Anyone ever bought and tried 3rd party controllers for PS3?

[dieselmanchild]

It’s getting increasingly difficult to find authentic Dualshock 3 controllers these days that are in good working condition (or that stay that way for long after purchasing them) and haven’t fallen victim to the usual problems of stick drift, phantom button presses, broken d-pads that scroll through menus etc. I’ve been nursing my current crop of DS3s for years now, but I’m at the point where they are in really bad shape and a lot of games are becoming straight up unplayable, particularly any kind of shooter game. 

 

I decided to run some Google searches and scroll through Amazon Canada’s endless listings of knockoff controllers for a bit and it seems the two highest rated brands were Evoretro and Voyee, with the latter being most often mentioned by people on other forums. I’m wondering if any PS3 enthusiasts on here has tried either of these 3rd party brands and would recommend them? Or anything else. I’m not expecting Sony quality of course. A serviceable alternative for trophy hunting purposes is all I need.

 

I am also aware that the DS4/controller adaptors are also options here. 

[Bloke]

I just use PS4 controller for primary use and use a PS3 controller to access XMB. The PS4 controller just connects via bluetooth like the PS3 controller, however can't access XMB as the PS button is not functional.

 

I have only used third party PS4 controllers such as scuf and they're absolute garbage. 

[You]

If you can get a Horipad 3 mini, I highly recommend some of these

 

https://jp.mercari.com/item/m74259030154

 

Ok, so the bad news out of the way

 

- No six axis motion
- No rumble

- No lights or anything

- No battery (needs to be plugged in at all times so you will lose a USB slot)

 

The good stuff though

 

- The dpad is fucking awesome way better than official DS3, and while the buttons are on the clickier side, I somehow prefer all of them to the official dual shock 3. Reminds me of an awesome Genesis SNES pad. Playing street fighter or tekken on this controller is the best. Also felt so good recently playing Dungeons and Dragons scrolling beatemups on them.

- Analogue sticks are decent, not as good as the DS3 but I can live with it, good enough

- It's slightly smaller than a DS3 and a bit lighter too

- Cable is super long (almost too long lol)

 

I never use my DS3 anymore since these controllers are great, only going back to my DS3 in games where you definitely need it (Little Big Planet) or PS3 games with high intense dual stick action.

Edited November 21, 2022 by enaysoft

[CelestialRequiem]

I've got the medicine.

[TheRedMaverick]

28 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

If you can get a Horipad 3 mini, I highly recommend some of these

 

https://jp.mercari.com/item/m74259030154

 

Ok, so the bad news out of the way

 

- No six axis motion
- No rumble

- No lights or anything

- No battery (needs to be plugged in at all times so you will lose a USB slot)

 

The good stuff though

 

- The dpad is fucking awesome way better than official DS3, and while the buttons are on the clickier side, I somehow prefer all of them to the official dual shock 3. Reminds me of an awesome Genesis SNES pad. Playing street fighter or tekken on this controller is the best. Also felt so good recently playing Dungeons and Dragons scrolling beatemups on them.

- Analogue sticks are decent, not as good as the DS3 but I can live with it, good enough

- It's slightly smaller than a DS3 and a bit lighter too

- Cable is super long (almost too long lol)

 

I never use my DS3 anymore since these controllers are great, only going back to my DS3 in games where you definitely need it (Little Big Planet) or PS3 games with high intense dual stick action.

 

This looks very similar to the Hori Gem Pad 3 (it might even be exactly the same but maybe it's called the mini in Japan?) If they are the same, my only complaint about this controller is it's super light which I hate with controllers. I like controllers to have a bit of heft to them when you hold them because otherwise they feel a bit cheap (I even hate the original six axis controllers because of this as well, dualshock is perfection). Aside from that, it is a great controller and it looks amazing too.

8 minutes ago, CelestialRequiem said:

I've got the medicine.

 

I recently ordered 3 of these as insurance in case my original controllers ever break. Looking forward to trying them out since I've heard such great things about them

[GUDGER666]

They are all crap imo, every single one I've tried has large deadzones on the sticks. 

[CelestialRequiem]

15 minutes ago, TheRedMaverick said:

I recently ordered 3 of these as insurance in case my original controllers ever break. Looking forward to trying them out since I've heard such great things about them

They're excellent. 

 

Because they're also officially licensed (and also have native PS4 support), they work with PS Classics. It's a really good gamepad. 

[Helyx]

55 minutes ago, CelestialRequiem said:

I've got the medicine.

 

Hori FPS Plus is great, has turbo and works for both PS3 and PS4.

[You]

The DPad is in the wrong place though...In my eyes that's already a fail lol

No diagonal hands for me.

[CelestialRequiem]

13 minutes ago, enaysoft said:

The DPad is in the wrong place though...In my eyes that's already a fail lol

No diagonal hands for me.

