PlayStation 3 controller gets no love; redesign imminent?

by Vladimir Cole on Nov 11th 2005 10:30AM

The Xbox 360's design is set, but the Sony and Nintendo are still formulating the exact form of their products. There are rumors that the Revolution may be called something else, ultimately, and the company mentioned that the final form factor of the console itself could be different from what was shown at E3 this year. Similarly, the PlayStation 3's controller has been marked as a "conceptual design," and judging from the zeitgeist, that's probably a good thing, because the thing isn't getting a lot of love from netizens.

Pictured above, the latest comical take on the controller, in the style of one of those demotivational posters that have been popular for years now.

Source

Tags: PS3, Wii, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (58)

I know I'll get flamed for this, but I think it looks like it would be very comfortable to hold. That said, I still don't care for the design.

Where exactly is the news portion here? I think the fact that the PS3's controller design sucks and they are redesigning it is information we all knew long ago.

I dont understand why they dont stick with the same design as their current one, since that one is fine.

I agree that there isn't really anything new to this entry. Looks more like a chance to stir up flame wars and increase traffic. Everyone knows already that Sony is going back to the drawing board on the PS3 controller, at least to tweak the design.

Art Guy, I was at TGS,and while you couldn't hold them, you could look at them in a glass case, and let me tell you that they looked awful. Small - much smaller than you'd expect, the thumbsticks maybe half as large as the ps2 thumbsticks, a little bigger than the mini thumbstick on the GC controller, nearly flush to the controller surface, not sticking up like they should be.

The buttons were all very close together and nearly flush with the surface of the controller, not to mention the triggers, which were way up high. The size is really the killer though, the controller as it exists now is shockingly small, and uncomfortable looking.

NYC: we're a blog. We do news, commentary, opinion, special interest, whatever. The IMAGE itself is what merits this post because:

1. it's creative
2. it's funny
3. it captures the zeitgeist, and we think it's important to stay current with prevailing sentiments
4. it's the first time we've summarized the status of the design of the Xbox, Revolution and PS3 consoles.
5. it ties the console war to larger cultural movements of significance (in this case, the counter-motivational movement)

Hope that helps you understand why we posted this. We are not 100% news. As we've noted in the past, news aggregation is a job for bots. Google does it really well at news.google.com. You can set up a custom news page with ease.

What you're getting when you come to Joystiq is an editorial selection process. You may not agree with every item we post, but when we put 25-30 items up per day, there's bound to be something that does interest you the next time you visit.

That PS3 concept controller is NOT new...there was a controller exactly like that made by AESOP (something like that). I saw it at a pawn shop a number of months ago and can't remember if it was for the PS1 or PS2...but I've seen it before.

I think Sony just wants to show something radical (which it's not - it's ugly - but not radical).

I still find it funny that so many are bashing the look of the controller and have absolutely no clue as to how it feels and plays. The ugliest controller could still be the best performing. I hope for a redesign but not necessarily in terms of look. Nintendo has something going with the gyroscopic feedback and I bet Sony is looking into the same.

The PS2 joystiqs could be a bit smaller. That wouldn't be a bad thing. The buttons look similar to the PSP (which I'm afraid of mentioning since that will probably open up the rant of how one button isn't as responsive...) and those aren't too small.

Has anyone actually seen the backside of the controller? You can see the L1 / R1 type buttons but are there L2 / R2 types and how they are oriented if they are there?

Hey Joystiq: Just wanted to thank you for posting my picture. It's pretty much the result of what nearly everyone has been thinking ever since the PS3 was announced. Big fan of the site. Keep of the good work.

Thanks for the note, Tim!

BAAH GAWD THAT THING IS HIDEOUS

Wow, I just realized I wrote joystiqs instead of joysticks.....

Are there any real changes to the controller's input functions over the Dual Shock 2? If there isn't, I hope they make the Dual Shock 2 controllers backwards compatible. I already have 4 of them so that would save me some expense when the PS3 comes out.

Has anyone here ever held the thing? It looks like it could be quite comfortable. It has a nice contour and the buttons go straight in the directions of your thumbs. Plus, the L & R triggers are smaller, which is nice too. I very much like the idea of this, but there is no doubt that it's gonna change.

To be quite honest, I wasn't really a big fan of any of Sony's controllers. Flame me if you will, I just never was a fan. Felt too box-y to me. I'm convinced the only reason people think its comfortable is because their hands and fingers have kind of evolved over the last 10 years to suit the mechanism.

