Broken Reset Button on a PS3 Controller

Something happened the other day while using my PS3 which I  must mention. You may remember in a previous post I had a whinge why I think wireless for controllers is an unfinished, annoying and basically crap technology that's not worth the price, nor the trouble. Yeah, go ahead and read that article first if you haven't already!

Anyway, back to the thing that happened the other day. After completing the new firmware update on PS3 (oh boy, is the FW update a good thing to rant about...later), my Dual Shock 3 controller started acting very strangely.

I'll explain what was happening and I should mention that every time things were different, sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't! Turn PS3 on, login to my user and the XMB loads, I press the buttons on the D-Pad but there is no response. I turn the controller off and turn it on again. Yay, problem solved, or so I thought. Once the game had started and I pressed the PS button to access the XMB ingame, again the same thing happened. No response to my inputs on the controller whatsoever. Strangely though, the PS button would work. The only way to access the XMB was to turn the controller off and on again on the ingame XMB... I thought it was a bug with the firmware and didn't put too much thought into it.

After a few days, I went online to play Hot Shots Golf (great game by the way). However, when I entered the lobby, the text chat which is controlled by the R2 button kept opening a text box automatically. Closing it would just result in it opening up again and I was unable to move my character or press any other button commands, when I canceled the text chat, it just kept coming back. I tried my "turning off and on" controller solution, but this did not do the trick.

So basically, I was royally screwed and was unable to play online at all. After cursing the wireless controller, I thought that there might be something wrong with my PS3. I decided to search the problem up on Google. You see, people on forum boards are usually very helpful and actually able to solve your problem, I really recommend using google and forum boards as your FIRST choice for fixing any tech problems you might have.

After my initial search, I found heaps of people on forum boards with the same or similar problem as me! Unfortunately in this case, replies (if there were any) were unhelpful. But I'm not one to give up so easily! After about 15 minutes of searching, I found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. The reply on the forum (forgot the link, sorry), mentioned that if the controller is working but acting strangely than it's most likely not broken. But, the wireless signal can go out of sync and there's a reset button on the back of the controller you can press. Right, reset button on the back......WHAT???? Yes, have a good look and you'll find a little black button in the center on the back of the controller. I kid you not! I did not know about this at all, I thought wireless always worked fine. Did I mention I hate wireless?

To finish up, I turned on the PS3 with the controller, jammed a pen in the reset button and held it for 10 seconds and turned it on again. Voila! Controller worked perfectly again. If you ever have a similar problem, you'll now know the solution. Thank you for reading.

Case closed.

Wired Controller Fan

With the release of the PS3 and Xbox 360, Sony and Microsoft decided to bundle wireless controllers with their systems, probably to make them seem more "hi-tech". I'm sure many a geek had a sparkle in their eye and as they enthused over this new technology, while the casual gamer might have looked to see the cord missing and thought how convenient it is...at first.

In my opinion, there are more advantages in using wired controllers and I recently switched my wireless 360 controller for a wired one. I would have also done this with the Dual Shock 3 (DS3) if the cord was longer than the USB cable, so props to Microsoft for releasing both versions. "He's mad!" you say and maybe you're right, but first hear me out

A simple reason to start with, wired controllers are cheaper than their wireless counterparts. Now, moving on to the first big annoyance, which I'm sure everyone is aware of and that is power supply. If the wireless tech only required the console to be powered on, we'd be set, but it doesn't, so for the 360 we need to say hello once more to AA batteries while on the DS3 we have a Li-Ion rechargeable battery which is a better alternative. Whenever your AA batteries run dry, you'll need to put a fresh pair in. AA batteries aren't free, they cost money and every time you game, it'll cost you a bit extra. You'll need to pull them out of the controller and put new ones in. The alternative? Buy rechargeable AA batteries, which cost more to begin with, but quickly become the cheaper alternative. But of course, you'll need to recharge them, which is annoying too. And what if you want to game but have no batteries with power with them? Well, then you're screwed. That's wireless for you.

Oh, but I'm fibbing, there is another alternative. The play & charge kit will save your butt in such situations. Wait a minute, not only does this make your controller wired during the charging period, defeating the purpose of going wireless in the first place, it also costs you more money! Can you see what I'm getting at here? Hmm, let's move on.

The wired 360 controller will also work on your PC with no additional hardware (very cool), while the wireless one does not. Not without extra hardware, which again costs more money.

The inbuilt DS3 Li-ion battery is the better alternative, but isn't the big fix either. You'll still need to wire up your controller when charging, but at least you can keep playing without buying additional hardware. Pairing up controllers is a pain and sometimes you'll need to switch with your friend(s) or reassign which controller is the 1st player. Turning the controller on and off every time you turn on downloads and leave your PS3 alone is another annoyance. Like all batteries, Li-ion start to lose charge with age and need to be replaced after a few years, I haven't seen any spare batteries for Sony controllers for sale yet and I wonder when they will be available. This will require you to unscrew and open the controller and replace the battery. Finally, as I mentioned at the start, the USB cable could have been much longer and the battery easier to remove to provide for both the wired and wireless users.

To conclude, I'm very happy with my wired 360 controller and I never have to worry about charging or changing batteries or anything else! There are only two negatives I can think of. There's a cord (no big deal, put it back near the 360 when done) and it takes up one USB slot (only a problem on a PS3 if you've got a lot of accessories). However, I think the positives more than make up for its shortcomings.