Nyko's Zero Wireless PS3 controller wins race to rumble ... or does it?
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Mar 7th 2008 at 7:00PM }
click to embiggen
Sony once called rumble a "last generation feature," but secretly, somewhere, someone was designing DualShock 3 (and waiting for legal matters to settle). The race was on! (And quietly won by Logitech last June.) Still, someone had yet to release the 'ultimate' PS3 gamepad, which would combine the awesome powers of six-degree motion and palm-numbing vibration. (Actually, Sony did that last November -- in Japan.) Yet still, US PS3 owners where without such wizardry until today, when Nyko's Zero Wireless Controller -- packing hex-directional gesturetech® and rumble -- hit retail for $60. Too bad this hard-featured controller has a mere 40 days before it becomes irrelevant.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Fernando Rocker @ Mar 7th 2008 7:05PM
Why all the third party accesories (except for Logitech) have to look like ass? It's a rule or something?
mark @ Mar 7th 2008 8:00PM
that was my first thought. If you paid $600 for a good looking machine don't bitch out now and not pay the extra $10 for a good looking controller...it shows your cheap and have horrible taste
Tiptup300 @ Mar 7th 2008 8:36PM
Copyrights, those damn copyrights. Good controller design is like being picked for teams in gym. The 3rd party always has to choose last.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Mar 7th 2008 10:14PM
They're just failed industrial designers who couldn't get hired by the first party in the first place. =P
Banned, but back. @ Mar 8th 2008 6:20AM
This will bring out the power of the cell.
playwhutyalike @ Mar 8th 2008 9:24AM
Logitech makes an awesome controller. I bought a wireless one for my PS2 and love the look and feel.
Spartacus @ Mar 8th 2008 10:06PM
Has anyone tried the Splitfish FragFX for the PS3? While not beautiful, it is definitely a step in the right direction for 3rd party controllers- something DIFFERENT than the standard offering.
Seriously, the only way 3rd parties might entice me away from 1st party controllers is to offer me an ADVANTAGE or a new FEATURE, not just the same crap packaged in a crappy design for the same crappy price.
kinshadow @ Mar 7th 2008 7:06PM
Actually, the cupped thumb sticks look nice. That's the main reason I prefer the 360 pad.
KingOfGods @ Mar 7th 2008 10:24PM
I have to agree...I'll give it a shot
Boostjunkie @ Mar 7th 2008 7:07PM
I just got the DS3 for $57 shipped on ebay, came in a couple of days. Why would you buy this crap.
Norm @ Mar 7th 2008 7:10PM
Boy, those d-pads look TERRIFFIC!
Mills and Boom @ Mar 7th 2008 7:10PM
U-G-L- wait I did this already about the brown PSP.
It isn't hard to make things look pretty. Just hire a good industrial designer and smile.
Mills and Boom @ Mar 7th 2008 7:11PM
Dpad looks shocking.
Pointz @ Mar 7th 2008 7:12PM
So they're using Robocops scrap to make controllers. Those are ass ugly.
gregory mitchell @ Mar 7th 2008 7:20PM
sorry ive never been a fan of 3rd party controller they can never g0t the right feel to them. cheap yea thats the word they always feel cheap
konajinx @ Mar 7th 2008 7:20PM
Awesome that they "where without such technology."
You guys don't need a proofr33dur do ya?
Kujel @ Mar 7th 2008 7:21PM
How is anything BS3 news!?!?!?!?!?!?
Matt B @ Mar 7th 2008 8:43PM
HI, i'M KUJEL.
http://i20.tinypic.com/2ry5zfc.jpg
Great contribution once again.
"BS3" wow, so original. Go back to your home...
http://www.freemyspacegraphics.com/Graphics/Funny_Animations/images/Toilet_Dive.gif
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Mar 7th 2008 10:17PM
@Matt B
How the HECK do you find those pictures?
Matt B @ Mar 8th 2008 2:30PM
@ Thorned
I have a secret repository. ;)
Or I just google a phrase and go to images.
Happy giffing.
Microswirl @ Mar 7th 2008 7:21PM
Can't ANYONE make a PS3 controller that reverses position of the d-pad and left analog stick?!
