Officially licensed PlayStation 3 controllers not only look better, they work better too, and whilst you might have to pay a few quid more for one, at least they’ll continue to function post firmware 3.50, as it appears Sony are thinking about blocking some unofficial ones.
“Counterfeit PlayStation 3 Wireless Controllers,” says the Consumer Alert on PlayStation.com, “which are practically identical in appearance to genuine PlayStation 3 Wireless Controllers, have been discovered in the market. SCEA advises consumers to be cautious when buying PlayStation 3 Wireless Controllers from uncertain sources as the quality, reliability and safety of counterfeit products is uncertain, and in some cases, may be dangerous.”
The statement continues.
“It is possible that some counterfeit product may ignite or explode, resulting in injury or damage to the user, your PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system, or other property. Moreover, SCEA does not support continued functionality of counterfeit or unlicensed controllers in system software updates and these devices may cease to function in the future because of system software updates.”
Reports suggest this is mainly in reference to a few PS2-PS3 controller adaptors, some arcade sticks and some Dual Shock 3 ‘copies’ from the East rather than anything more elusive and sinister.
Source: PlayStation.com via NeoGAF.
JoshHood
You do all realise what else is going on here right? Unauthorised use of the USB ports ring any bells?
justboy
Ahh I remeber the good old days of buying cheapo controllers my ps1, and still continuing to use them even when most of the buttons refused to work.
Now days I wouldn’t go near them ,just not worth it in the end, may as well shell out for the official ones!
hazelam
i remember the good old 8 bit days when a broken stick, didn’t have joypads back then, was something you could fix yourself by opening it up and replacing the microswitches.
now you need an engineering degree and a computer controlled assembly line to do anything with these surface mounted components these days.
roddy281
i have 5 offical ones i bought a cheap on when i first bought i crap 60 gig and til now all i buy is offical playstation things
cc_star
Right, having a look around the underbelly of the Internet it seems the aim isn’t solely to block unlicensed controllers with the added scare tactics that they may explode (perhaps Sony provided the batteries for them), the update actually further protects the PS3 against unauthorised USB devices… PSJailbreak, anyone?
nofi
Yep, my first draft mentioned that, but I took it out.
shields_t
They really have got the PS3 toight as a toiger haven’t they?
The Serb
I agree with Sony and their approach, not only is Sony losing money but so are third party controller manufacturers, and in any case i would rather pay a little extra for something that actually does not break…or explode…