DualShock 3 trickles out to US retailers
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Apr 7th 2008 7:14AM
posted Apr 7th 2008 7:14AM
[Thanks, Stephen B.]
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Yay? Waiting on Logitech's version.
Cheaper and more ergonomic than that essentially 10+ year old design.
I have to agree with this. It's too bad they didn't stick with that boomerang design.
Well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Oh, it's plenty broke trust me.
"Well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
If it ain't perfect, keep improving it.
Really? I think the DualShock design is one of the best in the history of gaming. It's the most comfortable and it gives you more of a sense of control.
...but then again I have hands the size of blimps so it could be just me.
what's a "lorf"?
it was a great design but somethings are wrong. the left stick and dpad need to swap position.
i think the xbox 360 controller is the best one out there.
I also find the PlayStation controllers to be of the best design and ergonomics I've ever encountered. I do have HUGE hands though. :P
I am shocked that huge hands love this piece of crap.
For me the analog sticks are too close together, which feels awkward. Beyond that the trigger buttons are just aggravating. With the 360 controller your hand somewhat rests on those fingers, making them easy to move. With the PS3 they're gripping the pad, making them harder to move. Not hard, but harder, and more tiring over time.
Not a fan. Ergonomics have changes so much, but we get the same shoddy design.
My Circuit City got them in the UPS today. :P
Dualshock/Sixaxis is excellent design, fits hands nicely, weighted right.
The Xbox360 controler is designed for obese fat American hands. Try less fast food, more excercise, and the Playstation controllers will be just fine.
LMAO Jake FTW
I have owned several logitechs for the PS2 and orginal Xbox because I had people over weekly for games like Soul Calibur. The logitech buttons do not stand up well to button mashing (some of the players had no skills). I went through several of them actually. The stupid buttons cut through the rubber contacts below, and fail pretty quickly. I loved those when I got them, but hated constantly having to replace them. So enjoy!
The PS3 controller is not broken. It's the symbol of video games now. Sony has a very nice, nostalgic, recognizable game controller. You know exactly how to control GTA4 with it, even if you've never played it. The value of the consistent image alone is worth a ton.
I've heard so many talk about switching the dpad with the left analog, but this is a bad idea. symmetry is what makes the dualshocks so great. It's industrial instead of natural looking, so it's very easy to learn and looks great. Third parties don't offer this adaptation either because they agree that this would not be as great as it sounds.
If anything, I think Sony screwed up by deviating from the dualshock 2's shoulder buttons. I understand this is so I can control a throttle and brake pedal, but it just ain't workin' for me. The 360 is a decent controller, but like all things 360, I think public opinion is radically skewed by the xbots. It's also an obvious ripoff of the dualshock (as is the wii's classic controller). nothing wrong with that, after all the SNES is the mother of them all.
Anyway, tons and tons and tons of playstation fans love the idea of a consistent controller.
@ Jake:
Being fat doesn't make your hands bigger or your fingers longer, dumbshit.
I've got long fingers, and I am a prime example of being fit, not fat.
How GC/360 has joystick/d-pad placement is the better way to do it.
BTW I own a PS2, Wii, have played PS3 and 360, am fit, play tennis and ice hockey, and am a vegetarian. Sorry to break your stereotypes so swiftly.
Guimo
@ Apr 7th 2008 8:01AM
I have to agree with this. It's too bad they didn't stick with that boomerang design.
----------
Hmm. To me the boomerang controller looked like an ergonomic nightmare, and that's being nice. Just because it's a newer doesn't mean it's better.
I have to agree with "sinjinn" that the xbox360 controller is the better design, ergonomics-wise (the original xbox controller was a bit of a nightmare, tho).
It helps that the xbox360 controller has got a freely-downloadable Microsoft-provided driver for it, too. Windows use without any additional 'adaptor' hardware. Works well with most modern games that call for a gamepad, IMO.
Pff. I don't care for last gen technology.
Pff. Yeah, using your hands to play video games is, like, so overrated...
Last-gen compared to what, exactly?
It seems people need their memory refreshed. This is a real quote from Ken Kutatagi. I can't remember the exact date but it was just prior/after the PS3 launch.
Ken Kutaragi:"rumble is last generation, this generation is motion sensing"
I didn't think my earlier comment needed a '/sarcasm' at the end but I didn't expect people to forget that classic Kutaragi quote!
my problem with the PS3 is that i can't put AnyDVD on it
why is this such a big deal, its just a controller.
it shakes
It vibrates :)
It's a big deal because it should have been included at launch.