Pointz @ Mar 7th 2008 7:31PM
Couldn't Sony do this in the first place with the ps3 controller? And sort out the L2/R2 triggers, your fingers keep slipping off them shits.
Microswirl @ Mar 7th 2008 7:37PM
Nah, Sony wouldn't do it. Cuz that would mean admitting they're WRONG, that they are clueless when it comes to design, but I don't see what's stopping someone like Logitech or Madcatz from making such an obvious improvement to an outdated controller.
Curtis the Claw Game Master V2 @ Mar 7th 2008 7:46PM
Sony needs to redesign their controller, it's been through 3 generations, hopefully the PS4 doesn't include the DS4 or Six-axis 2.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 7th 2008 7:48PM
i say it time and again, i personally DO NOT LIKE the reversed analog and d-pad. it just feels so unnatural to have my fingers crooked like that. hopefully they dont change it in house but im also curious as to why a 3rd party hasnt dont it yet. some people do obviously seem to want it.
and on the R2/L2 triggers.....they suck ass. i think the 360 trigger beats the hell out of the Sixaxis/DS3 trigger. my finger doesnt slip off of them much, but the fear that they will sometimes make me hold the controller differently depending on the game.
i also like the dip in the analog sticks on the 360 controller. my fingers slip off the analog stick way more than they slip off of the R2/L2 triggers.
different folks for different i guess.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 7th 2008 7:49PM
dammit i screwed that saying all up in my haste to post lol.
"different strokes for different folks i guess"
/fixed
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 7th 2008 7:53PM
oh and Sony did redesign the controller for the PS3.....and everyone bitched and complained about it without ever using it, so they changed it. forget about the Boomerang already? i thought that would have been a very comfortable controller. i mean if you really look at a Gamecube controller, it has that same Boomerang shape that Sony had originally planned and the Gamecube controller is super comfortable (except that weird ass C-Stick and "triggers"). i hope they try it again with the PS4.
Microswirl @ Mar 7th 2008 8:11PM
Exactly, give people a choice. I know a PS2 controller can be hooked up to an Xbox360 (using a special adapter), and I can certainly understand and respect peoples' different preferences. It's just that I hate the placement of that analog stick on the PS2/PS3 controller. Well anyways, I agree with most here: those Nykos are fugly as hell.
Mills and Boom @ Mar 7th 2008 8:32PM
Lol, pointz. I made that point on a gaming forum and the PS fans really jumped on me XD
It's not hard to have concave triggers. Everything else that uses triggers has them so why not a game controller?
What's next? A steering square?
Mischa @ Mar 8th 2008 2:22AM
I agree. I think that if you're used to the Dual Shock lay out, then the 360 design is going to feel awkward to you. But ever since buying a 360, I just can't go back to the old playstation controller design. I have big hands, and my thumbs keep running into each other on the sticks, not to mention that since the pads are convex and not concave, it apparently means Sony didn't want my thumbs on those things in the first place, since they kept slipping off.
The original dual shock controller just seemed like a super nintendo controller with analog sticks ghetto rigged onto them, and it seems strange to me that this is the design that stuck with them all these years.
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 7th 2008 7:38PM
well win the race to rumble or not, it certainly wins the race to ass resemblance. damn that is an ugly controller. why would they think people would like this fugly crap?
RoboChamp @ Mar 7th 2008 7:48PM
Looks like shit.
Psaakyrn @ Mar 7th 2008 7:53PM
I can't possibly be the only one who thinks the black version looks better than the DS3, am I?
Walt Jay @ Mar 7th 2008 7:57PM
I tried it out about a month ago, and it just didn't feel right. I ended up returning it and importing a DS3 from Play-asia.
dom @ Mar 7th 2008 8:21PM
Ok, I've been trolling videogame sites for over a year and one of the comments above has forced me to make my first post.
Why does everyone bitch about the analog stick not being reversed with the d-pad like it is on 360?
