I can't believe nobody seems to has mentioned this limitation before.
As you may know, Sony's PlayStation 4 controller, the DualShock 4, is technically usable on the PlayStation 3, albeit with a few limitations:
- No rumble, tilt or touchpad. (Although nothing on PS3 would support the touchpad anyway.)
- No wireless This limitation was lifted in a recent PS3 system update, although synching it is a bit unintuitive.
- The PlayStation logo button doesn't work (Except to turn the system or controller on).
- Face buttons are on/off only, not analog (Very few games ever made much use of this anyway, and it isn't even supported on the PS4 at all.)
- Not all PS3 games are compatible (Although most are).
- The directional pad doesn't register diagonal.
That last one is the really interesting one. Most websites and news outlets, and Sony themselves, have been very clear on the rest of the limitations of using a DualShock 4 on a PS3...But I have yet to see anyone mention that last one - the lack of diagonal on the dpad.
Don't believe me? Try it. Go into the "training" mode of any PS3 fighting game and turn on the button input display. Try to get it to register a diagonal with the dpad. Or perform any of Ryu's special moves. Go into Fez, and try climbing diagonally. Try to move diagonally in any PS3 street brawling game, like Castle Crashers or Double Dragon. Can't do it with the PS4's dpad.
Interestingly, the DualShock 4's dpad diagonal does work perfectly fine on the PC.
Everything said, I do still think the DualShock 4 is a fantastic controller. I don't even have a PS4 yet, and I'm still thrilled with my DualShock 4 even just for PC and PS3. (It works much better on the PC than the DualShock 3 did. Plug-n-Play, it just works.)
Luckily, most PS3 games don't actually require using diagonal on the directional pad. Additionally, the improved analog sticks on the DualShock 4 are considerably less terrible as a dpad substitute than any other analog stick I've used. I've always been a die-hard dpad user, but I can even play Street Fighter reasonably well with the DS4's analog sticks - something I've never been able to do on any other controller.
The DualShock 4 is still a great controller and well worth getting, even for just the PS3, but I do think anyone considering a purchase should at least be aware of this limitation.
7 comments for "DualShock 4 On PS3: No Diagonal D-Pad"
Hi I've been looking online for a while for someone else with this issue. I'm try to play ps3 destiny with a DS4, tilting the analogs diagonally seems to not work to well. My movement or aim slows down A TON while tilting diagonally. Do you know if this is normal? It works fine with a ps3 controller.
woow i experience the same thing hahahhahah it bugs the crap out of me
no one found how the fuck to fix this issue?
"no one found how the fuck to fix this issue?"
It's up to Sony to solve on the PS3 itself. There's nothing anyone else can do about it. I suspect they're just baiting people to switch to PS4. Either that or they haven't haven't even noticed.
Just did some testing and and the directional pad will register diagonal if it is plugged in to the console. Haven't checked if this fixes the destiny issue as my internet is down so if some one else could check that would be awesome :D
@Blitz: Awesome, you're right. Works for me too: PS3 does register diagonal on DS4's DPad as long as it's plugged in. It's only in wireless mode that DPad diagonal fails. That's fantastic to know. Still an annoying limitation, but at least we *can* use the DS4 DPad for games like Street Fighter, etc. Just have to plug it in.
#1: Good observation. Yes, *certain* games (including Destiny) do appear to have slow/limited diagonal on the analog sticks when using a DS4 on a PS3. Unfortunately, this is happening in *both* wired and wireless modes :(. Luckily, it only appears to be on some games. Other games seem to work fine.
I think I know why the analog stick issue happens:
If you plug both a DS3 and a DS4 into a computer, check the joystick settings, and roll the analog sticks ALL the way around, you'll notice the DS3 will use the *full* square-shaped range of positions. But the DS4 is limited to only a circle-shaped range within that square, so you can't get a *full* diagonal value.
I suspect that PS4 games are designed to take that "circle-shaped range only" into account, while most PS3 games likely *assume* a DS3 and therefore *don't* necessarily handle it right. Therefore, sometimes the full range of diagonal on the DS4's analog's will JUST HAPPEN to work or not, depending how the PS3 game's input routines just happen to be coded. (Games with an "outer dead zone" would likely work fine, while others would be more likely to exhibit the problem.)
so that's why, thanks dude for making this article... i discovered this un-functionality of DS4 while playing TEKKEN, using a DS4 you simply cannot play any PS3 game that requires to fully utilize the D-PAD!