PlayStation Officially Unveils Brand-New Hardware

The PlayStation 6 won’t arrive for a while yet, but that doesn’t mean PlayStation fans can’t look forward to any other hardware in the meantime. Amid Valve’s major Steam hardware releases this year and Xbox’s reveal of the next-gen Project Helix, PlayStation has just dropped the first look at a new piece of equipment.

That being said, this particular investment won’t be for the faint of heart or slim of wallet. A new officially licensed PlayStation 5 controller is hitting the market today, and it comes with both a very premium set of features and a very premium price to match.

The official PlayStation Blog revealed the Scuf Omega, a controller “shaped by pro players and championship teams and engineered to win.” The most obvious difference between the Scuf Omega and a standard PlayStation 5 controller is the addition of extra inputs.

Four rear paddles, two side buttons, and 5 “G-Keys” can all be customized to a player’s preference. Inputs can be remapped on the controller itself, but profiles can be set on the accompanying Scuf Mobile App. The Scuf Mobile App also offers fine-tuning and other features, like analog stick adjustments to avoid any deadzones and battery monitoring.

As for the quality of the hardware itself, the Scuf Omega advertizes magnetic non-contact thumbsticks, Omron mechanical switches, a 1K polling rate, and triggers that can toggle between click presses and analog function. It’s all geared toward pro gameplay first and foremost, which does mean that one casual feature doesn’t make the cut. The Scuf Omega features no vibration, as “modules have been removed to reduce weight and eliminate interference.”

If that all sounds good to you, you might want to take a look at the price before getting too excited. The Scuf Omega is launching at a price of $219.99, which makes recent complaints about the $99.99 Steam Controller look like nothing by comparison. Standard PS5 DualSense controllers are available for $74 on the official PlayStation website, with some special variants, like the new 007 First Light controller, going for $84.

The eSports scene is its own thing, though, and the Scuf Omega might be worth it for those particularly dedicated to competitive play. Otherwise, it might be easy to skip this new PlayStation 5 hardware, no matter how attractive it seems.

Brand

Sony

Original Release Date

November 19, 2020

Original MSRP (USD)

$399.99 (Digital Only), $499.99 (Disc Drive)

Weight

Digital Edition now weighs 3.4 kg & base version weighs 3.9 kg