To the Batmobile!!!

I'm a big fan of the Winning Eleven/Pro Evolution Soccer series and the PS2 dual-shock controller is by far the best controller for these games. I hope Sony will redesign this ugly controller. I like the xbox controller for FPS and racing games, but not for sport-games. The same goed for the Xbox 360 controller, although that one is a big improvement.

Tesla - Just because a controller is comfortable doesn't mean it can't be ugly. A well designed controller should be both comfortable and good looking.

You want smaller controller than the PS2? I find it too small the way it is. I can't even use the GameCube for more than an hour since the controller is too small for my hands, there isn't enough room for my fingers to wrap around the triggers. The most comfortable controller I've ever used is the Xbox Duke, and I don't have giant hands.

I just can't believe how close the buttons are to the edges...visually it looks awkward. I'd like to get my hands on one though and see how it feels.

Batarang type controllers aren't exactly new. Other companines have made crappy controllers like this too.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Two-2-SideWinder-Game-Pads-Microsoft_W0QQitemZ8719748550QQcategoryZ74943QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The funny thing is, if you compare a Dual Shock 2 to the prototype image of this new controller, the button layout and spacing is identical (save for the angle of the shoulder buttons).

Art Guy,

Reread my post and you will see that I didn't say smaller controller, I said smaller joystiq (there I go again with the spelling). You know that nub thing that moves around in a 360 degree motion. Nowhere did I say smaller controller.

I think its funny how every one is hating on the controller when no has held it. It looks comfortable, but looks can also be decieving. And the reason I heard that it looked like that was because Sony got into a lawsuit with some California company that claimed that Sony stole the Dual-Shock technology from them. So hating on a controller that you have never held is dumb...unless its the Revolution controller b/c that thing is retarded!

I really could care less about the looks of the controller. Play the game... stash the controller on it's charging dock... done. Now if Heidi Klum walks through my front door and says "You know, I was going to bone you, but I just saw your ugly PS3 controller"- then I would clearly rethink things. Function over form.

haven't we learned anything from the Genesis controller? No more of these rounded boomerangs/croissants. It looks ridiculous!

I credit sony for at least trying to do something new, though. It seems like there really is no other way to go with the controllers. Really, it's the 3rd generation we'll be seeing the same basic design.

Comfortable or not, I still hate the placement of the D-Pad vs. joystick. I've always hated it for 3D gaming, and I always will. It's pretty much the only reason why I haven't boughten a PS2.

3D games usually demand that the joystick be the primary directional control, and the PS/PS2 forces you into a less-natural-than-the-D-Pad position to be able to control like that.

Plus, any resistance with the joystick is pretty much non-existent... *sigh*

I think there adding a way to power the PS3 on via the controller like MS n Nintym I also thing there going to ad some kina trickle charge cord or something.

I felt one that look the same as the ps3 at "the souce" aka radio shack. It was a rip off joystick for computers.
Anyways it wasn't too bad. I thought it would be uncomfortable, but it wasn't.

The reason Sony is redoing the design of the controller is to get out of the intelctual properties and patents of the rumble feature. They must make it different inorder to not pay out to MS for every conroller they make. MS bought the compnay that had the patent for the rumble used in the ps2 and MS controller.

I felt one that look the same as the ps3 at "the souce" aka
radio shack. It was a rip off joystick for computers.
Anyways it wasn't too bad. I thought it would be uncomfortable, but it wasn't.anyways I'm still going to wait for the ps3.

But come to think of it reminds me of microsoft's sidewinders.

http://img2.kult-mag.com/photos/00/00/31/41/ME0000314164_2.jpg

http://products.consumerguide.com/media/frontend/productImages/0/2/66611110029402-large-Microsoft-SideWinder-Game-Pad-Pro.jpg

Were the PSOne and PS2 controllers compatible?

My only worries with that controller is the lack of shoulders. Usually you get a right angle-ish point at the two upper sides of a normal controller, so your hands can grip firmly and squarely. It just looks like the curved shape might reduce grip or give me wrist ache because of the ackward twist you would have to hold it at: / instead of | |
Who knows though, but I hope they do redesign it.

Spiffae, is it smaller then the Mad Catz Dual forge 2 pro controller? and are the thumb sticks about the same size as the on on the mad catz controoler or smaller.

