using touchscreens with the Modern UI. With voice controlled assistants in your EVA suit you'll probably ask for the current time and Siri will blow the explosive bolts holding the face plate on your helmet.

      • EVA

        Both Units 0 and 1 suffered catastrophic failures where the EVA moved on it's own without user input, and Unit 2 suffered a total communications failure.

        • Unit 2 suffered a total communications failure.

          Just like my ex-wife! /sarcasm

          Yeah okay, I don't even have a girlfriend.

    • But as we move more and more towards controlling cars and spaceship with off the shelf electronics components,

      Optical encoding sensors (as used in old mice and trackballs), hall effect sensors (successfully used in multiple consoles which are not Sony nor Nintendo), optical sensors (modern mice and trackballs), laser sensors, etc.

      There are multiple off-the-shelf components for analogue sensors with way better performance than the crap of Nindento and Sony and which has already found successful use.

      But would have added a few extra bucks to the bill of material of every units shipped, which is an unacceptable barrier

  • I've often said my favorite controller belonged to the gamecube. Most people I've shared that opinion with disagree with me.

    I of course meant more that I like the comfort of it and the control layout, but it's notable when taking news of newer consoles into consideration, that to this day the controllers still work fine. And any "drift" I get is because the console was booted when I had a joystick not centered, and is corrected by rebooting the console.

    I'm sure there is a techncal reason this is more an i

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by aitikin ( 909209 )

      I've often said my favorite controller belonged to the gamecube. Most people I've shared that opinion with disagree with me.

      I'm right there with you. To the point where I picked up the GameCube style [amazon.com] Switch controller instead of the Pro Controller [amazon.com]. Sadly the plastic on the joystick has started coming off, but, if memory serves, that's a relatively easy and cheap problem to fix.

    • And any "drift" I get is because the console was booted when I had a joystick not centered, and is corrected by rebooting the console.

      Or unplugging and replugging the controller. But there's no excuse for that to even be necessary. Continual self-calibration is a thing, and not a very hard one by modern standards.

      • Continual self-calibration is a thing, and not a very hard one by modern standards.

        Um, "continuous self-calibration" is not exactly easy in a game controller; where you can hardly even guarantee that the joystick is close enough to physical "center" that the software can "re- calibrate" the control values.

        Personally, I believe the biggest problems are:

        1. Designs based on how cheap can you pick up a basic "mechanical" mouse (which have had 2 optical-wheel "encoders" since the very first consumer designs debuted in the early 1980s)? So, "high cost" simply shouldn't be an excuse.

        And with the

        • "Um, "continuous self-calibration" is not exactly easy in a game controller; where you can hardly even guarantee that the joystick is close enough to physical "center" that the software can "re- calibrate" the control values."

          Completely wrong. Jitter looks very different from user input.

          • Completely wrong. Jitter looks very different from user input.

            What about gamers with Parkinson's disease, you insensitive clod!

          • "Um, "continuous self-calibration" is not exactly easy in a game controller; where you can hardly even guarantee that the joystick is close enough to physical "center" that the software can "re- calibrate" the control values."

            Completely wrong. Jitter looks very different from user input.

            Most of the time...

    • I personally think the PS2 Dual Shock controller was the peak of perfection. Subsequent Sony controllers fucked up this perfection by adding to it.

  • A product I bought had a fault that is covered under even American shitty warranty. Get onboard the CLASS ACTION TRAIN! Choo Choo!

    I wonder how much nicer America would be as a country if we eliminated the lawyers.

    • I hear ya, but at the same time it doesn't matter that it's covered under warranty. If it's bad engineering/bad quality then it is going to keep happening. I'm not sending my controllers in every 3 months to be replaced.

      • I'm not sending my controllers in every 3 months to be replaced.

        And you're unlikely to need to:
        a) no one has proven that these controllers only last 3 months.
        b) no company would maintain releasing a product that needs to be replaced at the company's expense every 3 months.

        Even if every controller to date has this fault you don't need a lawsuit for a company to change the component or design, and when you send your controller in it's quite likely you won't be getting revision 1.0 back. This is literally how every company works.

  • Why? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by VoodooCryptologist ( 7614904 ) on Thursday February 11, 2021 @10:13AM (#61051038)
    My N64 controller from 1996 still works great and these modern controllers like PS5 and Switch get drift in six months. Are they just cheaping out or is there more to it?

    • I believe they are cheaping out. I've used the hell out of my PS3 and never had an issue. Same with PS2, Dreamcast, el-cheapo MadCatz on the PC, all my joysticks and... everything else I've ever used.

      My guess is that the supplier doesn't lubricate the pots and they wear out quickly and create a lot of noise. I've had this problem a LOT with brand new audio pots. Right out of the box they spike like crazy. I just spray 'em with some contact cleaner and they last for years with no problems.

      Even though th

      • Do you think it could be a design flaw related to how small these devices are getting? It occurs to me that the most reliable controllers have always been the larger ones. Maybe once you scale things down to the size of a JoyCon it becomes less reliable. I don't know, I'm just spitting ideas.

        • I doubt it. I believe the size and design of the pots has changed little over the last 15 years, but materials have definitely changed. The PS3 used a metal frame, while the PS4 and PS5 use plastic. Most of the consoles use ALPS pots, so it makes sense that they all seem to be having the same problem at once.

  • Seems that every new software or hardware release these days is buggy or downright broken. What's happening with big tech? Has it all just got too complex for human engineers or have the bean counters taken over the tech companies, cutting budgets for design review, testing and quality control?

    • The problem is that bean counters override the engineers decisions.

      The engineers say "this device should be built using these parts, the cost is 20$USD".
      The bean counters reply "That's too expensive, lower the BOM down to 10$USD".

  • This started happening to my PS5 controller about two weeks ago. I thought I had been pushing on the thumbsticks too hard during gameplay and had damaged them but perhaps I'm not the culprit. I did notice that the drift doesn't seem to be as noticeable after the last system update, so perhaps they lowered the sensitivity of the controller as some sort of makeshift solution.

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