14 DAY TRIAL // As we all know, “War. War never changes.” And as a cog that's part of the system, the console wars will go on forever. The latest installment in the saga seems to be a bash against Sony and its PlayStation 3 controller, the DualShock 3. Yahoo has recently posted as part of the “Grinch's Gift Guide” a rather hurtful review of Sony's controller. To what degree this review is accurate remains to be seen, but, at a first glance, one must say that it's way off from reality. As Yahoo puts it, “It's all fun and games until the battery dies. Unlike its competitors, which use replaceable AA batteries, the PS3's remote control is glued shut. When the battery goes, Sony customers have to blow $55 on a new controller.”
Well, a few things strike as odd right from the get-go. Replacing it is not hard at all, even if it ever dies out completely. “Glued shut” may be an expression, but it's a pretty misleading one, since the hatch is secured with four removable screws. The method by which you can replace your DualShock 3 battery is clearly explained in the Safety & Support Manual, so it's obviously possible and, as a matter of fact, it's even very simple. As such, there's no reason to “blow $55 on a new controller,” since a PS3 wireless controller rechargeable battery can be bought for around $10. Of course, this applies only when the rechargeable battery has given its last breath.
The other thing that can be read from this statement, in the way that it's put, would be that the DualShock 3 is a single-use item. In the manner in which it's described, someone that is unfamiliar with the PS3 and its controller would assume that, after a few uses, the controller becomes useless and that you would have to buy a new one at the pace that Xbox 360 users buy a new set of batteries.
What needs to me made clear is that the controller has a rechargeable battery whose energy can easily be replenished via a USB interface. So, as far as life-span goes, Sony's controller is a pretty versatile one, with plenty of hardcore gamers having employed their original DualShock 3 ever since they started using it. So, when you look at it, it really seems like Yahoo got the facts wrong or someone shipped it a defective controller for testing. Either way, something is most definitely broken at Yahoo.