@ Jake
lol...."it vibrates"
Wow, it has been found at an US store? How about just heading over to Amazon, which has them in stock. FAIL.
http://www.amazon.com/Sony-98050-Playstation-Dualshock-Controller/dp/B0015AARJI
Besides that... Sony should do a trade-in program for their existing customers. Way to screw your early adopters.
You buy a new piece of technology and it will inevitably be upgraded replaced by something better. If you think Sony owes you something because they are bettering their product over time, you're quite mistaken, regardless of whether or not you think it should have been included originally. Otherwise I guess TiVo should give me a free Series 3 since I bought a Series 2 a while back, or Intel should upgrade my processor for free.
Well, the difference is that Sony told everybody that Rumble was soooooo last-gen. So people bought it because they thought it wouldn't be added anyway. So they bought a overpriced console with less functionality. The least thing is to do a trade-in for their early adopters who supported the console from the start.
But who cares? I don't have a PS3. Let those dumbasses pay 55 bucks for something that should've been included in the first place.
"...they bought a overpriced console with less functionality."
Oh. A hater. Should have figured that in the first place. Nevermind I said anything at all.
Yeah you got to be a real hater to figure out early adopters payed way too much after disappointing sales, Sony dropping their prices with a few hunderd bucks and adding a rumble-feature.
they sold the system at a loss, so how could early adoptors be paying way too much. does not compute.
If you had one of the original PSX models, then you would know that this would never happen. Those of us that did get one, we got a controller with no analogue sticks or rumble. The dual shock controller came out a year or a year and a half later, just like this.
You would want Sony to owe you something, but, sadly, they don't.
sinjinn, this means that the systems cost too much initially to penetrate the market, albeit with a crippled controller. making a system that you don't have to sell at a loss (lol nintendo) and taking care of your customer (lol stronger wiimote straps) are only something that good companies do.
i have a PS3, a 360, and a Wii, and I can clearly say that the SNES is still better than them :P And the controller was so awesome it didn't even need rumble :) L and R FTW :D
could everyone quit bitching and moaning for two seconds?
Yeah, way to screw early adopters...
Companies like, for example, Nintendo would never do such a thing.
As long as you don't mention the DS and DS Lite...
Crap.
Sony should offer a trade in scheme only if Nintendo gives me a DS Lite in exchange for my DS.
Oh, and Mike, just because a controller doesn't shake around a bit does not make it 'crippled'. I never cared much for rumble. It doesn't exactly convey the feeling of having a machine gun in your hand, or of running over the rumble strips at Brands Hatch in a touring car...
Too bad the big difference is that the DS lite is only a cosmetic change. It doesn't change the way games are played. Besides that, the DS didn't have a launch price of $500-$600. Rumble has been included in every console since the PS2. And now people are saying it's ok(hence my low ranked posts) for Sony to leave it out of their original controllers and charging their costumers afterwards $55 for a controller with rumble functionality. I can't imagine you don't feel screwed if you bought 3 additional PS3 controllers without rumble.
"The dual shock controller came out a year or a year and a half later, just like this."
Not too be a pedant, but the DualShock actually came out about 3 years after the PS.
@john "could everyone quit bitching and moaning for two seconds?"
Is that the macho version of "can't we all just get along?"
$55 for a friggin controller? You gotta be kidding me.
Agreed, and the Dual Shock 2 was and still is $24.99 and there isn't really that much difference between the two except Bluetooth and an accelerometer.
55 bucks? That's crazy. Youalways need at least one extra controller with a new system. I consider this a price hike for the PS3.
The WiiMote has vibration and an accelerometer, yet is nowhere near as expensive.
Sure, this thing has analog up the wazoo, but that doesn't justify the price. Controllers should never top $39.99.
I'm sticking with my non-rumble PS3 controllers. At least you can find those used at reasonable prices...
What Maryland Circuit City?
the ellcott city one
On a side note, don't buy Mario Party 8 unless you have LOTS of friends and LOTS of booze.
Well, duh! I could've told you that and I don't even own the damn game! It's the same with a majority of the Nintendo Wii games...
