Astro Bot Sony will be receiving a limited edition PlayStation 5 controller, Sony has announced.
In an article on the PlayStation BlogNicolas Doucet, head of development studio Team Asobi, has offered a first look at the Astro Bot Limited Edition DualSense wireless controller, inspired by the design of Astro’s Dual Speeder spaceship from PlayStation’s upcoming platform celebration.
The controller design features Astro’s blue accents on the grips and buttons, sculpted sci-fi lines, and Atro’s pair of eyes on the touchpad.
Starting Friday, August 9 at 7am PT in the US and 10am PT in the UK, France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Austria, and Portugal, players can pre-order the Astro Bot Limited Edition DualSense Wireless Controller on direct.playstation.com, as well as at select retailers, for $79.99 / €79.99 / £69.99 / ¥11,980. The Astro Bot controller will launch alongside the game itself on September 6.
In the blog post, Doucet explains how Astro Bot uses the DualSense’s features.
“First of all, as many of you have come to expect from an Astro game, you can feel the surfaces that Astro is running and sliding on, from grass, sand, metal to softer textures or water,” Doucet said. “This was already the case with Astro’s Playroom, but we’ve expanded the number of textures you can feel through the controller.”
“We then doubled down on the adaptive triggers combined with haptic feedback, tying them closely to Astro’s new powers. For example, when you use Barkster, the bulldog jetpack, you can feel the thruster slam against your finger in sync with the animation, which gives a very dynamic and immersive feeling. Each new power-up has been given the same special treatment so you can experience different expressions through your fingers.
“Finally, given the number of enemies and boss fights we’ve added to this new adventure, it was important to work on combat and impacts by combining all of the above. Whether it’s stretching, hitting, or hitting hard surfaces, there are many new types of impacts that can be experienced in Astro Bot.
“And of course, we couldn’t end this article without mentioning the Dual Speeder, one of Astro’s most recurring gadgets, which allows him to fly to different planets. The Dual Speeder takes full advantage of motion control, adaptive triggers, and haptic feedback.”
Check out IGN’s interview with Doucet from Summer Game Fest hereas well as our Astro Bot full hands-on overview.
Wesley is IGN’s UK News Editor. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can contact Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or in confidence at wyp100@proton.me.