Someone got a hold of a PS3 controller?

by Blake Snow { Feb 18th 2006 at 9:30PM }

Either the individual in the above photo snatched up a rare PS3 controller before launch or does a doozy with cut-outs and shady photography. Your guess is as good as ours.

[Thanks, Obscene Truth]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Los @ Feb 18th 2006 9:34PM

haha, the buttons all look flat, I SAY PAPER!

Yaanu @ Feb 18th 2006 9:35PM

The buttons look a little too flat to be real, so I vote FAKE

charlie @ Feb 18th 2006 9:36PM

Man those are small and look uncomfortable

heliosphan @ Feb 18th 2006 9:37PM

If this controller feels anything like this "boomarang controller" that I got awhile back for the original ps, I'm going to be very sad =(
(The design is almost identical to the ps3 design, with the exception of button and control pad style, and minus analog sticks)

AceFlash11 @ Feb 18th 2006 9:38PM

It looks real to me. He's so lucky!!!!!!

Ritz @ Feb 18th 2006 9:38PM

They way he is holding that suggests its fake. Clever, but it doesnt really look like it's sitting in his hands...

Ian Gibson @ Feb 18th 2006 9:40PM

I'd have to say fake - the buttons appear to be flat and the controller is not consistent with the light source that is brightening the hands. It kinda looks like the person printed out an image and is holding it in his hands as his fingers are on the top of the controller and not slightly behind where the actual triggers would be.

MA666UT @ Feb 18th 2006 9:41PM

This is fake its very much posible he photoshoped look at this link link to this pic its identical to the shape and even also if you know how to shade well. its fake just look at the link

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20050517/sce104.jpg

Blink @ Feb 18th 2006 9:41PM

Naw, it's not real. I have an artist's eye, I can tell. If you look at the shadows, you'll see that the light is coming from different angles for the controller than for the cut out. Well done, I admit, but not well done enough. They need to do a better job than that, get the lighting right at the least, and have multiple shots of it too.

Ian Gibson @ Feb 18th 2006 9:46PM

ill trooper @ Feb 18th 2006 9:59PM

Is it really so hard to believe? It's not like it's John Lennon or Biggie holding it.

I practically live inside photoshop and I'll say it: that is real. The lighting through the translucent buttons is very different from the link you posted Ma66ut (but that was a nice read, that's probably what I would have done - printed it out, held the photo in my hand at the correct angle, and shot another photo) - it just seems the ambient lighting and video noise are just too accurate to fake along in photoshop. The lighting and curvature are very 'correct.'

But does it matter? I don't see any real games in the background, either. It's likely a mock-up of the controller someone got to take a quick photo with at the Taipei Games Show while setting up the booth, although the room background is not really saying 'convention center' to me.

Brian @ Feb 18th 2006 10:05PM

Obviously it's a fake. There is no dual display pumping out 1080p to 2 separate displays in perfect blu-ray high definition video. For that matter it's not recording television shows or making that dude's toast either. The PS3 obviously does all of those things at the same time so unless this guy doesn't know how to take a picture, it's a fake.

Jake @ Feb 18th 2006 10:05PM

Its fake. Anyone who's half good with Photoshop can do that. As others have said just look at the light as well as the way it sits in his hands.

Brando @ Feb 18th 2006 10:11PM

hands down fake... nice try buddy

UglyMonkey @ Feb 18th 2006 10:14PM

Does it really matter? Even if it is real, your not gonna get it unless you're friends/related to the guy. But I vote fake. Just a good Photoshop.

Jay @ Feb 18th 2006 10:16PM

I'm a designer with pro work under my belt... fake as hell. the lighting gives it all away, anyone with Photoshop knowledge will tell you that. The thing that really gives it away is the up button on the d-pad. just look at it. that actually IS flat. the white bit in the middle of up has two identical widths of 'blackness'. if it was real then the button would be skewed to the left a little.

What kind of lonely person would do this O_o

H Jungle @ Feb 18th 2006 10:20PM

Ask yourself: why would this person only take/post a single grainy photograph?

leojsoap @ Feb 18th 2006 10:23PM

FAKE, those are obviously prosthetic hands, he had to sell his arms in order to afford a chance to touch a PS3 this early�

Lone Starr @ Feb 18th 2006 10:23PM

It might be real. Take a look at the lighting on the hands. That certainly could be real (the finger casts a curved shadow on the controller.) Additionally, the colors of the picture remind me of the colors from a cell phone camera. That could also explain the relatively weak primary lightsource. Also, the lights in the background reflect off of the top of the controller.

I'm no expert at fake vs. real photos, but if it's real, could this be a Sony viral campaign?

Captain Obvious @ Feb 18th 2006 10:24PM

It looks unnatural. The focus, shadows, and perspective are all a little off. I say fake.

don_sf @ Feb 18th 2006 10:25PM

ok im not good with photoshop, thats fake. look at the buttons, look at where the light is focusing and look at how he is pressing r1 and r2.

i dare any else to do a better one, and make it more realistic than this one.

Stu @ Feb 18th 2006 10:27PM

Also the buttons look completely flat, like they don't stick out of the controller at all, more possible evidence to the fakitude of this picture.

