Sixaxis controller is worth its weight (PS3 annoyance #002)

We were tempted to write that there's no excuse for the Sixaxis controller's extreme light weight, but even as we were writing that, an excuse popped into our heads: perhaps Sony cut the weight of the controller to keep shipping costs down as they air-ship PlayStation 3s hither and thither during this launch window.

We therefore hope that once all this launch fallout has settled, we'll be seeing a modified Sixaxis, with the following issues fixed (really, each of these could be its own annoyance):

• Weight: Sony, stick some metal in this thing. Maybe some of that extra lithium you've got lying around after all the battery recalls? As many have noted, the PS3 controller feels light and flimsy. It doesn't match the quality and heft of the console... and here we thought the Wii controller felt cheap.

• Synchronization problems: In our weekend playing the PlayStation 3, the controller had to be plugged in to the console multiple times in order to be synched. We've never had to plug in an Xbox 360 controller to accomplish any operation on the Xbox 360.

• Surprise power-downs: The controller seems to turn off regularly. We're not sure why the controller turns off, or what situations lead it to do this, but too often we found ourselves mashing buttons on the controller only to discover that it wasn't on.

PS3 delights vs. PS3 annoyances
Wii delights vs. Wii annoyances
Xbox 360 delights vs. Xbox 360 annoyances