The one you linked is also good. But it lacks compatibility for legacy software on PS3. It's unfortunate. 

[Evil_Joker88]

2 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said:

I've got the medicine.

I've got two of those at home and i hardly ever use my DS3's since i bought the Hori gamepads.

 

The grip is good, ps3 and ps4 compatible, turbo function. I don't mind no rumble, cable and the Xbox typical d-pad / analog stick layout.

 

I had only one game i couldn't play with the Hori gamepad: Lollipop Chainsaw. There's a weapon i had to use often and the Hori wouldn't keep the L2 button active to aim so i couldn't shoot.

 

Overall good choice the controller

[You]

1 hour ago, CelestialRequiem said:

The one you linked is also good. But it lacks compatibility for legacy software on PS3. It's unfortunate. 

 

Honestly it's annoying. All these gimmicky things in controllers... In 5-10 years we are gonna probably have a similiar problem with PS4 controllers, all that touch paddy weirdness that not too many games use, and the haptic feedback in a PS5 controller. Controllers are already expensive as they are brand new, but not being able to easily replace controllers down the line (or entire consoles for that matter)

[dieselmanchild]

10 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said:

I've got the medicine.

Thank you!

 

I’ve heard the Hori FPS controllers mentioned quite a few times over the years, especially for recommendations of a decent turbo controller. But oddly I didn’t see any mention of them when doing my research into DS3 alternatives last night. The Voyee controller seems to be the most popular one and was mentioned countless times on r/ps3 or other gaming forums.

 

I am seriously considering trying out a Hori as the ability to use it for both PS3 & PS4, as well as the turbo function, makes it look like a very useful tool to have around for the future. My main concerns though are the price ($80 CAD + shipping… Jeez), the odd D-pad placement, and that one of the reviews mentioned that the L2/R2 are buttons rather than triggers.

 

9 hours ago, enaysoft said:

The DPad is in the wrong place though...In my eyes that's already a fail lol

No diagonal hands for me.

This is a big concern for me too. The positioning of the left analog and D-pad is very odd and makes me a bit worried that I might hate it or not be able to adjust to how it feels. ?

 

If it was cheap like the knockoff controllers I wouldn’t be hesitant to take a gamble on it, but the Hori controllers are very expensive.

 

7 hours ago, enaysoft said:

Controllers are already expensive as they are brand new, but not being able to easily replace controllers down the line (or entire consoles for that matter)

I’m a bit worried about this too and could see it becoming a big problem with how cheaply made everything is these days. I love the feel of the Dualshock 4 controllers on PS4 but they just don’t feel built to last for years the way Dualshock 3s were. Every single DS4 I’ve owned always ends up with very bad stick drift within a year or so and once that happens it’s pretty much unfixable and requires a replacement, and replacing them is very expensive here. 

[SnowxSakura]

12 hours ago, dieselmanchild said:

It’s getting increasingly difficult to find authentic Dualshock 3 controllers these days that are in good working condition (or that stay that way for long after purchasing them) and haven’t fallen victim to the usual problems of stick drift, phantom button presses, broken d-pads that scroll through menus etc. I’ve been nursing my current crop of DS3s for years now, but I’m at the point where they are in really bad shape and a lot of games are becoming straight up unplayable, particularly any kind of shooter game. 

 

I decided to run some Google searches and scroll through Amazon Canada’s endless listings of knockoff controllers for a bit and it seems the two highest rated brands were Evoretro and Voyee, with the latter being most often mentioned by people on other forums. I’m wondering if any PS3 enthusiasts on here has tried either of these 3rd party brands and would recommend them? Or anything else. I’m not expecting Sony quality of course. A serviceable alternative for trophy hunting purposes is all I need.

 

I am also aware that the DS4/controller adaptors are also options here. 

Shame the dualshock 3 is so poorly designed that a piece of foam causes the phantom presses and scrolling problem

[dieselmanchild]

36 minutes ago, SnowxSakura said:

Shame the dualshock 3 is so poorly designed that a piece of foam causes the phantom presses and scrolling problem

Yeah this is a real shame. It seems like all they had to do was make it a little bit thicker and secure it a little better and this problem could have been avoided. I think DS3s are generally really good quality and tend to last for years if you take care of them, unlike my DS4s which don’t last nearly as long, but unfortunately the phantom presses and drifting/scrolling caused by that foam strip seems inevitable eventually.

 

I’ve seen people on YouTube apply tape to both sides of the foam and re-insert it, and quite often they’ve been able to successfully extend the life of their controllers for another few months or years. But it seems that generally once that problem starts, the controller is on borrowed time.

