Sony likes to keep things in the family, and why not when you’ve got such a large company the specializes in so many different things? Among the most famous brands is undoubtedly the PlayStation brand, which has proven itself time and time again to deliver some of the best gaming experiences out there. As an extension of this brand Sony has been providing support for the Playstation controllers, long called DualShock, for its Xperia range of smartphones and tablets to improve the gaming experience on those devices. We reviewed this experience last year and certainly found it to be a favorable one, as Sony gives the option of even using your smartphone or tablet as the screen that games are displayed on for your PS3 or PS4.
We saw with the launch of the Xperia Z4 Tablet that the DualShock 4 controller, found in the box of a Playstation 4, was the only supported controller as opposed to support for the PS3’s DualShock 3 as well. Now that official support is remaining DualShock 4 only for the newfound Xperia Z4 and Xperia Z3+ as well, likely extending itself to the forthcoming Xperia Z4V on Verizon in the US as well since that’s nearly identical hardware. This move has some users of older Xperia Z devices worried as the Z4 and Z3+ feature newer versions of Android than other Xperia Z devices have, bringing up concerns that support for the DualShock 3 could be dropped on those devices as well.
This move makes sense as Sony begins phasing out any final PlayStation 3 support in favor of the PS4, now over two years old and selling like hotcakes. This helps push the next generation of hardware and software and likely will result in better gaming experiences for those who use Sony’s products and services related to Playstation. This also extends to any other kind of input to the phones too though, which means those who have been using their DualShock 3 controllers for mobile gaming and other uses won’t be able to continue if they purchase one of the new Xperia Z devices.