Sony DS2s vs. Third Party DS2s

[Diego440]

I've always been faithful to Sony products when I'm buying preipherals for my PS2. I once bought a third party memory card and cried like a baby when my GT3 data was lost.

I've had my current PS2 since april 2004, and since then I've gone through four DS2s... granted, I'm not the most careful of owners and I don't really keep them clean... they'll just be lying onthe floor and I'll pick it up, play, and leave it back on the floor again...

Nevertheless, about a week ago I went to purchase another DS2, since my current one wouldn't let me turn left properly. I went to the store and saw the Sony DS2 only came in silver (in this particular store) and it was 25€... the third party controllers came in all colours and they outnumbered the Sony ones 10 to 1... and were only 16€.

So here's where you come in: have any of you purchased third party controllers and/or peripherals... are they any good? Are they (gasp!) better than the Sony ones? Is it worthy to save the 10€ (or so) from one DS2 to a Sony DS2?

Thanks.

 

[DuckRacer]

Umm, this really isn't a product review. You should move it to the PS2 forum because at the very least you'll get more answers that way.

 

[livemusic]

Umm, this really isn't a product review. You should move it to the PS2 forum because at the very least you'll get more answers that way.

Yeah.


I never owned a third party controller but I know some of them don't work in a few games. My neighbor had one and he couldn't play NFS:MW with it.

 

[kjb]

I bought to Madcatz controllers and both of them got messed up rather quickly. The first one developed a short in the wire and the other one of the buttons got stuck. Usually when I have problems with a controller I take them apart and try to fix them couldn't do that with the Mad Catz controllers. DS2's are very durable I had my original controller from the time I bought my PS2 (1999 or 2000 can't remember) and I would still have it now it I didn't step on by accident.

 

[Der Alta]

I have strength/ grip problems with my hands. Too many years typing on a computer. There was a particular "Small" DS2 made by Mad Catz that I swore by. It performed phenomenaly and was fantastic in my hands. One day while reviewing a replay I noticed the steering "snapped" considerably more than I recall doing so. I did a quick lap with a slow car and was extremely deliberate in how I turned and accelerated. Very smooth use of the analog controllers.

Then reviewed the replay. The "snap" of the steering remained. I quickly switched back to my Sony DS2 and reran the same lap, with the same deliberation. The steering was considerably smoother and more accurate.

I then picked up a few of the other third party DS2 that I had sitting around (I was a bit hard on them) and found that of the handful I had, the Sony was the smoothest and most accurate.

There is a reason why the Sony is my preference, and it is due to the accuracy in the analog sticks.

 

[Diego440]

Thanks for that.

I've always buyed Sony ones, but I've always been curious about the quality of the others.

 

[Richardrfo]

I've never had to buy a new controller, even after the 3 years of constant use this first one has had, but it's good to know that the Sony DS2s are made to a high quality and may just be worth spending that bit more for should it come to replacing it.

 

[Greycap]

I've only had one non-Sony controller and it's made by the "official gadget supplier", the Logitech Cordless Action just simply rules. I always thought that the original DS2 is the best there is but this one sweeps the floor with it in many respects. It's more comfortable to hold, has better analog sticks and on top of all it's cordless as the name says. No lag of any kind, strong rumble and no battery life problems.

- R -

 

[Omnis]

Most 3rd party controllers have awesome warranties now. I think MadCatz will refund or replace any of their controllers no questions asked should something go wrong.

Both of my DS2s broke on me. I'm never buying a sony controller again.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I've used 2 2rd party conrollers in the past.

One was a wireless. I think it was a Joytech and it sucked. There seemed to be quite obvious lag and it was rather weighty. It was my friends so I don't have any long term feedback on it but the benefit of wireless didn't outweight the negatives.

I'm not of the make of the second one but my mate swore by it. The invert Y-axis switch was handy (I'm an invert fan, unliek my friends) but the shoulder buttons were 'soft' and didn't respond so well in games like Pro Evo.

Basically, I'd stick to officials, even if you have to spend extra.

 

[Robin]

I've got 2 Official DS2's the one which came with my ps2 in 1999 is perfect and still going strong although I seemed to have chipped the square button (don't know how on earth that happened!) and the other one which is a transparent blue one ive had for maybe 3 years now and for some odd reason its not as good, it doesn't feel as tight as the other one and sometimes it misses presses and movements of the pad.... I think the connector needs cleaning because the controller appears to be fine...

As for 3rd party stuff the only thing that really puts me off it is the uglyness, why do they have to make them so odd!! Sony's stuff is clean and solid, professional (like the PS3's remote is a good example)... The only thing ive ever bought 3rd party was a memory card but its officially licensed so has Playstation logo written on it etc, not problems at all.

Robin

 

[livemusic]

Most 3rd party controllers have awesome warranties now. I think MadCatz will refund or replace any of their controllers no questions asked should something go wrong.

Both of my DS2s broke on me. I'm never buying a sony controller again.

I've had two original DS2's since I bought my PS2 back in 2002 (lots of 2's in that sentence). One still works fine, the other my friends ruined the R1 button playing Winning Eleven all the time. Otherwise it would still work fine.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I've had two original DS2's since I bought my PS2 back in 2002 (lots of 2's in that sentence). One still works fine, the other my friends ruined the R1 button playing Winning Eleven all the time. Otherwise it would still work fine.

I ruined the R1 on a mates, probably through PES. Every so often it gets stuck within the case. A good wack normally fixes it though.

 

[Omnis]

Actually, my analog stick is what broke on me while playing Winning Eleven. A game later on the d-pad, I took it outside and smashed it to smithereens.

 

[Silverzone]

I have a Logitec wireless controller that is great. Really responsive. 👍

 

[Duke]

When we bought our PS2 in 2002, for some reason both memory cards and DS2s were in short supply locally. I bought a 3rd-party mem card and had trouble with it in a week or two; ended up getting my money back.

