Summary
As rumors swirl about a potential PlayStation 5 Pro announcement coming tomorrow (Tuesday),Sonystealthily updated the price of itsDualSensecontrollers. The $5 price increase,which was first spotted by Wario64andanalyzed by our own Josh Coulson, has put controllers into rather uncharted territory.
A standard colored DualSense (white, black) now costs $74.99, and aspecial edition DualSense (cobalt blue, volcanic red) is now $79.99. $5 might not mean much to some, but an already pricey piece of hardware is now even more costly.
It’s no surprise, then, that gamers took issue with the price changes,with multiple Reddit threads chock-full of criticism.
Will These Controllers Also Suffer From Stick Drift?
As one commenter pointed out, “This seems like the first console generation where there isn’t a price decrease on these items and the consoles themselves.” That sentiment isn’t particularly wrong, either, asthe console has seen a price hike in Japan,along with an $80 detachable disc drive attachment, among other changes, likea PlayStation Plus price increase.
Another user had this to share: “How about giving us a durable controller that has a chance at lasting longer than a year or two? I’d gladly pay more for a controller that doesn’t have an expiration date. The DualSense Edge isn’t an answer to this issue either. Paying $20 every time the drift kicks in isn’t reasonable, it’s BS.”
That user is referencing the DualSense Edge’s swappable stick modules that can help alleviate the stick drift dilemma by giving gamers a chance to fix the issue themselves. There’s just one problem, though;the module costs $19.99, and that’s just for one stick. Oh, and it’s perpetually out of stock, with Sony aiming for an October restock at the moment.
“I wish they’d make a cheaper controller with less features and more battery life,“one user wrote in part. That particular sentiment harkens back to the days of multiple third-party controllers, like Mad Catz.
Most of the third-party controllers that do exist are often suped up versions of the base controller,such as this $249.99 Razer “Pro” controller.
For what it’s worth,we’re only several hours away from PlayStation’s scheduled event, and that could shed some light on the price increases. Previously,it was rumored that a V2 DualSense would be coming out at some point, with even a listing permeating online. That modelcould boast some serious battery upgrades, which would help lessen the price blow.
Still, the price increase is another unfortunate development for consumers, who have seen increases in a number of gaming-related properties, along with general everyday life increases.
