Sony considered ditching Vita analogue sticks

By Fred Dutton Published 19 January, 2012

Hardware designer reveals what might have been.

Sony toyed with removing the Vita's twin analogue sticks entirely while prototyping the device, the platform holder has revealed.

Speaking in an interview on the PlayStation Blog, Sony designer Tokashi Sogabe revealed that his team discussed various alternative plans for control inputs, including "flat slide pads".

"We also built a prototype with flat slide pads, a bit like what you have on your laptop, but it just didn't feel responsive enough for gaming and we learned that you need that physical response of tilting the stick to feel like you have total control.

"For me as a designer [analogue sticks] have presented a huge challenge, partly because it's much easier to design products with entirely flat surfaces.

"We also discussed the position of the analogue sticks at great length: I didn't feel that they were in the perfect position from a design perspective but Worldwide Studios were adamant that they were in the best position for comfortable gameplay, and in the end they won out on that point."

Sogabe also mentioned a few other rejected concepts for the new portable, including a beefy 5.5 inch screen with the buttons somehow incorporated into the display.

"It is easy to fall into the trap of thinking bigger is better when it comes to screen size but it isn't," he explained.

"There was a great deal of discussion and we even talked about using a 5.5 inch screen with all of the buttons included on it, but that had a negative impact on the operability of the device and the idea was abandoned."

Finally, he mentioned that a number of different form factors were tried out, including a clam shell design.

"When we started work on PS Vita, the shape we had in mind was very similar to the final product, but in the testing phase we tried many different designs, including a sliding system [similar to PSP go] and a clamshell.

"We settled on the final model after many discussions with the game development teams in Worldwide Studios."

The final version of Sony's new hardware goes on sale in Europe and the US from 22nd February.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (24) Latest comment 4 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Crossifixxo #1 4 months ago

    I bet they hated the line 'Back to the drawing board'

  • abigsmurf #2 4 months ago

    The 3DS' slide pad works far better than I thought it would. The problem with it is that my finger gradually slips towards the edge due to the smooth surface. Would it have killed Nintendo to add a rubber coating or texture the plastic?

    As for the Vita's analogues. I've worries about the lack of travel making them a bit twitchy but all the reports I've read seem to like like. Hopefully the larger size of the Vita will result in less hand cramp than I get with the too-small-too-close-to-the-edge 3DS controls.

  • arcam #3 4 months ago

    Such an awesome job to get to design all these gadgets. Takes very high skill of course, and I'm sure they're under a lot of pressure, but I am definitely jealous.

  • peterfll #4 4 months ago

    I'm not doubting all that prototyping, but it is rather ironic that what they ended up with was something that looks more or less like the old PSP. As evidenced in a call to my sister about my nephews birthday yesterday "oh it's just a new PSP I've seen a picture of it?".

    Not that that's necessarily a bad thing of course :-)
    Edited by peterfll at 19/01/12 @ 17:29

  • simiankid #5 4 months ago

    I'll give these guys +5 'nice chap' points for not saying 'what kind of idiot company would release a handheld without dual analogues these days?'.

  • JawzPause #6 4 months ago

    Honestly, it wasn't the touch screen, rear touch, improved graphics or specs that made me want the Vita. It's the dual analogue sticks, and I'm glad they didn't remove them, as i felt it was the one big drawback from the PSP.

  • markyHD #7 4 months ago

    Post deleted at 09:26:06 20-01-2012

  • callum9999 #8 4 months ago

    @markyHD Does it? Investment in times of recession often equates to blazing ahead when the recovery begins.

    Unless there are specific areas losing significant amounts, I see no reason for them to bow out of them. Their wide product range has helped them gain the recognition they have today - and is a similar strategy to the other major corporations like Philips, Panasonic etc.

  • MikeRox #9 4 months ago

    @abigsmurf when they say slide pad they mean like the xperia play. Think of the touch pad on a laptop. Bleh!

  • NotSoSlim #10 4 months ago

    Yep right thing to do. Ninty are releasing the abomination of a add on to aid developers.

    3ds revision wouldnt shock me at E3

  • Snake_2011 #11 4 months ago

    glad it turned out the way it has looks amazing imo.

  • eviroboy #12 4 months ago

    Ah, so basically they heard people moaning about a lack of dual sticks on the 3DS so they went with them. I guess the sales figures agree...oh...

  • NotSoSlim #13 4 months ago

    @eviroboy Yes because the dual analogs are the reason why we buy a handheld. Thought it was the games?

    Simply put Ninty will revise the hardware with dual analogs. First party games are now using it so signs point to revision
    Edited by NotSoSlim at 19/01/12 @ 19:22

  • Drygore #14 4 months ago

    @eviroboy
    Go troll somewhere else.
    I can also bet you my car that those dual analogs were in place already when the 3ds was released. About the sales.. Well, it's Nintendo, they always sell to the masses, though i don't think they deserve it anymore. I have a 3ds, and i like it, but not enough. The Vita looks to be the ultimate portable console, and i really hope it eventually sells well.

  • Mchief22 #15 4 months ago

    @markyHD I think the music and movie side of Sony would disagree!

  • sourc0r #16 4 months ago

    simply the fact alone that they 'considered' it gives me the creeps..

  • napalm68 #17 4 months ago

    God that would have been a gaming tragedy

  • electrolite #18 4 months ago

    So they had some fairly bad ideas, but ditched them. Works for me.

  • spish #19 4 months ago

    Sony WWS input seems rather extensive if they had the final say on where the analog sticks were placed. Not that I mind, WWS is firing on all cylinders and has me optimistic about the PS4.
    Edited by spish at 19/01/12 @ 21:39

  • tursachan #20 4 months ago

    Shame they didn't toy with the idea of binning the rear touch, GPS and the cameras. They just bump up the manufacturing cost and give virtually nothing back in terms of gaming.

    I'd have traded them all to retain the HDMI out and pushed the idea of using the VITA as a viable home console (controlled with PS3 pads). I think that would have been very attractive to a lot of users in the current financial climate, especially those considering buying a console for a child.

  • matty_matt_mattmatt #21 4 months ago

    I wanted to rock out with my clam out

  • DrStrangelove #22 4 months ago

    "For me as a designer [analogue sticks] have presented a huge challenge, partly because it's much easier to design products with entirely flat surfaces."
    It's one thing if it looks good out of the box, it's another how it looks once you squeeze it into two of those 3DS-analogue-stick-extension things.

  • BigDannyH #23 4 months ago

    @callum9999
    Exactly. A narrow product range is as dangerous as a crazily wide one. Just ask Kodak.

  • bemani247 #24 4 months ago

    I love the current design, big, feels solid and the touch screen is responsive, my only problems with the analogue sticks are the dont feel grippy enough and they have a slightly loose feel to them, otherwise, theyre fantastic in the response department