I always thought that the boomerang looked really comfortable... but i guess sony didn't want to potentially alienate their soft-core userbase :)

Duoae

If only it said serect instead of select I would be sold!
But yeah, it looks a bit cheap and bulky compared to the original prototype, I'll probably still pick one up for the novelty though.

Impul5se

The first pics I saw of the "boomerang" controller
simply reminded me of an old PSX controller
that for the life of me can't remember who put it
out (Interact?)...Other than the wireless aspect,
didn't seem very original in design.

relic1980

Damn... I'd SO get that, but I never use third party control pads if I can avoid it... especially third parties I've never heard of.

Demaar

Come on Luke, you just wanted to use it because you're Australian. Right?

champ24 vamp_24(psn)

Sidewinder anyone?

Sailorcancer

no I don't.

FiveElementNinja

@HateFate: YA BEAT ME TO IT!

Anyways, I like the design of the boomerang as well. SIXAXIS doesn't quite cut it for me.

ミスターX

I would have liked to see the boomerang controller just for the sake of some change. Using the same controller for three generations gets boring.

Toothball

I never understood all the hate for the boomerang controller. Every time I've ever thought about improving the DualShock's layout, my thoughts always end up going to a design almost exactly like that boomerang.(The original one, though; this knock-off is a bit bulky.) Think about it: It smooths out the design and gets rid of those completely unnecessary borders and edges the original had; it has a more ergonomic design, closer buttons, the motion controls, etc. Add in some rumble, and I see nothing wrong with it.

Blah8

You have got to be insane to think the boomerang would've been better to have than the current sixaxis.

@HateFate:
lol, that was pretty clever.

ticalmc2k2

Looks like it weighs as much as a bucket of bricks.

set89

I suppose a PS3 controller that doesn't make my hands ache would be a good thing. If I had a PS3.

Why is the PS2/3 controller just too small for my manly hands?

WillUnwise

@HateFate:

Okay, everyone, out. This guy wins.

Zero_

Of course it would come back. It's a boomerang.

HateFate

Meh. I've seen worse designs then the sixaxis
-see dreamcast controller
And better d-pads
-dreamcast

Anyways what is with people's fixation on switching the placement of the d-pad and joystick? Why don't we switch the buttons on the right side with the joystick? Because it works just fine either way to be honest.

myd12

Luke, I think you're alone in liking the boomerang design, or you're at least part of a very small minority.

legacyed

@HateFate: *Laughs and applauds*

Looks fairly accurate to the original prototype, but there was a reason it wasn't used.
See image;
[www.vidaextra.com]

moshakirby

Somebody let me know when an unholy fusion of the Sixaxis and DualShock2 has been achieved (DS2 casing and sticks/buttons with Sixaxis motion stuff somehow shoved in), that would excite me.

DaiMacculate

It can only be less painful to handle.
Getting time off my PS3 to play some PC with the 360 controller is like stroking an angel compared.

Still I don't have the guts to go 3rd party.

Malmer

I don't want a boomerang, I want a PS3 controller that is like the 360 controller. I have had a PS3 and a 360 for over a year and my 360 gets 98% of my gaming time because I can't stand the PS3 controller. Does anyone else have problems with your thumbs hitting each other when using both analog sticks? It really sucks with FPS games which happen to be my favorite.

I got a quote from Ben Heck for $350 plus one of each controller to make me a PS360 controller. I'm still trying to justify the cost.

AnonymousFinger

@HateFate: That prototype controller stunt of yours has boomeranged on us!

V1L3

its a cool option, still wish theyd release that other knockoff one that had the analog sticks lined up like a 360 controller, just to appease those more accustomed to it (*glances at sloopydrew*)

TheIrishNinja (PSN), IrishNinja2099 (XBL)

Also, on closer inspection, this looks more like a Dualshock 2 with it's "mode" button, and no home button. Buttons "9" and "10" are also numbered, which is very PC controller like and would map to a PC correctly if you had a PS controller hooked up to it. Another thing I notice, is that the analog sticks look like they're made out of the same plastic as the controller, which is very unlike the soft, rubbery sticks the PS controllers have.

Moonchilde

The boomerang design was hideous! I say leave it's filthy curves to waste on every news website running a story on the PlayStation 3 that failed to update their assets from years ago!

StolenName

@dv8godd: If Logitech was to make one, it wouldn't have the same style d-pad as the Sony models. They're the only d-pads other than the Sega Saturn d-pads that I like.

Moonchilde

hopefully its not junk. I was one of the people excited for the boomerang. The dual shock is too dated for a future leaning console like the PS3. The old controller just kills the whole vibe the PS3 used to have. They should still release a boomerang to replace the sixaxis, while still selling the dualshock 3.

subnet6

@Moonchilde: Or a Logitech version... somebody who makes quality input devices that I trust.

dv8godd

Boomerang FTW.

@HateFate: comment of the week? :-)

L_K_M

I always thought your hands would kind of slide up after a while with the boomerang shape, at least when your hands start getting sweaty. It just doesn't look too comfortable to me but who am I to judge having never tried it?

