What do you guys think of the touch pad on the controller?

I assume that it will mostly just be used for menu navigation and things like that, for which it seems useful. I have heard some people expressing concern about it being used in gameplay though.

Any thoughts?

EYE Pad

Until I hold it I can't say too much but at this point I'm not sure about the design. It seems like it would be a pain to try and hit the middle of the touch pad and so if it's just used for menu navigation that won't be too bad but using it for gameplay could be a problem. Though if its only for menu navigation what's wrong with the sticks we've already got?

I can see it being slightly better for menu navigation, but who knows. If it can be pressed down like the trackpad on a laptop that could be useful.

It will probably be for mini-games and similar things like that, right? I can't see it being that much of a big feature, sort of like how sixaxis turned out.

I'm just glad that there is rumble this time around, haha.

maybe as a mouse in the built-in browser? or for gestures for an angry birds type game?

It feels kinda useless. like the backtouch on the Vita: I feel like they could have shaved a few bucks and not put that stuff in there.

I didn't even think about it being used in gameplay. I just thought it would constantly display the Playstation menu for quick navigation between games and apps and powering down the system or whatever.

dualshock 3 had rumble, but forreal even if it's just for menu's it should be cool, quick and easy lol

The options button on the right side is supposedly used to replace start and select so the pad should have more use than just menu navigation, I find it interesting that it wraps over the top of the controller, I don't know if that's significant at all.

Could be a whole new system menu we don't know about yet, like a HUD element that can pop up during gameplay but doesn't take away control from the game. Maybe you hit share, a little window pops up, you swipe through some options tap on record and away you go. Either way the rest of the features seem very purposeful and focused, so I can't imagine it's just tacked on.

I'm thinking of that touch pad as a context-sensitive button you can program or is programmed by the game itself, Optimus Maximus-style.

@tajasaurus: @ghostiet:

It's not a display, just a two point touchpad like the Vita back touch.

@zaccheus: A shame, then.

I'm not interested in the touch pad at all. It would be fine if it were only being used for menu navigation, etc, but you just know Sony is encouraging developers to shoehorn it into all sorts of places where it doesn't fit. For reference, see the majority of Vita launch games.

How about web browsing, menu navigation and pinch-to-zoom in-game map control. Sounds good to me.

I'm having a hard time thinking of what it would be used for. Hopefully it's actually useful.

This. It will add another layer of depth to control in games and could potentially allow for more mouse-oriented games like RTSs to be brought across to the system.

The controller itself looks fine, but the touchpad is giving me sixaxis flashbacks/nightmares. I'm curious what the degree of sensitivity will be.

Next time you're holding a Dualshock swipe the middle as if it were a touch pad. Feels pretty natural.

Though the DS4 seems wider, so I don't know whether the feel will be the same. And this actually worries me, because I like the feel of the DS3.