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Intel upgrades Bluetooth for Windows 11 – and it’s great news for people with the PS5 DualSense controller
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Intel has just released a new Wireless Bluetooth driver for Windows 11 (and Windows 10), and it looks like it could make DualSense, the official controller for the PlayStation 5, work even better with PCs.

As Neowin reports, the Intel Wireless Bluetooth 23.30.0 driver is available to download from the official Intel website for Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices.

According to the release notes, this driver includes “Improved connectivity to a second gaming controller (Dual Sense)”, as well as several new functional updates. Devices that have gone into hibernation or sleep modes will also be more stable when they wake up.

If you have a laptop or PC that comes with Intel processors, its built-in Bluetooth connectivity is likely based on Intel hardware, so you’ll probably be able to benefit from these new drivers.

Making perfect (Dual)Sense

While Bluetooth driver updates are often hardly the most exciting news, I am glad that support for the DualSense is getting improved for Windows 11 PCs.

The innovative DualSense controller, which has lots of clever haptic feedback tricks that make playing games more immersive, is one of the best things about the PS5 – and because it can be hooked up to a gaming laptop or gaming PC, it’s also one of the best PC controllers you can buy.

This is because not only is it a solidly built controller that is comfortable to hold, but you can also make use of its advanced haptic features – including triggers that change resistance depending on what you’re doing in-game.

DualSense controllers

(Image credit: Sony)

However, while you can connect a DualSense controller wirelessly to a PC via Bluetooth, to make use of the more advanced features, you still have to use a USB cable.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem like this driver update changes that – though I would love to see those features enabled for wirelessly-connected DualSense controllers. Instead, going by the release notes, it will allow people to connect two DualSense controllers to a single PC or laptop.

This is still a welcome development, as it will enable people to play local multiplayer and cooperative games on PC. To be honest, if these improvements keep coming, it’s making me less likely to buy a PS5 and just stick with my trusted gaming PC.

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You know what my Oculus Quest 2 setup needs? More weird controller attachments
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When I think of controller attachments, I instantly imagine the crappy Wii remote add-ons I had as a kid. 

At first, I loved them – I wouldn’t touch Wii Sports unless my controller looked like a tennis racket or golf club – but over time, I came to despise them. The cheap plastic constructions would always break after a few uses, and they objectively made playing games harder because they’d block the sensor on the end of the remote.

I’ve recently had the chance to try out the HelloReal Grip-to-putter with my Oculus Quest 2 and Meta Quest Pro VR headsets, and it’s reopened my eyes to the immersion that accessories can bring to virtual reality – whether it’s gaming, working out, or just plain working.

My Grip-to-putter thoughts 

The HelloReal Grip-to-putter is a golf club controller attachment and the perfect companion for Walkabout Mini Golf – one of my favorite VR experiences. 

The HelloReal Grip-to-putter with an oculus quest 2 on one end and a colorful grip at the other

(Image credit: Future)

You slot your Quest 2 or Quest Pro controller into the open end where it sits snuggly – for additional assurance that your handset won’t fly off when you swing the club HelloReal has included instructions on securing it using the controller’s wrist straps. Once it’s in place you can boot up your favorite VR golfing app and enjoy swinging a club that feels much more like the real thing than your controller ever did.

The Grip-to-putter gets its name from the grip-to-putt feature in Walkabout Mini Golf. When this setting is switched on in the app’s menu your club’s end will vanish until you hold down the side grip button on the controller. This lets you get a few practice swings without the risk of accidentally hitting your virtual ball before you’re ready. 

HelloReal’s attachment includes a contraption that will hold down the controller’s grip button when you press the trigger that sits just above the padded end. While playing Walkabout with the putter took a little getting used to – because the mechanics are a bit different with the add-on – I found that it made the whole experience significantly more immersive.

Have to feel to believe 

As you can see from the images included above, the HelloReal putter looks nothing like a golf club beyond the fact it’s vaguely pole shaped. But it doesn’t matter what the add-on looks like, just what it feels like – and HelloReal has got the golf club feeling down to a tee. The padded grip and weight distribution of the putter are perfect. 

A closeup of the HelloReal Grip-to-putter with an Oculus Quest 2 attached and a black claw pressing down the grip button

(Image credit: Future)

Once I slipped my headset on, I fully believed I was holding a real golf club. And this got me thinking – I need more realistic feeling VR accessories to use at home.

Inspired by the Wii’s heyday, I can already imagine some of the VR gaming accessories I could get, such as attachments that mimic the feel of swords and axes or sporting-inspired add-ons for VR fishing and tennis.

For the VR fitness fans out there, wouldn’t it be great to get a weighted club attachment that makes your Supernatural workout a little tougher? Maybe someday, we could get a boxing glove-inspired accessory that brings Litesport VR and other boxing workouts to life.

While working in the metaverse, perhaps we could use blank slates and styluses that make us believe we’re writing on paper when taking virtual notes. OK, this add-on is a little bleak, but if metaverse working is inevitable, it might make it more enjoyable than I found it before – I much prefer traditional pen and paper to using a keyboard. It would also feel more real than the controller styluses Meta includes in the Quest Pro’s box, which enable you to write in VR, albeit clunkily. If you didn’t realize the styluses were in the box, it might be because they’re tiny and exceptionally easy to lose.

