From the adaptive triggers of the DualSense to the motion sensor of the Wiimote, technology has always been a crucial part behind the controllers we use. For decades, companies have introduced new features to justify generational changes in controllers, some of which were successful while others fell into obscurity.
One of the most forgotten features of the Playstation 2 controller was pressure-sensitive buttons. Introduced years ago in an alternative controller for the original Playstation, this function allowed the same button to perform different actions depending on how we pressed it. For example, in action games, pressing with more or less intensity could result in different attacks.
In a time when triggers were not used as much, every front button became more sophisticated. Its use was common in racing games, where pressing the button harder would make the cars accelerate more, but there were more clever examples. In the Metal Gear Solid games for PS2, the same button used for aiming would fire the weapon if you applied more pressure.
Although the theory is interesting, in practice, few titles used this feature significantly or memorably, with some of the most notable ones being GTA, Gran Turismo, MGS, Silent Hill 2, and 3. The feature survived one generation, but it was used even less in the Playstation 3 controller, with frequent references to remastered PS2 titles as the main way to utilize them.
Like with other quirks in controllers, their use in the PS3 was probably diminished by the fact that its competitor, Xbox 360, did not have them (while the original Xbox did), posing an extra headache to developers in multiplatform titles who would probably want to avoid them. It is not surprising then that Sony decided to get rid of these buttons with the arrival of the Dualshock 4. It is assumed that the added cost did not justify the existence of something that was not widely used.
A sophistication that was impractical in most cases
Another possible explanation has to do with simplifying design. Players already had enough to remember with button combinations in different games, without having to remember which buttons in each game had a second use. Especially when this second use was often so subtle that it was forgotten.
And yet their absence has been noticed all this time. There are many player comments questioning why they were removed or looking to compile lists of all the games that used this functionality. Not to mention that their existence had a psychological impact on a whole generation, with the widespread belief that pressing any button harder would do the same thing but with more intensity, whether it was jumping, hitting, or accelerating a car. Something that was far from true in all cases.
Today, it is a nostalgic feature that helps identify a whole generation of consoles. Despite the sophistication they represented, the industry clearly believed it was better to do away with them, and none of the major consoles have pressure-sensitive buttons anymore, just like the Steam Controller and the Steam Deck.
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