Sony has taken the wraps off the Mini Wired Gamepad for the PlayStation 4.
Built by gaming peripherals maker Hori, the new PS4 controller is targeted at kids and, presumably, gamers with tiny hands.
Mini Wired Gamepad: The Basics
Compared to the original PS4 controller, the Mini Wired Gamepad is downsized almost by half. To be exact, it's 40 percent smaller than the standard DualShock 4.
As an added bonus of sorts, it sports the iconic blue of PlayStation. The downside here is there are no other color options — at the moment, at least.
As anyone has probably figured out from its name, the controller is wired, and it measures at 10 feet.
PS4 DualShock 4 vs Mini Wired Gamepad
Across the board, it's basically the same as the DualShock 4 when it comes to buttons and other inputs.
"The Mini Wired Gamepad provides the essential functions to play most PS4 games while still providing a great gaming experience — that includes the right and left sticks, R1/L1/R2/L2 buttons, directional buttons, and action buttons," Sony says.
The thing is, all that cutting down in terms of size comes with a cost, and straight from the horse's mouth, the price to pay here is the "touch pad, light bar, stereo headset jack, speaker, vibration, or motion sensing."
A quick word about the touchpad: Sony did say that "certain touch pad inputs can be simulated via the left or right sticks," which means it's still a pretty capable PS4 controller.
The Bottom Line
The Mini Wired Gamepad is perfect for children to avoid aches and strains during long gaming sessions, and the same goes for adults with small hands.
Speaking of console controllers, the Xbox One is also heading toward a similar direction, but instead of going with a smaller controller, it's going with a larger one. Some may have guessed what this is, but just to be clear, it's The Duke, the humungous controller of the original Xbox. From the look of things, it's banking on gamers' nostalgia to make sales and, perhaps, the needs of gamers with huge hands.
The Mini Wired Gamepad will roll out just in time for the holidays in the United States and Canada for $29.99 or $39.99 CAD. As a side note, that price point is half the cost of the original DualShock 4, and apparently, the sacrificed features are worth that amount.
