Thrill as the DualShock 3 is unboxed!

by Justin McElroy on Nov 12th 2007 10:33AM

Have you ever seen anything so ... boxed in your entire life? What wouldn't you give to see that hot little piece of rumbling plastic shed its outer layer to reveal the deliciousness within, like some sort of be-dual-sticked piece of electronic corn?

... OK, so we can't claim to understand unboxing fetishists entirely, but we can at least try to make up for it by appealing to their basest desires. Engadget Tokyo has one of the first retail DualShock 3s and they're taking the clamshell off ... slow.

Source

Tags: dualshock-3, dualshock3, engadget, playstation3, PS3, unboxing

Reader Comments (91)

It's far worse to troll a troll. Imagine the Billy Goats 3 except much worse.

Also I'm clueless to Sony and have no idea when I might buy one.

Charging by plugging in is the best? Perhaps in the retard race of sony having the only controller with rechargable batteries. But as far as 3rd party solutions go, I'd have to give the award to the Nyko charge station for Wii.

Unsightly cords, even if temporary, are never a good thing.

That controller made me opt for the xbox version of multi plat games back in the day. It's a shame my hands are so big, but you know what that means......I wear big gloves.

How is the charge sytem the best? You have no choice but to plug in the whole controller! (With that short cord they give you, unless you buy an extended one.)

Wouldn't the better recharge option be a removable battery pack, so you can swap out? Instead, you think the best design is also the one that when the battery dies the whole controller has to be ditched for a new one?

Neither is $30 for an accessory to charge your controllers.

Imagine if the Nyko charging station came with your Wii, and was actually built into it. Now imagine it let you play with the Wiimote while it was charging. That's the Sixaxis (and apparently the Dualshock3). It's not a third-party solution. It comes with the system.

1. I don't have to pay extra for a charging station.
2. The cord is hidden in a drawer until I need it.
3. When I do need to charge the controller, I take out the USB cord and plug it in to the PS3 and the controller, and keep playing with a wired controller for those 30 minutes (if I don't feel like ending my play session).

No batteries + no extra peripherals = no extra cost and never un-playable. So, yeah, that is the best charging solution.

The best design is one that uses standard AA's. Rechargeable 15 minute NiMHs are so far an excellent solution for controller batteries.

Not only does the PS3 controller last upwards of five hours from the time the battery warning pops up, but when you finally decide to plug it in, it doesn't actually interrupt play; it just works.

You can also use any length USB cable, so unlike the 360 play and charge kit, you don't have a proprietary cable or the Wii where you have nothing without buying a separate charge station.

I happened to have a 10 foot USB extension sitting around from a printer, which lets me sit just about anywhere in my living room, provided I'm really /that/ opposed to swapping controllers with the extremely easy and convenient interface for that. It really is just press a button and tell the controller to take over the #1 slot.

Say what you want about the physical design, because that's entirely opinion and you're entitled to it, but I really can't think of a way to make the PS3 controller/charging setup more convenient.

@Crono

You do realize you can buy a charge station for the PS3 controllers too, right?

@NATO

While not exactly the most convenient thing... you can swap out the batters in the PS3 controller. There are even instuctions on how to do so in the manual included with the PS3. But I guess no one reads those these days.

I do think it would have been smarter to have the option to use normal batteries, but I don't think it's that big of a deal. At least it doesn't fly through batteries/charges as fast as the Wii... though I'm sure battery life will take a hit with the rumble added back in.

i bet the trigger buttons still suck too

It doesnt have trigger buttons. It has 4 rectangle buttons. And yes they do indeed suck, well only L2 and R2 do.

@Fenix

The L2 and R2 ARE triggers on the PS3 controller. The gripe people have with them is they are convex instead of concave. Which is a bit of a mystery. I mean, they work just fine, but the shape makes no sense.

vidikron

Thats why I dont consider them as triggers, come on now.

Haha.. OK. I thought maybe you didn't realize they really were triggers. Anyway, the shape is dumb, but they really do work like normal triggers. Most of the time they work just fine, but there have been a few instances where depening on how many other buttons I'm having to use and how long the triggers have to be held that my fingers have started to slide down to the bottom of the trigger. Annoying, but thanfully rare.

