Enligt Toshimasa Aoki på Sony Computer Entertainment så har Dual Shock 4 genomgått otaliga förändringar innan Sony till slut fastnade för den nuvarande. I en intervju med Gamesbeat berättar Aoki att den ett tag faktiskt liknande handkontrollen till Xbox 360: "For the analog sticks, we did test having the analog sticks on top, since the Xbox has the left side on top [above the D-pad]. Especially from the shooter teams - we got feedback that that's what they wanted. They knew that consumers liked the 360 for shooters."
Aokie lade därefter till: "The feedback from the user test team said that we needed to test this version, the Xbox version, and this version. [But having the two sticks symmetrical on the left and right sides] is kind of in our DNA. The prototype team, myself, and also the management team really felt that having this look is the PlayStation look, and we had to keep that."
Däremot har Xbox 360-handkontrollen ingen touchpad, och Aokie säger: "The developers love the touchpad, but only as the secondary input. Of course, as it evolves and people get used to the touchpad, it may become more primary."
