The best-designed game controller around, period.

I remember when I received a Playstation back in 2000. I had been loyal to the Nintendo brand since I got a Super NES in 1994, also owning an original NES, a Nintendo 64 and a GameBoy Color. But the expensive cartridges, along with the comparatively low library of games next to the Playstation, got me to switch. Since then, I have been loyal to Sony.

History

When the Playstation first came out, the controllers never had analog sticks. In fact, there wasn't even a vibration feature. They were nothing special, to be honest. Later on though, Sony decided to add two analog sticks. Originally the design of the sticks were concave, assuming it would help hold the players' thumbs, but the design was not too well-received. The second version, fortunately, featured the now-popular convex design. The rest of the controller was changed somewhat, too, with larger L2/R2 buttons and vibration. They named it the Dualshock.

The design made it onto the Playstation 2, with only a few minor changes. First, the controller itself is slightly lighter. Second, all of the buttons (except Analog, Start and Select) are pressure-sensitive to 256 different pressure points. Third, and most noticeably, the color changed from gray to black.

Recently there have been "iced" versions of the controller, basically the same except the color has gone from black to transparent blue (for example). These new controllers differ in that there is a rougher feel to the plastic in back of the hand grips (allowing for better grip). I bought one of these and they are virtually the same.

The vibration feature is made up of two motors with imbalanced weights on each end. I noticed that the left weight is larger than the other, the right one acting like a placebo (it's there but it never works). This tends to make the controller feel biased to one side when the vibration activates. I had always suspected this on the original black controllers, but the iced controllers helped confirm this suspicion.

Edit: After reading on Wikipedia, I hear the right motor is intentionally smaller to help with smaller vibrations. Games like Gran Turismo use this to bring vibration in stereo; that is, the right motor will rumble when the right tires go off the road, as with the left motor for the left tires.

Design

The controller benefits from its near perfect symmetry. The D-pad is on the left, the shape buttons are on the right; the Start, Select and Analog buttons are in the center; the two analog sticks are between the hand grips (also doubling as L3 and R3 buttons when pressed). The shoulder buttons are intuitively-named L1, L2, R1 and R2, and they're easily accessible on the controller's "shoulders" for games that rely on them (such as Grand Theft Auto III, Frequency, etc).

The controller's design is very user-friendly, and you hold it just as the controller's design suggests (hands on the hand grips, thumbs on the joysticks, index fingers between the shoulder buttons.)

Quality/Reliability

Each button has a confident, smooth feel to them when pressed, though the directional buttons tend to have some stiffness to them while the controller is still new. The analog sticks also have a fluidity that third-party manufacturers have yet to match. Each press or movement on the controller has such a high-quality feel that, in my opinion, there should be no need for buying a third-party controller. The sensitivity of each button is dead-on and precise, without any awkward "gaps", so one minute you're not slowly accelerating a car and then unintentionally spinning the tires the next.

It would have been a good idea to have a wireless version for those who like cordless operation, however I don't care for wireless. Plus, the cord's length is more than enough for casual gaming.

The controller that came with my Playstation 2 in 2002 was pretty rugged. In five years I have yanked the cord, stepped on it, thrown it, crushed it, and dropped it (accidental, of course). Even after all that, the Square and R1 buttons are slightly more worn out than the others, and the outer layer of rubber on the right stick has worn off. Other than that, it has worked perfectly.

Price

The Playstation 2 Dualshock 2 controller is very cheap at $20. The controller itself is very durable, and will lasts years, so this is a downright bargain.

Overall

Three generations later, the Playstation controller has virtually remained the same. Aside from minor changes per generation, the basic layout is identical. Like they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I have tried third-party controllers, and from experience, none of them match the original Dualshock 2 in terms of build quality and execution. Their joysticks have not been calibrated too well, the pressure-sensitive buttons do not have a linearity to them, and they never feel as "official" as the real thing.

Assuming you aren't familiar with the controller, the Dualshock 2 (as well as the Playstation 1 and 3 versions) is probably one of the easiest ones to get used to. Its proven design, reliability and near flawless build quality make it a definite winner.

~Scott