I also bought a MadCatz DS2-clone controller. I didn't like the feel of it, but it worked OK... by itself. If I plugged it in with the Sony DS2 in the other port, one of the controllers would not work. We exchanged it for another one, which did exactly the same thing. This kind of defeated the purpose of having 2 controllers, so we got our money back and waited for real DS2s.

 

[Tornado]

I've gone through 7 Dual Shocks (including Dual Shock 2s, though one was in rage and wasn't the controllers fault), having gone through 2 in the past 3 months; so I've never understood the reverance held for the 1st party stuff. Other than a few niggles (usually ergonomics), I much prefer a few particular 3rd party controllers over the 1st party stuff. That being said,
I've also never owned a first party memory card. I have 16MB ones for the PS2, and an InterAct, a Mad Catz, two Nuby's and a couple of Pelican's for the PS1.

 

[Robin]

Im thinking that the new 3rd party controllers for PS3 may end up looking better than the Sixaxis simply because its so bland! Even if they did some 2 tone colour scheme like the 360 would have made it look better! Also how are they (3rd party like mad catz) going to have bluetooth and motion tilt in them aswell? Will Sony license the technology??

 

[Tornado]

Sony doesn't have control over who uses either of those.
Bluetooth is an industrialised standard that has nothing to do with Sony, and I doubt it would be that awful hard to copy the motion sensors.

 

[Robin]

Sony doesn't have control over who uses either of those.
Bluetooth is an industrialised standard that has nothing to do with Sony, and I doubt it would be that awful hard to copy the motion sensors.

Yes but the whole idea for 3rd party controllers is that they are meant to be cheaper than the originals! If its going to cost lets say Mad Catz to put all that in including motion sensing you might as well buy a Sixaxis!

 

[Turbo Lag]

Ive gone through 4 Sony DS2's and 1 Cheapo (FREEEEE!!!) third-party one. The Sony one's are too small for my hand (My hands are a bit too big for the average 12 year old) so I used this huge third-party one. The third-party one's buttons kept getting stuck inside the controller but the Sony one's do that after a long time. Im now using a Sony one but the're a bit uncomfortable.

 

[Flerbizky]

I've tried a couple of Non Sony DSs - Haven't found one that comes close to the Sonys..

Haven't tried Logitechs, but judging from their PC lineup, they're probably very very good !....

 

[Tornado]

Went through another one last night. Managed to get it working by completely disassembling the controller and putting it back together.
DS2 are even lighter than the SA without the rumble motors in them, on a related note.

 

[SkylineObsession]

The last two PS2 DualShock2 controllers i've had have had the supports for one or both of the L2 and R2 buttons break and i've had to take the controllers apart to remove the broken bit as it kept jamming up those buttons (or the L1 & R1 buttons). So now (can't remember which one/s kept breaking) the buttons go in a little bit more than they should but they are still perfectly useable.

It was mainly my fault anyway for pressing on them so hard, i think both times they either broke while playing Gran Turismo or Grand Theft Auto games.

But i'm not willing to try aftermarket controllers as i see almost everything aftermarket for Sony PlayStations as inferior in some way to the official stuff. I'd like to make an exception for the Driving Force Pro, but i only had mine for a few days then took it back (because of the brake pedal issue) and swapped it for a new PS2 and game.

 

[Tornado]

On a somewhat related subject to my above post, I'm gonna see if I can get 4 motors running in a DS2.

 

[Sharky.]

(edit: holy thread revival!)

the supports for one or both of the L2 and R2 buttons break and i've had to take the controllers apart to remove the broken bit as it kept jamming up those buttons

Similar scenario here. Was playing Burnout Revenge one day, when a d-pad support (about 3mm long) broke off and kept obstructing L2.

Managed to get the offending bit of plastic out by unscrewing the left-side hand grip (couldn't open it completely, didn't have the right screwdriver), but since then the d-pad has been noticeably looser.

The other DS2 came with a bad X button. You had to have your thumb in just the right place, otherwise the X button wouldn't be 100% depressed. Not good when trying to play Burnout 3 Takedown or GT.


I've always seen third-party peripherals as a bit iffy, and I wouldn't trust a third-party mem card with my game saves. Controllers, not so much.

 

[Diego440]

Similar scenario here. Was playing Burnout Revenge one day, when a d-pad support (about 3mm long) broke off and kept obstructing L2.

Managed to get the offending bit of plastic out by unscrewing the left-side hand grip (couldn't open it completely, didn't have the right screwdriver), but since then the d-pad has been noticeably looser.

I've had that happen with two separate Sony DS2s... in fact, save for the third one, that's been the cause why I've had to buy new ones. I've tried opening them, but then I can't close them back... cuz I suck at that.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

So far my brother and I have not broken any Sony controllers (PS1 or PS2). They did lose some of the sensitivity. The only major thing that happened is my brother punched a hole in the door, while playing Fight Night.

 

[Tornado]

I've had that happen with two separate Sony DS2s... in fact, save for the third one, that's been the cause why I've had to buy new ones. I've tried opening them, but then I can't close them back... cuz I suck at that.

As someone who had to completely rebuild both of his DS2s, I can agree that there is a very precise way to put them back together. It is not for the short tempered.

 

[V8ETER]

i've broken many over the years...some from grabbin too hard plain gt1 and 2....but one thing i can say is NEVER and i mean NEVER buy a FUTURETRONICS controller, they are the worst...the buttons are rock hard it hurts to push em for say 10 mins like a race, the analogs do not go all the way to the max...ie: i play gt4 and the accel. meter does not go to full...how lame...and the d-pad is mounted on an analogue stick pretty much so there is little accuracy