Hey Al D,

"if Heidi Klum walks through my front door and says "You know, I was going to bone you....I would clearly rethink things"

Um, I can't imagine Heidi Klum "boning" anyone without a strap-on firmly in place. So based on that , you are one sick puppy. Of course I guess the whole basis for this thread is the difference in "taste". Right?

On that note, the shape of the new PS3 controller (or console) is not to my taste, but I would like to try it before I pitch it out the window completely. Odds are good though, that we'll either be stuck with the boomerang or never get to try it because either Sony will change it completely or keep it about the same. I doubt they'll release different variations to the public.

Ise(#22) you hypocrite!

It will always be remembered as the BooOO00OOoomerang. I just hope the new design doesn't suck even worse. How bad would a sony fanboy feel if the next model was worse??? I think there would be a horrible amount of flaming on the offial playstation boards. Oh sony, please do it right the next time. If a $400 PS3 hits the market with a better controller design (i.e. the old one), I will definitely get one.

I think it's interesting that Sony is going through this effort to essentially make a bigger controller but make it *look* as small as possible, hence the elongated ends, empty middle, and resulting boomerang look.

The PS controllers always felt too small to me and my hands would cramp up after a while.

* 23

What makes the Revolution controller retarded! HAVE YOU SEEN THIS CONTROLLER ?? proto type or not this thing is exactly what it is ... cack!

... rubbish! WHAT THE HELL ARE SONY THINKING OF???

I suggest you gaze at this thing before you judge on other controllers

the psx/ps2 controller was the best controller i ever held in my hands! it wasn't a controller that i had to get used to.
*cough*dreamcast*cough*gamecube*cough*xbox*cough*

i held the 360 controller at the walmart kiosk and it was uncomfortable, not just because it was attached to a stiff piece of plastic.
the ps2 controller already has too many buttons and they would only need to redesign it if it were going to have more buttons. other then that they could just paint it the color of console, slap a logo on it and call it a day. why ruin a good thing with handlebars?

Exactly , no dam imagination!

Oh, the psx/ps2 controller ISN'T the best AT ALL,

Period!

FACT !!

Too blasted small.

I like the GameCube controller, Xbox controller is OK (smaller version), and PS2 controllers are simply perfect.

why change that?

Someone mentioned they reckon Sony's gonna make moves to do motion sensing or other advanced things:

Ain't gonna happen

Due to PS3's backwards compatibility, but lack of support for older controllers (check out the lack of old ports) it's IMPOSSIBLE for Sony to make anything more than a conservative departure from the old design. And motion sensing anything won't be very ergonomic if it can't be 1-handed.

Hey I'm one of the few that doesn't mind the design....

Someone mentioned along the lines of "Ain't gonna happen" and complteley butchered the English language.

Backwards compatibility has absolutely nothing to do with adding motion sensing capability. The original PS1 controller did not have pressure sensitive buttons but you can still play PS1 games on PS2. Adding a motion sensor is as easy as including it somewhere in the controller. You could swap out one of the two vibration feedback motors or even add it to the center of the controller. I'd also like to point out that the addons for the Revolution controller (ie the joystick) hinder your one handed arguement.

yeah, sony should just stick to the original controller design...in fact, sony should just not try anything new,nope, no sir...in fact, toss your ps2 out the window and plug that psONE, play some tomb raider, jam out to your sony walkman cassette player,...:( seriously, it's like complaining about losing radar in metal gear 3, and not even trying out the CQC...

remember when sony added that force feedback on the psONE controller...WRONG!!! when will you learn sony? Could you simplify, but not scare me with your "creativity"...say um, a dial on a stick, it goes left. it goes right.Just please, please, dont add an A,B, button, nor attach a dangly thing with a joystick at the end and call it a "space nunchuck"all these additions are fine for the revosomething.nintendo comforts me, SONY is scawwy !!!big ups on the GC controller, cool place for the Z trigger. verrrrrrrry comfy :)maybe it should've been on the dangly thing, now that is revolutionary thinking!

If Sony still doesn't know how the PS3 controler will look like, what about the console itself then????

What? We don't all enjoy the look of a double-sided sex toy? To use a joke from a popular webcomic, they're SONY! F*ck design!

That said, we don't know how it feels. It looks like it would be uncomfortable because your hands would not have any space to move around, they'd be held in place by the handles. Meh. They've got a year to do it, I'm sure Sony will come up with something.

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PlayStation 3 controller gets no love; redesign imminent?

Reader Comments (58)

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