Hardware Guide 29:SIXAXIS PS3 Controller

Gone is the boomerang design of the PS3 controller, in comes the SIXAXIS PS3 controller. At first glance, you may think that it is the Dual Shock controller of PS1 or the Dual Shock 2 controller of PS2, but you are actually looking at the new SIXAXIS PS3 controller. The controllers seem almost identical to each other until you try them out. Firstly, the SIXAXIS controller is wireless – it communicates with the console via Bluetooth. According to sources, it is much lighter and it possesses a feature never seen in the previous 2 controllers: motion-sensitivity, but unfortunately, there is a trade-off, which is the absence of the rumble functionality. No, when your car hit the wall, the controller would not vibrate anymore – you would have to adapt to the new controller. However, if you look beyond the rumble functionality, you would find the PS3’s SIXAXIS controller to be one of the more flexible controllers. Tilting controls are in this time round. You can tilt to steer your dragon in the upcoming action game Lair or steer your plane in Warhawk. You can do a melee attack by twisting the controller in Call of Duty 3 and that feature may also be possible in Metal Gear Solid 4: Gun of the Patriots, but confirmations have been unfounded. More games may see this feature implemented soon, so you should be feeling a new level of interactivity in some PS3 games. An embedded and unremovable battery provides the energy for the SIXAXIS controller, and it can be charged just like the Xbox 360 controller. You would be able to connect the controller to the console with a USB cable and the controller would charge automatically – there is goes, it becomes a wired controller once again. A typical charge would last you 36 hours of gameplay, so there is no need to worry about the battery running out of juice in the middle of a tricky battle. Personally, I would prefer the SIXAXIS controller to run on 2 AA batteries like the Wii-mote, but that is a minor issue. Overall, the SIXAXIS controller would offer increased functionality and other marginal improvements, like button being more rigid, over the Dual Shock 2 controller of PS2.