After getting our first, mind-blowing hands on with the PS5's controller and Astro's Playroom, we sat down with Nicholas Doucet, Studio Director at SIE Worldwide Studios, Japan Studio. The topics of discussion: Grade-A geek level nostalgia, the pressures of making a “built-in” game and becoming a bold explorer of a whole new way to play.

With our own Adam 'GrizGaming' Mathew likening the experience to putting on a VR helmet for the first-time.

AG: While I have you, I'm wondering if you might be able to provide some insight in terms of design document language about haptics. Because the critic in me realised early on that the phrase, “you do action X in the game and the controller will RUMBLE” doesn't even come close to encapsulating the experience to somebody else. You mentioned “haptics expression” back there – do you and your team have more nuanced terms or phrases to better explain what's being felt through the DualSense?

ND: Expression is definitely a term we use a lot. You're trying to get either a texture across to the player or a situation. For example: we have a sandstorm section in our game and a moment elsewhere where rain starts. In the first you feel buffeted by the wind and in the other you feel the pitter patter of droplets “on” the DualSense. You can close your eyes – and this is a good test that we do – to feel that haptic expression of rain.

Obviously “feeling” is a very strong word we use here as well. You would have experienced it in the demo when you're running on the various different surfaces, transitioning across them. That's something we want you to feel a lot in Astro's Playroom.

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