And the only reason why I'm bashing the Wii is because I have one and I regret buying it. UGH. (see Buyer's Remorse)
Actually, it's the same with the majority of ANY console's games. Not every game on the X360 or PS3 is a brilliant game, believe me. I bought the Wii with no intent of playing it more than a few hours a week, and I love the system. I never owned a Gamecube or many of the older Nintendo systems, so a lot of the games I play are $15 or less backwards-compatible or Virtual Console games. Plus, my dorm room is a popular place now since Brawl is out and I have four controllers. I think my Wii was a great investment; rather than spending close to a thousand dollars for extra controllers and games for the more expensive systems, I have all the games I want right now for several hundred dollars less. :)
That depends if Logitech produce a proper USB charged, bluetooth controller or produce some shitty 2.4Ghz thing with a USB dongle. It should be a drop-in replacement for the DS3. Do it right or don't bother at all.
Who cares?
What gets me is that Sony could have brought this out in the US much sooner after the Jap release than they did.
I got mine about 4 months ago and you do realise that the controller is not only with rumble but heavier making it feel a lot better than the too light six-axis
they had to translate the plastic into english, it takes along time .
I agree. I like it a lot more not because of the rumble, but because it's heavier. Because of the weight, it feels much more solid.
Well, allow me to post the mandatory "but there are no games for this" post. (To which the PS3 police will tell me how they are running Folding@Home and saving the human race).
Rock Band, GH3, Ratchet and Clank, CoD 4, Uncharted, DMC 4, Warhawk....
Most games have now been patched to include the rumble feature... (I have a DS3 controller and its good btw, now feels more solid in the hand due to the extra weight, thought battery life suffers a bit but I can live with that)
@sn1per:
Rock Band (on 360), GH3(on 360), Ratchet and Clank, CoD 4(on 360), Uncharted, DMC 4(on 360), Warhawk....
sooooooo just R&C, Uncharted and Warhawk hmmm????
@Roach:
Yup, since those games don't count since they're on two different systems, hm?
everybody knows if the game is on both the 360 and the ps3 they automatically cancel each other. its basic physics.
Cancel the 360 games that are also on PC and tell me what you are left with numbnuts.
You're left with Halo 3, which is the best game evar!!!111!!1!
srsly, if you take away games that are also out for PC or PS3, the 360 has a mediocre lineup, at best.
OH MY GOD!! RUMBLE!!!!
SPLOOOOOGE
Oh Really!!?? WOW I was using this all weekend long....:P Little late there
Hey I sent this in
Does it make bacon?
Is it just me or is $55 a bit much for a controller?
Lorf.
Goof Gof. Fon't get so workef up over a famn typo.
I think Engafget neefs a d to f fay.
Odd... The Dual Shock 3's only available in the U.S. right now? It's been available here for a while now.
I too have been using my Dual Shock controller for the past 3 months. They've been on eBay for months for the same price. Now that some of the original adopters will start to see their original controller batteries start wearing out maybe the purchase of the Dual Shock controller as a replacement (rather than replacing the battery) will be a viable alternative.
pretty expensive for a damn controller. I mean the sixaxis functionality is useless as far as I've seen. It's like either I buy this or a new game. NOt that I'm gonna buy either my PS3 is strictly a Blu-Ray Player. I use an Xbox for actual gaming. and the Wii well it jus sorta chills (waste of money: POS)
In MGS4 the tilting of the controller is supposed to allow you to peek around corners - I wouldn't say its useless.
I'm disappointed the controller costs the same price as the average game.
To play Gran Turismo 5 on April 15th:
$400 for PS3
$55 x 2 for two dualshock controllers
$60 for GT5 itself
= $570 plus tax?
Someone tell me again why the PS3 is gaining on the Xbox 360?
This post is so full of misinformation it hurts.
Yeah, I know; its not GT5, its GT5P, the extended 40 dollar demo.
Jeez, Castaa, get your facts straight.
Do tell or are you just going to make blind criticisms? :p
Because it doesnt explode when you hit the On switch?
The bit about GT5 is a given. I think everyone knows it is "prologue" and costs $40 so that mistake doesn't even need to be called out. But why imply that whomever picks up a PS3 is forced to go out and buy 2 DS3's to even play the game? You might as well add in that you will need an HDMI cable for $80. Then we can get the responses where someone adds up the costs of a whole new console to even get HDMI on the 360, the cost of the wireless adapter, extra controller, and whatever residual costs they had picking up the original Xbox 'S' controller along with the Xbox Live fee. All you really need is the console and game and that is the fact that you are neglecting.
Why is a controller release even news?
Last year there were multiple posts about new COLORS of 360 controllers. At least this has a new feature.
Last year there were multiple posts about new COLORS of 360 controllers. At least this has a new feature.
"Someone tell me again why the PS3 is gaining on the Xbox 360?"
Hmm, here are my reasons...
* More open platform: There are instructions in the manual about how to upgrade your harddrive or install linux.