WIll @ Feb 18th 2006 10:28PM

Yeah I vote photoshop on that one

Superzapper2000 @ Feb 18th 2006 10:30PM

My thought is that it's not Photoshop but a controller the guy has made himself.The buttons all look to be from an original pre dual shock controller and can be easily glued to a Resin or Balsa controller.Anyone could make that in a night of mad carving and silver painting.

srika @ Feb 18th 2006 10:32PM

its real and fake, all at the same time.

whuh? @ Feb 18th 2006 10:40PM

Fake. Even a crappy camera have better quality than that. Faker will make the image blurry or hard to guess if it's real or fake. The PS3 controller doesn't have shoulder buttons sticking out like the one in the photo, plus the real on have the word Sony accross it. There is no working PS3. Developers are using dual shock controller for their development. The button is flat and look to be a cut out picture.

Kenneth Powers @ Feb 18th 2006 10:44PM

Why is it that every "leaked" photo is very low quality? You'd think someone who is connected enough to get such a think is connected enough to at least get a dicount on a decent camera.

Zero_ @ Feb 18th 2006 10:46PM

It's either some good Photoshop work, or the guy printed out pictures of it and stuck it on a piece of cardboard. It's most apparent by the way he is holding it (Generally, controllers 'fit' into the hand) and the absence of any elevation of the D-Pad buttons.

Fake, but nicely pulled off.

Joel_O @ Feb 18th 2006 10:50PM

Its a cardboard cutout!!!

ck @ Feb 18th 2006 10:51PM

Besides the fact that the image quality is low, the shading is way off, the controller just looks WAY too small. Seriously, if I had my hands on the controller long enough to take a picture, I'm taking more than one AND taking better quality ones. The only thing leaking from this source is the crap coming from his anus.

2kings @ Feb 18th 2006 10:54PM

http://www.watch.impress.co.jp/game/docs/20050517/sce104.jpg

Also the "SONY" symbol is not on that one

Turbo Berto @ Feb 18th 2006 10:56PM

that looks soooooo fake, and why only that pic? does this person not have any other angles of this controller? plus it doesnt look very comfy in the hands. anywho looks really fake, like they are just holding a cut out of it.

bubbacrosbysucks @ Feb 18th 2006 10:59PM

not photoshopped- a perfect replica.

Gin @ Feb 18th 2006 10:59PM

... DAMN that looks uncomftable.

bubbacrosbysucks @ Feb 18th 2006 11:01PM

except for the sony signage

Joel @ Feb 18th 2006 11:02PM

D-pad doesn't look real. Otherwise, it looks pretty convincing.

May have been shot with a Cell phone, but look at the background...it looks like it was in someone's home, which is not where I'd expect someone to have access to something as secretive as the PS3 controller.

Surprisingly comfortable looking though. I still have mixed feelings about that design, but if it is comfortable, who cares?

Rick @ Feb 18th 2006 11:02PM

The most important question here that no one seems to be asking is this: Who the hell took the the picture? Unless this guy has three hands, there is little chance that he did.

Or mayhap the ps3 comes with an extra hand?

Neko Tsukimi @ Feb 18th 2006 11:09PM

Even if it were real, I would have to say that it's the most uncomfortable and unnatural shape ever... Which is basically what I've been saying about the controller for ages now. I hope the real thing doesn't look that small in American hands.

AJ @ Feb 18th 2006 11:13PM

It doesn't say SONY on it like the ones we see(but can't touch, those bast**ds) at the gaming shows. My gut tells men it's real, like a prototype.

Zo?unami @ Feb 18th 2006 11:17PM

Obvious fake.

If it were real, there'd be a kangeroo, dingo, and Russell Crowe downing a Foster's at the Outback Steakhouse in the background.

Superzapper2000 @ Feb 18th 2006 11:20PM

heliosphan .I remember those Boomerang PS1 controllers.Didn't Genius make those ? Maxfire or maxplay was the name of the things.

Dave @ Feb 18th 2006 11:21PM

I agree with Rick. Thats the first thing I thought of when I saw the picture. Someone must have taken the picture for him; he was probably leaning over and this other guy took the picture. The hand position is believeable for that. But with that said, this is in someone's bedroom (or it looks like it at least) and how often do you get two people in a bedroom with a PS3 controller, no digital camera, and just a cellphone?

And to people talking about the controller's uncomfortableness, Sony's already said that the controller was designed to fit the natural curve of a human hand. If you hold out your hands and put it in the most relaxed position you can for holding a game controller, doesn't it look like the one in the picture? Apart from the thumbs, that is. Sony's just said that wrists are too unnatural and hurt too much from current controllers or something.

And also - what kind of digital camera takes pictures in .png? .png is used often for web graphics, and its the native Fireworks picture. Don't most cameras take pictures in jpg?

Zo?unami @ Feb 18th 2006 11:26PM

In all seriousness, though... all of this wondering and debating could've been solved by doing one, simple thing:

Taking multiple pictures of the controller at different angles.

I'm guessing if any one of us Really had one of these boomerangs, we'd take quite a few pictures of it to show it off. This guy doesn't. Therefore, it's a fake.

Jordan R @ Feb 18th 2006 11:32PM

what does that background look like to you?

The cabinets suggest a bedroom... not a likely place for a piece of concept hardware.

Jon @ Feb 18th 2006 11:34PM

Ugh, that controller is ugly.

Andrew @ Feb 18th 2006 11:42PM

If both his hands were on the controller...how'd he take the picture?

NYmilkman @ Feb 18th 2006 11:46PM

leojsoap (#15) posted the funniest comment I have ever read on joystiq: "FAKE, those are obviously prosthetic hands..."!!! I very nearly choked while laughing so hard! Particularly hilarious after trudging through a long and boring list of fake/real/fake/real posts. Who cares? Moments like that make all this anxiety-ridden waiting for the PS3 worthwhile. Good stuff leo, thanks!