I've got both systems, and I've been using a Dual Shock since it came out. If I play Geometry Wars for more than 20 minutes I get thumb cramps. It is not a natural position to have your thumb in to reach the analog stick on the 360. It is not noticeable until you play something that REALLY requires a lot of thumb work.
I don't have super big hands, and they are not tiny. I have average male-sized hands and I think if I keep playing Geometry Wars with that stick way up in the corner of the pad, I'll have the thumb equivalant of carpal tunnel.
I know there is a third party controller where you can interchange them but I learned my third party controller lesson back on Bill Walsh College Football for the SNES. The $10 controller had as mushy a d-pad as the 360- when you'd try to run upfield you would sometimes go diagonally and get tackled. When it happen we'd all yell "Mad Catz!!!!" It was funny but it sure did suck ass.
You know, while proof-reading my comment (something I've noticed in the past year that most posters don't bother to do...) I thought, I wonder if someone makes an adapter to use my PS3 controller on my Xbox?
matthew_neitzer @ Mar 7th 2008 8:41PM
I agree with you dom. For me the PS3 controller is like a perfect match for my hind size, and I know I don't have tiny hands. When playing 360 w/ friends, I notice that the analog stick is in an uncomfortable place for me, but I guess I am in the minority...
Deck @ Mar 8th 2008 3:46AM
@dom Proof reading comments? Pshh. Who does that around here? :-p
Oh and welcome to the boards! Or... blog! Whatever you want to call it!
horngreen @ Mar 7th 2008 8:53PM
Would have been nice if Sony redesigned the pad. The 360 may be an RROD nightmare but the pad blows away that tired old Sony design.
Mills and Boom @ Mar 7th 2008 9:13PM
Completely. I use it for PC gaming (not FPS though lol) and it's just a comfy dream.
Bluebrake @ Mar 7th 2008 9:02PM
Ugly, but I bet it's a lot more ergonomic than the DS3.
Is it a "true" wireless that hooks directly into the PS3's bluetooth, or does it use its own USB dongle?
I'm definitely up for a 3rd-party controller if it's as good as or better than the official ones (and let's face it, at this point that's not hard). I don't care much what it looks like.
Pointz @ Mar 7th 2008 9:24PM
Yeah the 360 pad does everything good, the ergonomics, the dip in the thumbsticks, the curved triggers.
But then wait... that D-PAD! it's a piece shit. What is up with that thing? It scares me, I don't look at it anymore. Good controller nonetheless.
Deck @ Mar 8th 2008 3:47AM
Aye. The 360 D-PAD is so bad.. they must of been smokin' somethin when they designed the damn thing.
Slayer @ Mar 7th 2008 9:41PM
That is one ugly ass controller.
ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Mar 7th 2008 10:20PM
What were they thinking??
PeterF @ Mar 7th 2008 11:00PM
lol @ embiggen
PSN: KillaKornbread (the shirt is a lie!) @ Mar 8th 2008 10:16AM
lol i just noticed that 2. click to embiggen ftw.
tc @ Mar 8th 2008 6:45AM
who had the brainstorm of "I know what controllers need, MORE CORNERS!"?
Pointz @ Mar 8th 2008 7:23AM
True, that must be one uncomfortable pad. Those corners'll make your hand bleed.
Brucie B @ Mar 8th 2008 8:14AM
The PS3 Controller is GARBAGE! (Except the D-pad off coarse)
They Do NEED to Redesign that old A** Controller. (Bring out the Boomerang)
I hate playing FPS on the PS3, All My thumbs do is keep Hi Five each other while playing.
Or @ least sony should put out another controller, Cmon Sony Get your Sh** Right!
Maverick Saturn @ Mar 8th 2008 8:17AM
You people complain too much ¬_¬
These controllers suck, yes they do, and look terribly uncomfortable.
There was nothing wrong with the boomerang a few years back, looked fine, probably would have felt fine if ya'll gave it a chance to actually release first before slagging it of. And theres nothing wrong with the current controllers, nobody was moaning about them before PS3 and 360 released, why start now, they wanted to change them, you told them not to cos it looked like a vbrator, so they went back, and now you complain again. lol, theres no pleasing gamers, best thing to do is ignore the minorities altogether.