Just look at it. I need it.
The Astro Bot limited edition controller adds blue controller grips and sci-fi accents and features Astro’s signature pair of bright blue eyes on the touchpad that, based on the adorable trailer, appear to blink at you. (They better blink at you — what’s the point of the eyes if they don’t blink at you?)
Team Asobi has added a bunch of new interactions between DualSense controllers and the Astro Bot game, some of which I got to experience during my demo of the game at Summer Game Fest. The team has increased the number of textures you can feel through the controller like sand, glass, or metal. All of Astro’s new power-ups will have a distinct feel to them thanks to haptic feedback and the adaptive triggers. In the demo, there are little spark plugs you frequently have to pull out of the ground. The sound effects coming out of the controller combined with the slowly increasing resistance on the triggers made it actually feel like yanking on stubborn wires.
The controller will be available for preorder on August 9th in select countries, retailing for $79.99. Or you can try your luck buying it from select retailers worldwide on September 6th — the same day as Astro Bot’s launch.