Sony could give Wii-style motion controllers fresh life on PS4

Of all the attempts to capitalize on motion controllers after the success of the Wii, Sony’s PlayStation Move might have been the most underwhelming. Where Microsoft doubled down on the Kinect this generation, Sony all but gave up on the PlayStation Move…at least, that’s how it looked until a patent for a “Flat Joystick Controller” was published on the USPTO website last week. The patent describes “[a] controller device to interface with a computer gaming system [that] includes a body having a handle and an object disposed at one end of the handle.” This description sounds virtually identical to the PlayStation Move, but the next few lines mention a “touch surface” on the handle that responds to a player’s finger, much like the touchpad on the DualShock 4. The PlayStation Move is supported by the PlayStation 4, but an updated version looks to be on the way.