 

 

[Ghost-Zeus514]

Have anyone tried some of the afterglow or PowerA Controllers? They quite good

[MonaSaxPayne]

14 hours ago, CelestialRequiem said:

I've got the medicine.

 

Hori makes really good stuff but I hate that the analog sticks are uneven, especially on a Sony licensed product. big no from me because of it

[CelestialRequiem]

1 minute ago, MonaSaxPayne said:

 

Hori makes really good stuff but I hate that the analog sticks are uneven, especially on a Sony licensed product. big no from me because of it

All right. 

[SnowxSakura]

3 hours ago, dieselmanchild said:

Yeah this is a real shame. It seems like all they had to do was make it a little bit thicker and secure it a little better and this problem could have been avoided. I think DS3s are generally really good quality and tend to last for years if you take care of them, unlike my DS4s which don’t last nearly as long, but unfortunately the phantom presses and drifting/scrolling caused by that foam strip seems inevitable eventually.

 

I’ve seen people on YouTube apply tape to both sides of the foam and re-insert it, and quite often they’ve been able to successfully extend the life of their controllers for another few months or years. But it seems that generally once that problem starts, the controller is on borrowed time.

 

 

I've had to do it on 2 controllers about 9 years ago and they haven't had a problem since. Shame they didn't use a regular connector for the membrane

[heavyrockerfin]

I got myself a Mayflash Magic S Pro bluetooth dongle for my DS4's. All buttons and rumble works great on the PS3.

[dieselmanchild]

23 hours ago, SnowxSakura said:

I've had to do it on 2 controllers about 9 years ago and they haven't had a problem since. Shame they didn't use a regular connector for the membrane

That’s great to hear it fixed them! I plan to put my controllers aside and order the items I need to take a crack at this myself one of these days. It could be a fun little project. And if I could save my Dualshock 3s I would be super happy.

 

3 hours ago, heavyrockerfin said:

I got myself a Mayflash Magic S Pro bluetooth dongle for my DS4's. All buttons and rumble works great on the PS3.

I’ve been considering getting one of these dongles myself. It would be convenient to only have to invest in one controller set and use it on all consoles going forward. 
 

I think for now I’m going to start by ordering a cheap Voyee and one of those Hori FPS pads too and see how that goes. 

[SnowxSakura]

34 minutes ago, dieselmanchild said:

That’s great to hear it fixed them! I plan to put my controllers aside and order the items I need to take a crack at this myself one of these days. It could be a fun little project. And if I could save my Dualshock 3s I would be super happy.

 

I’ve been considering getting one of these dongles myself. It would be convenient to only have to invest in one controller set and use it on all consoles going forward. 
 

I think for now I’m going to start by ordering a cheap Voyee and one of those Hori FPS pads too and see how that goes. 

Just my recommendation, but instead of double sided tape for the foam, I used the adhesive strips from those command cling free strips

 

for example one of these

I cut the adhesive strip to be the same size as the foam, and since they're double side adhesive, it worked great

Edited November 23, 2022 by SnowxSakura

[Achtie]

59 minutes ago, dieselmanchild said:

That’s great to hear it fixed them! I plan to put my controllers aside and order the items I need to take a crack at this myself one of these days. It could be a fun little project. And if I could save my Dualshock 3s I would be super happy.

 

Its really easy to do. I did this myself a couple of months ago after accidentally dropping the controller which caused phantom presses. It was the first time ive ever opened anything of the sort in my life but after watching a youtube video i managed to fix it with ease.

[TheJimmonator]

5 hours ago, heavyrockerfin said:

I got myself a Mayflash Magic S Pro bluetooth dongle for my DS4's. All buttons and rumble works great on the PS3.

 

+1 for the Mayflash Magic, I use this one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B079B5KHWQ?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

I use my PS5 DualSense controller on the PS3 now (rumble works when the controller is wired, all buttons work all the time regardless of wired or not) and it actually encourages me to get through my backlog a bit faster because I think the DualSense is much better than the old DualShock design.

 

Also, a small thing that the few third party controllers I tried didn’t seem to have is triggers that register being held only partially (essential for stuff like GTA IV and RDR where you can free aim by holding L2 halfway)

[Z1MZUM]

I've used Mayflash for a little bit, I've also bought many genuine DS3's in Tokyo over the years as backup since they are cheap over there.

 

Now I do have a 3rd party but I use it on PS2, it is also PS3 compatible (Switch and PC as well). This is a really nice controller, It's the retrofighter defender and I have a few products from this company. I have the transparent green one specifically for my ps2 as the console is a little too far away for me to reach. This type of controller is designed by gamers with the same intention as we would have so they are usually good quality. 

 

https://retrofighters.com/our-collection/defender-wireless-playstation-1-playstation-2-playstation-3-playstation-classic-nintendo-switch-pc-video-game-controller/