Vidikron

Like I said I have a PS2 and Psx so I know exactly what ya mean. The 360 controller has me spoiled. But Im not gonna say its perfect either. We all know the 360 Dpad sux @$$!!! lol

i don't know what the L2 and R2 buttons, but don't call them triggers.

even Call of Duty 4 uses L1 and R1 as the fire "buttons" because those L2 and R2 things are a complete mess.

they are spongy (why?), and are physically designed to make your finger slip off them under constant pressure. like say feathering an accelerator in a racing game or a long burst in a shooter.

another classic baffling "huh??" moment of Sony's this gen.

only shadowed by leaving out rumble in the first place and making their biggest market wait 6 months to pay for that technology while PS2 buyers get it for free since what 1999 ? (and without spongy pseudo "triggers").

.

@Digi

I don't have any problem with the feel/pull of the triggers, just the physical shape. They feel nice and smooth when pulled. I think that "spongy" feel wouldn't be an issue for you if they were shaped like proper triggers. But I too noticed that a lot of games have opted to use the R1/L1 buttons to fire instead of the triggers.

Geeze Fernando, I want to like Nintendo but it's people like you who tempt me to turn away.

Why can't you, um... you know, NOT bash Sony? What pleasure or purpose do you see in constantly bashing a electronics company in every Joystiq article?

It only makes you look like a puerile jackass.

Vid - When it comes to taking a controller apart to swap the battery or getting a new controller - I would guess people would get a new one from Sony instead.

I dont think the Sixaxis can be called the best system as far as recharge goes. I would rather have battery packs that can be easily swapped out as they die in the middle of a game. Just makes more sense to me.

@Sugar

You've never lost charge while playing? I play till it dies almost every time. The only exception might be when I'm playing online. I've always heard that rechargeable batteries will last longer if drained completely before recharging. My 360 sits directly in front of where I sit so using the plan-n-charge cable is not that big a deal to me.

My time machine worked! I'm back in the 90s!

Why do you exactly hate Sony so much Fernando? What did they ever do to you? I guess they held you at gunpoint and forced you to buy a PS3 while shipping your wife and child back to Mexico, I dunno.

You have a friggin wii, are you happy with it? Clearly not, because your spending all your time here bashing on the system you wish you bought, pathetic.

And its great to see rumble back, you morons bash Sony for everything, even if they do something right like bringing rumble back, geesh, its really painful being in a site full of Microsoft and Nintendo fanboys and being the only Sony liker here.

The people that insist to change the Dualshock Design is the people that is only here to bash and troll about anything related to SONY.

I mean come on I've been playing CoD 4 on my PlayStation 3 these past 4 days and I play FPS's perfectly fine with this controller.

not firing with those L2 and R2 non-triggers you haven't.

Infinity Ward had to resort to using the shoulder buttons for firing because of Sony's phoned-in trigger design.

.

I've also been playing CoD4 (well only for 3 days). Making fire R1 frees up the middle finger, which I use far more rarely, to pop nades and flashbangs. I'd rather have my index finger be the trigger finger, since I use it far more often. It works perfectly--no complaints about CoD4 controls :).

Bottom line is, if people PLAYING with the PS3 controller don't mind, how much credibility does it give to the trolls who complain about it, and don't use it?

@Granted

That's a very good point. I guess using triggers makes it feel more like pulling the trigger on a gun, but in almost every game none of the guns make use of the analog, so there's no really advantage to using the trigger as opposed to the L1/R1 buttons.

I think the shape of the triggers mostly affects racing games. I know the PS3 has a analog face buttons, but I'd rather have the longer throw of the triggers.

L2 and R2 have never meant to be used as triggers for the PS3. After playing COD3 for the 360 and switching over to RFOM, I hated using the shoulders. But after a few minutes it felt fine to the point where I prefer the shorter push to the 360 trigger even if it is less realistic. But where the L2/R2 really shines is with racing games. They feel a lot more like driving a car compared to 360 triggers.

granted,

how you think i knew about COD4 controls without playing it on mine? i guess being able to pop grenades without ever letting go of your "trigger" is nice for maximum fragging (as is the shorter pull of a shoulder button, primtime64), but for such an immersive game, hardly realistic.

might as well play with keyboard. not like there's rumble yet.

primetime64, what do you spray on your fingers to keep your fingers from slipping off the accelerator in racing games?

