Sony’s PS3 Arc isn’t the only new game controller the Japanese giant could be working on, according to a newly spotted patent application. Sony could be priming a gamepad that works with any PlayStation, Nintendo or Microsoft game box, with a touchscreen to switch button layouts on the go.
GoRumors spotted the application, which describes a gamepad with an LCD touchscreen which “is caused to present, depending on what type of game console a user has selected, a controller key layout for a first type of game console or a controller key layout for a second type of game console.”
Sony PS3 Arc launching next month
The accompanying diagram clearly shows options to switch between PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox, and a button combination (X,Y,A,B) which Sony has never used, so it’s clear that Sony has cross platform aspirations for it.
Of course, the widespread adoption of motion control by year’s end, with PS3 Motion Control and Natal on the way, could make Sony’s universal gamepad somewhat superfluous. But if you want an easy way to switch between all your old machines tangled together under the telly, perhaps this could be it.