Cost and effect 

These sorts of realism-boosting accessories are already deployed by commercial VR experiences you can find in some malls and theme parks to great effect – but they do admittedly have a downside if you want to bring them home. Cost.

A VR playter running around on an Omni One VR treadmill

The Omni One VR treadmill is a next-level VR accessory (Image credit: Virtuix)

Different add-ons have different prices, with gadgets like the Omni One VR treadmill at the ‘ridiculous’ (over $ 2,500, around £2,000 / AU$ 3,900) end, and accessories like the Grip-to-putter at a more reasonable $ 58.99 (around £46 / AU$ 91). Admittedly, $ 58.99 still isn’t ‘cheap’, but if you plan to use your VR accessory a lot, you'll likely feel it offers solid bang for your buck. 

So if you are a VR power user – or even just pick it up once a week – and have been weighing up buying a few accessories for it, then I’d say go for it (provided they’re good quality). Burnt by the Wii, I’d been instantly dismissing every add-on as a gimmick, but after trying the HelloReal putter, I’ve been scouring the internet for other weird goodies I could pick up to improve my VR setup.

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The DualSense PS5 controller is packed with fancy features – but they won’t get used
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In a blog post that came seemingly out of nowhere, Sony finally revealed the new DualSense PS5 controller. It marks a radical departure from the DualShock 4, but the redesigned pad will share one thing in common with its predecessor – developers will continue to ignore almost all of its unique features. 

And that’s a shame, as the DualSense is stuffed full of exciting and potentially game-changing technology. Sony wants to tingle your fingertips and massage your palms in a variety of interesting ways using haptic feedback and adaptive triggers – and I’m all for it.

We’ve seen the tech used effectively in VR controllers, but if you’re new to haptic feedback it basically means you’ll feel more of what you see on screen – the sludginess as you drive a car through mud or the tension of pulling back a bow string as you shoot an arrow, for example.  

The problem is – and I hate to admit this – that these features will largely be ignored by everyone but Sony’s first-party studios. History has shown us time and time again that even if you design a console entirely around a distinctive input device (hello, Nintendo Wii), third-party developers will still find a way to ignore 95% of a controller’s special qualities.

Ignored and underused

Let’s take a look at the DualShock 4 as our primary suspect. It’s got a lovely light bar which can change color to reflect what’s happening in a game, such as flashing white if you’re using a torch, or turning red if your health is low. How many games use it in this way, though? The answer is: barely any.

Next up, the DualShock 4 touch bar. If you ever needed a more concrete example of developer apathy in full effect, it’s that battery-draining touch bar. We saw Killzone: Shadowfall, a PS4 launch title, use the touch bar in some interesting ways – as did Infamous: Second Son. But how many other games can you name that transform the experience in any meaningful way using this feature? Probably no more than a handful, because basically every game just uses it as an oversized map button. Brilliant.

What about the PS4 accelerometer? A feature that’s been around since the SixAxis controller, which launched with the PlayStation 3. When did you last play a video game that used the accelerometer for something other than a silly gimmick? Yeah, didn’t think so.

Features schmeatures

But hold on. Maybe it’s because those features were rather superfluous. I mean, come on, a flashing light that you can’t even see most of the time? Who cares! Members of the court, may I present to you exhibit B: HD Rumble on Nintendo Switch.

The masters of cramming quirky technology down gamers’ throats, Nintendo always tries to introduce some bizarre new input system into their consoles. With Nintendo Switch it was no different. We were promised the sensation of feeling ice cubes in a controller – because of course we were. Despite the technology genuinely wowing in games like 1-2-Switch, it’s basically been ignored by even Nintendo themselves, and hasn’t come close to reaching the potential we were promised. 

Still in denial? Okay, let’s wrap this up with one more sorry example. You might not know this, but the Xbox One controller has impulse triggers. And they’re freaking awesome and never, ever get used.

Do yourself a favor and play any of the Forza Motorsport games on Xbox One and you’ll experience a fingertip-defining moment that will make every other racing game seem a little sad in comparison. The triggers rumble and respond according to where your tyres are on the track, so you can physically feel the sensation of a wheel locking up, moving over gravel and responding to torque. It’s so damn good, but clearly not a priority for any developers.

One feature fits all

So why does this worrying trend constantly happen? Truth be told, it all comes down to time and money. Video games are extremely expensive to make, and require a lot of resources to do so. There’s no monetary benefit to developers spending the extra time to code for features that are specific for one console. Occasionally it can happen, but it’s an anomaly. 

The odds are stacked against the DualSense controller, then. There’s no doubt that we’ll see some truly awe-inspiring moments from Sony’s first-party studios (firing Aloy’s bow in Horizon: Zero Dawn 2 is a given for the adaptive triggers), but try not to feel too disappointed if half the time these features come as a pleasant surprise, rather than a new standard moving forward.

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