(Som en bang, en boomer, boomerang
dum de dumm dumm de dumm de dumm dumm
en bang, en boomer, boomerang
kärlekens budskap söker sej fram
du ger av dej själv, och från en vän
får du kärlek igen
en bang, en boomer, boomerang är den
en boomerang är kärleken)

SS_Ymer

@dv8godd: Totally agree. I really want one, but not some Chinese knock off. I want a real, Sony made, Boomerang controller. That thing looked like it would feel wonderful in my hands... like a pair of... well nevermind. The boomerang looked like it was designed for the PS3, and the Dualshock still has that old, archaic, PSX design from years and years back. Just feel like its time to move on.

Moonchilde

I can't wait for the PS4 Mind Controller. Especially when they release it with the Double My Tingle(tm) advanced rumble feature.

sauvage

@HateFate: OMFG, thats so full of win!

Moonchilde

Would have to feel the boomerang in my hands before I could judge. The prototype Sony pad certainly looked interesting, and I'm disappointed that Sony have taken my favourite joypad (DualShock2) and made it worse (Sixaxis). I don't like the squashy L2 & R2 buttons. Are they buttons? Are they triggers? They're neither, the worst of both worlds. It feels like trying to seduce a woman by squeezing her boobs every few seconds.
Bring back the proper buttons!

mrrobsa

@HateFate:
Damn, that's one awesome first post.

MNC

How would your thumbs reach the buttons if your handpalms are holding the handles? It looks so out of reach.

MNC

@WillUnwise: It can't be Sony's fault you are build like a ogre ;-). The bright side is chicks love big guys.

sauvage

I want a boomerang controller... but I'm pretty sure I don't what this boomerang controller.
 
I at least want to get one in my hands and get a feel for it. Never understood all the hate for it from people who never touched one. It was kinda like saying "this car drives like shit" after looking at a picture in a magazine, i mean how could you know?
 
As for how the boomerang looks? If it was comfortable to play it could look like a bag of rusty nails for all I care. I didn't want to marry it, just game with it.
 
Yeah, all the hate struck me as fairly knee-jerk based upon subjective assessment of aesthetic quality... pretty poor way to judge an input device. At least if I could have used one for half an hour I would have an informed opinion rather than just wonder.

dv8godd

@Purple Dave: I've never had a problem with the grips on the PS controllers, no pain or anything like that. Even so, I do wish they'd redesign it. There is plenty of room for improvement and the design has been around since 97. Its been 10 years and 2 consoles worth of time.

Moonchilde

@WillUnwise:
It's not that it's too small, but rather that the stupid grips are bent downwards at a 45 degree angle that causes the pain. It forces your hand into an unnatural position.

@ticalmc2k2:
Oh, yes, because the dreaded Playstation Claw is something to be enjoyed. People bitched about the boomerang controller because of how it _looked_, but the plain simple truth is that the _ONLY_ consideration that should be taken into mind when designing a hand-operating interface is how ergonomically it fits the human hand, and the only sense in which the Playstation controller design wins ergonomically is based on the NES/SNES gamepad designs that offered you no means of gripping it besides the thumbs that you were frantically mashing buttons with:

Dual-shock/Suxasses: 0
Boomerang: 1

@moshakirby:
That's a case of someone trying desperately to find something wrong with it physically to justify hating it based solely on looks. I don't know about any of you, but my shoulders are set a lot farther apart than the width of a Playstation controller. Ergo, my wrists should _never_ be straight when holding it, or I will be forcing them into an unnatural position. This is why the backlit screen never got me to buy a GBA SP, because I'm a adult, and it's a design that's much more suited to children.

@Moonchilde:
That actually makes sense. Rip off the cleaner PS3 boomerang look, but make it for a game console that's a lot more budget-minded, and has a much larger user base. You probably won't see them making controllers for any of the current generation until they've been around a few years and sold a lot more systems.

Purple Dave

Dear god, PLEAAAASE let this work with my new WINNER console!

Mansteak

I used the boomerang controller that came out for the PSone way way back. It was the most uncomfortable, unwieldy controller I have ever had the misfortune of laying my hands upon. Dammit, that thing sucked. Wish I could remember the exact name of it. Oh well.

callahan09

Target's had a clearance on the boomerang style PS2 controllers for a while now. I still don't feel curious enough to pick one up.

PlaidNinja

Hello, Psyclone Wireless Controller for PS2 has had this exact same design for over a year now. I picked one up last month for 9 bucks and I really wish the PS3 had sticked with the design, its really comfortable.

FatassofKickassness

@HateFate: You just won the internet!

mindinrewind

Well, this solves the problem of ergonomic design. Unfortunately, it looks like the analog sticks are as gripless and cheap-looking as ever.

Sony's refusal to update their controller makes me want to smack them.

Xiedo

@HateFate:

Dude, you deserve like, post of 2008 right there.

Komrade_Kayce

@Moonchilde:
Really? I was looking for a game controller for my PC a while back and picked up a Logitech PS controller knock-off. I don't think I could have put it down any faster if it'd been on fire. I could already feel impending crampage coming on. What I ended up getting was Saitek's P990 Dual Analog, but what I'd _really_ been hoping to find was another GamersFactory G60406A controller. They seem to have gone out of business or something, but that's a group of people who really understood how to make comfortable grips on a game controller.

Purple Dave

"Chinese PS3 controller"

Mmmmm.....lead paint.

d1sCo_d3aTh