Andy Laub

A few weeks ago I happened across the PS3 display at Target. It looked like Motor Storm was the game of the day, as some sort of offroad racing machine was sitting idle in the middle of the racetrack. I felt like I needed to help, so I got to it. There was an air of familiarity and I soon realized why: I was playing the DiRT demo; the same one available on Xbox Live.

The big difference, and the big handicap on the PS3’s part, is that effing controller they insist on rehashing. I’ve complained about it before, and it’s still terrible. As it does on the 360 DiRT relies on the bottom shoulder buttons (L2 & R2 on the PS3; LT & RT on the 360) to control your brake and throttle. While this works great on the Xbox (thanks to .25-.5″ of travel on each trigger), the whole thing feels ill-suited to the pre2k stylez of the SIXAXIS. This is all exacerbated by the fact that now the technology is on a console that’s “next-gen” and costs $400 instead of $150.

The Playstation controllers used to be pretty decent. The PS1 controller looked like a mutation of the Super NES controller. Nothing wrong with that; it was more ergonomic and boasted two extra buttons. All this while Nintendo went off the deep end with the N64 controller; I don’t know why it looks like a trident. I don’t really care at this point.

But anyway, the analog sticks soon made their appearance and that’s where Sony’s been since, barring minor alterations. I have a feeling we’ll still be seeing this same basic design in 20 years, kind of like Eames chairs. And just like the Eames chairs, they’ll be increasingly expensive and “classic” but still not so hot ergonomically.

Here are the three things that need to happen for the DualSho… er, SIXAXIS to be a contender:

1. L2 & R2 need to be triggers, not just big buttons.
2. The left analog stick needs to change places with the direction pad; analog is now the primary method of control in games; the d-pad is ancillary if it’s used at all.
3. Rumble.

That sounds like… the 360 controller! I guess somebody’s been taking notes, at least.