Honestly, I don't play any racing games where you keep the accelerator down full bore for any extended period of time. Unless you are playing NASCAR, I don't think you would really need to. Try it out for Dirt where I think the feel is especially better compared to the 360 trigger. With the 360 triggers, whatever you are doing, it feels like a gun. You have expect the car to fire off the line from 0-90 in .5 seconds. To me, it makes the car feel even less responsive this way. That's just me though.

Personally, I also find it hard to see why folks act like swapping the left stick and D-pad should be some mandatory thing. I was an ardent Dreamcast fan, but wished the whole time that their analog sticks were arranged like the Dualshock controller.

...personally, I think the best solution would be for them to release both controller mappings, because clearly there are folks who strongly prefer the Dreamcast/X-box design. I, on the other hand, would be quite upset if the traditional Playstation controller layout changed, as I prefer it.

Other than product manuals, there really isn't a reason why a company couldn't produce both layouts, that I'm aware of. And I might actually not grit my teeth when handling an x-box controller if its layout were more Playstation-like.

The reason most people want the analog/dpad switched on dualshock is because it is harder to hold the analog in one position (turning, aiming) for extended periods of time when it's to the right of your thumb

@WiNG

Huh? How do you get that? Honestly, if you hold your hands up and clench your fingers like you're holding a controller you will note that your thumbs naturally rest pretty close to how the sticks are on the PS controllers. I've never noticed any issues related to position with trying to hold the stick in one place. IMO, the fact that sticks are pretty loose is the main problem there.

These people have a point Fernando. As much as I critized Sony, I'm gonna treat them the same way as I treat Nintendo and Microsoft. That's what makes me a gamer.

I too feel that you do nothing but bash sony.

OH LAWD, DIS MADE ME HORNY

Well, now as an owner of all three platforms, primarily for exclusives (however my Xbox 360 is my preferred platform for multi console games), I'm glad to see this. Ironically the PS3 is one of the first Sony consoles I've owned by I'm happy with it so far, but the lack of rumble is not a problem with some games but it shows in some others. I'm glad at least their fixing this issue with their controller.

Well, now as an owner of all three platforms (though Xbox 360 is my preferred platform for muticonsole games), I'm glad to see this. Ironically the PS3 is one of the first Sony consoles I've owned by I'm happy with it so far, but the lack of rumble is not a problem with some games but it shows in some others. I'm glad at least their fixing this issue with their controller.

quiet, fernando is the only other one in here with his head on straight. sony is a terrible company, stop supporting them.

ive had a full 5.1 channel audio 600w receiver, dvd player, ps2, $100 headphones and tv all SONY die on me. i read about their proprietary products and licensing fees, rootkit nonsense, and animal sacrificing way too much to even think of supporting them. lastly, they are foreign (i am from the US) and dont know why so many americans even care about them or their products so much.

White???

So for the price of a years worth of LIVE you can now get the controller that should have been included with the PS3? And this is somehow OK for you fanboys? Idiots.

Explain to me how you feel about buying a second controller for your 360 at the same price. That's about how PS3 owners will feel I imagine. God knows that's how I feel about it.

How about you people who bitch about the DualShock's design and want it to be like a 360 controller, just gut a spare 360 controller and put the innards of the DualShock in it? It's been done before and will more than likely work with this as well.

Previous 50 Comments

Thrill as the DualShock 3 is unboxed!

Reader Comments (91)

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 12:29PM hvnlysoldr said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 11:14AM Crono141 said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 11:19AM pukegreenuniform said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 11:20AM Duke said

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Posted: Nov 12th 2007 11:40AM Vidikron said

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Posted: Nov 12th 2007 12:02PM Vidikron said

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Posted: Nov 12th 2007 1:00PM Vidikron said

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Posted: Nov 12th 2007 1:31PM Vidikron said

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Posted: Nov 12th 2007 12:00PM Duke said

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Posted: Nov 12th 2007 2:26PM Vidikron said

Posted: Nov 12th 2007 2:33PM primetime4 said

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Posted: Nov 12th 2007 3:08PM primetime4 said

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Posted: Nov 12th 2007 4:10PM Vidikron said

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