* Much more powerful processor. Gears of War used 100% of Xbox's CPU, so that's as good as it is going to get. No PS3 game has yet to max out the CPU (or even come close)
* Better HD Support:
** HD player ( a REAL one, not a damn add-on that is now depreciated ).
** Much better standard def upconversion
** Actual 1080p games, with 7.1 surround (Xbox would melt trying to do that).
** Real 1.3a HDMI from the beginning, not some addon to the elite after the fact
See, Primetime4, THIS post actually has a decent amount of phallacies and half-truths.
Spyplane, the original version (pre-release) of Gears of War ran on only one core with a good amount of stability, according to Epic- how could it max out all 3 cores? Oh, thats right, because it didn't. As a matter of fact, most games are pretty much topping off the Cell as it is, due to it's single core which is helpless when it comes down to big chunks of code, and chugs, no doubt.
The GPU in the 360 is far more powerful than that in the PS3, so I doubt if either were to have trouble producing 1080p output, it would be the PS3. There also numerous games out as of right now that support 1080p, and there are no problems with any of them in terms of performance or visuals.
The 360 could easily do 7.1 surround had it had the support for it- its not as if the PS3 is a more powerful machine because it has support for it.
HDMI 1.3a? Oh wow- it had it from the beginning- just like rumble support and all possible Blu-Ray features (and as of right now, HD-DVD still has the upper hand in features), right? Oh... Wait...
Whatever man; you're a fool. Try doing some research before posting- it will help out a lot.
Fuck the tech specs. 360 has better exclusive games.
"Better HD Support"
You mean including composite cables only and leaving game scaling to the developers?
I heard the DS3 has been out in some GameStops for a few days now, might check there and see for yourself if your current Sixaxis is worth an upgrade.
Funny, Sony comes out with the more expensive console, tells you that rumble is old technology and isn't for this generation of consoles, then a year later comes out with a rumble controller and charges you 56 bucks for what they had called "old technology". So they get what another 112 bucks out of everyone who bought the "new technology" and now want to go back to the "old technology" so early adopters now just spent over $800 for a current generation system, ouch. How can Sony charge this much for "old technology"
all our nuts are belong to sony
@TubeTop100
What does the DS lite have anything to do with it?
they didnt leave it out to purposely screw gamers over. they were in a court case with immersion over rumble and couldnt include it untill it was over. once it all settled they bought rumble back.
@sinjinn,
from phil "We have no plans to do so in the standard controller that ships with PlayStation 3. I believe that the Sixaxis controller offers game designers and developers far more opportunity for future innovation than rumble ever did. Now, rumble I think was the last generation feature; it's not the next-generation feature."
http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/features/phil-harrison-we-are-under-no-pressure-to-drop-ps3s-price/70094/?biz=1
so yes they thought it was old technology.
@TubeTop100.com
this was said while the case was in court.
the case was not cleared and they could not use the technology untill they paid immersion.
the quote you gave is an example of public relations. it is better to say that then " we cant include rumble because we are being sued over it".
Too bad the big difference is that the DS lite is only a cosmetic change. It doesn't change the way games are played. Besides that, the DS didn't have a launch price of $500-$600. Rumble has been included in every console since the PS2. And now people are saying it's ok(hence my low ranked posts) for Sony to leave it out of their original controllers and charging their costumers afterwards $55 for a controller with rumble functionality. I can't imagine you don't feel screwed if you bought 3 additional PS3 controllers without rumble.
Video Game Boy #1: You mean you have to use your hands?
Video Game Boy #2: That's like a baby's toy!
I'll show ya kid, I'm a crack shot at this.
$54 for a controller? That is insane!
$54 is a lot for a controller but I don't understand why people are getting so worked up over it. If you compare it to the other consoles it's not that outrageous.
XBox 360 wireless controller is $49.99 retail, $69.99 with the Play & Charge Kit which I would get if I were buying one.
The Nintendo Wii Remote is $39.99 retail, $59.98 with the Nunchuck, $79.97 with the Nunchuck and the Classic controller.
You don't have to buy the Nunchuck or the Classic controller, and you don't have to buy the Play & Charge Kit. Then again you don't have to buy the DualShock 3 controller, just get another SIXAXIS controller for $49.99.
The way I see it...regular controller: $49.99 - Upgrade: $54.99
I don't know about you, but that is just absurd. $30 for a controller is reasonable, anything over $40 is price gouging.
Yes it's reasonable until you buy a game thinking the nunchuk is optional but really its required to play half the game, like Thrillville.