Why I Never Replaced a Joystick in a DualShock 3 Controller

oh, so Sony used hall effect before and switched to whatever crap they use right now and literally made controller a consumable item for no reason but profit? And their new super duper PRO edge model still uses crap, but has easily replaceable stick modules for a pretty penny when it could have been a good hall effect stick in the first place. Create a problem and sell a solution, classic.

I firmly believe the drift issues with all modern controllers started around 2016 and that it's absolutely, without a doubt intentional. I have PS3 controllers from 2012 that are 100% drift-free and I bought one in 2016 just before they stopped production that began drifting within the first month of use.

You know what is crazy ? That PS one (or PSX) OG Dual Shock started it all. I have like 29 year old Dual Shock One and it still not just works, but works perfectly. No drift whatsoever. Despite not using hall effect, the joysticks are designed to last forever, as those "calibrate" on the fly. What is funny is that analogue sticks are very flimsy and have very little resistance when you move them (years of usage), but no drift. This controller was build like a tank. Also, since it is wired, it will never have battery problems, and wire itself is long & durable (back then controllers had very long weirs & very solid connector). It outlasted every other controller I had that after like 2 - 5 years started drifting or required battery replacement. They could have done it 30 years ago, but not today ? Well, hall effect is pretty much same price as regular joystick, and yet non on the major brand (MS, Sony, Nin) use those in their most expensive controllers. I think it is done on purpose, so that we would keep buying new controllers. Kinda sad.

I read somewhere that for a while, Sony lost money on their consoles, leaving it to the online store and accessories for profits. Not surprised they decided to go with a new joystick module prone to failure. The old controllers were just too reliable to make money off of. Disappointing.

planned obsolescence is the reason newer models have a ridiculously lifespan.

These are MR sensors, it's a wheatstone bridge made of MR elements. First sign of this is the four pins, VCC, ground, and the two poles that are matched but opposing in their voltage swing. Two poles into a differential op amp is also the classic resistive bridge sensor. Not to mention lack of noise, unlike what you see with Hall sensors which are noisy and jittery. ALPS did produce these themselves, though I cannot find the patent on this specific module, but it was a custom order by Sony or there was some kind of exclusivity contract. Now there's further genius of this compared to modern implementations of Hall sticks, and potentially the upcoming TMR stick. The first is how the magnet interacts with the sensor, you have the boundary line resting at a cardinal direction, on top of a coplanar MR bridge, very akin to how rotary (including stick axis) pots have a circular carbon track with a pivoting wiper; this much better approximates a circle than the rotating magnet over a linear Hall sensor like what modern controllers are using, this introduces non-linearity of position and requires processing to fix it, it's a distorted system, and the noise of Hall sensors compounds with this. The next is the physical constraints of the module which is where that potting material plays a part, the stickbox is manufactured with dimensional accuracy of a cube and is soldered in place in a set of holes in a square, the internal gimbal sits within this cube at specific points (and is further aligned via its return to center mechanism) that keeps it square to the stickbox, the magnet sits on the gimbal yoke in a specific orientation and hence the donut shape, this magnet then sits in the spherical/spheroid molding of the epoxy potting ensuring a properly aligned fit due to the convex-concave pairing (similar to how conic surfaces will self-align), the module housing then clips into the stick box at specific locations, and the module itself solders into the same plane as the stickbox; the system is so utterly constrained that there's no concern about alignment issues, unlike newer Hall controllers that can have sensor skewing and magnet alignment issues. This is also why I have low hopes for the newer TMR modules, because they will likely never do what ALPS did, but instead follow their Hall design but with a different sensor type, because redoing the packaging method costs money when most of these controllers are coming from the cheapest source anyways. Please do a follow-up video, an edit, whatever, and reflect the accurate information. I know in the video you said you didn't definitively say the sensors were Hall, but look at your comment section, how many people are regurgitating what they thought they heard? It should be everyone's due diligence to spread good information, because this is exactly how bad information spreads, the general populace lacks comprehension competency and critical thinking skills, you're not at fault for their spread of bad information but it's also important to put out good information to stop people from being frankly uneducated.

yeah, when I tried tweaking anti-deadzone in Steam input for my brother's old DS3 and seen that I could pretty much remove all deadzones and it wouldn't drift, I was like 'how is this even possible for this fossil of a gamepad??'. now I at least understand that the answer is in the special joysticks.

This explains why my friends keep buying new controllers for their modern consoles while I've been gaming with the same DS3 controller since ...2008 I think. The battery is worn out but the sticks are still good. Works great on PC via USB.

Not the joysticks but Ps3 controllers had issues with multiple other buttons being pressed when pressing only one button. The problem is a tiny tiny foam height buffer that gets compressed over time and leads the PCB being touched at multiple points. The fix is just adding a bit of height using electric tape. I fixed 2 of my controllers and one of my friend's controller this way.

I have 4 DS3 controllers that are well over 10 years old. All still work flawlessly. They were made before the era of planned obsolescence took hold. That's why they will continue to work for a very long time. The opposing outputs for each axis provide excellent accuracy. The same idea is used on drive-by-wire systems on modern automobiles. It's critical for something like a throttle position sensor, overkill for a game controller. I'm OK with overkill though. Thanks for the detailed teardown. Now I know why I've never had to throw away a DS3 controller.

In Sony’s eyes, Stick drift is not a bug, it’s a feature to make them more susceptible to more failures

earlier PS3 controllers used Magnet based Sticks. The one you have is one of the earlier ones. Later revisions, such as the A1, got rid of that and moved to the usual carbon wiper based potentiometers... Its partly due to what the users said at the time as well as them needing to cut the cost...

the DS3 was the greatest controller of all times. It also had pressure sensitive buttons (L1, R1, X, Square, Triangle and Circle). On PC you can use it with DsHidMini. It works great still. The only successor is the RetroFighter's Defender.

My dude sounds like a young Levar Burton with a southern twang

Fascinating research! Thank you so much for this video. And I think I was the guy who asked you about PS3 controllers in a comment few weeks ago ;). Thank you so much for looking into it!!

Thank you for making this, all my controllers from 2020+ have stick drift (5 controllers) all my controllers before 2019 (3 controllers) have never had stick drift

The PS Vita 1000 model has hall effect joysticks as well. Before I knew about that, I was wondering why it never drifted after almost 10 years.

I didn’t have a single PS3 controller that lasted more than 3 months. I firmly believe that joysticks using potentiometers should be the FTC’s next meal. It’s blatant abuse of the fact that there’s been a distinct lack of consumer protection in the US over the past decades.

Everybody hyped about hall sensors now, sony did that so long time ago. I would never thought that DS3 was hall effect (at least some of them). Great video. I have one with dead battery (no reaction after plug for hours), might be great to revive it.

Wow this is really something else, never knew PS3 analog was this good 😮