The Xbox One will support 8 controllers simultaneously according to the official Xbox One Wireless Controller webpage. It has already been announced that the Kinect 2.0 can track 6 players at once, though it is unclear whether each player must be signed in using a separate controller.
As well as listing all of the many improvements Microsoft have made and recently advertised, the page, linked above, also includes an ‘Additional Features’ section. Alongside boasting a wireless range of 30 feet, here’s the exact wording that confirms the story; ‘Connect up to 8 Wireless Controllers at once to your console.’
This is twice what the Xbox 360 supported, only allowing 4 controllers to be synced up to one console at any time, and even beats the PS3’s 7 controllers. Only supporting one extra controller than a seven year old console isn’t exactly much to brag about is it? Well, you wouldn’t have thought so, but thanks to Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios at Sony, we now know that the PS4 only supports 4 controllers at any one time.
He confirmed through his Twitter account yesterday that the PS4 only lets four Dual Shock 4 controllers to be connected simultaneously. I would link the actual tweet, but he answered three separate user’s almost identical questions in quick succession, all with the short answer of; ‘4’. One user did ask; “Why only 4 for PS4 compared to 7 for PS3 ?” and though Yoshida hasn’t given an answer, it poses an interesting question.
If Microsoft are capable of doubling how many controllers their console can support at one time from the Xbox 360, why does the Ps4 only support 4, almost half of what the PS3 allowed seven years ago?
Give us your best guess why, or opinion on the controller debate in a comment below.
