Yep, you read that title correctly. You have decided to read an article about a GameStop PS2 controller. Back in the sixth, and the seventh generation of consoles, GameStop would sell their own third-party controllers, with their branding on them. Now, none of these really matter to me, except for the one I’ll be talking about. The black, GameStop branded, PS2 controller, is a controller I used to use as my main PS2 controller back in the day. I used this controller because I was poor, and couldn’t afford an official controller, even the used ones. In this article, I will be reminiscing about this controller and reviewing it.
The GameStop PS2 controller was always a decent controller to me. I remember that I used my original one so much that the rubber on the thumbsticks came off, The GameStop controller is pretty different from an official Dualshock 2. The face buttons are smaller and are raised a bit more compared to the official Dualshock. The D-pad is one of those disc-like ones, like the Xbox-360’s pad. The shoulder buttons are just worse. The start and select buttons are curved. Finally, the thumbsticks are about the same, but I think the GameStop controller has more clickiness to its thumbsticks. Despite all these changes, the controller feels fine for the most part. The D-pad is actually pretty good, I tend to prefer an entire pad over individual buttons. The face buttons and the thumbsticks are also good, but they don’t feel as good as an official Dualshock. This controller is not bad, but let's look at a couple of games and see how they work with the controller.
The first notable game that I played was the original TimeSplitters. This game did control a little worse. The movement wasn’t bad, but it didn’t feel as tight as it would be on a Dualshock. Aiming is also worse. In TimeSplitters, precision aiming is done by holding the L2 button, which allows you to use the right thumbstick to aim your gun. Holding the shoulder button on the GameStop controller is very uncomfortable for a short period of time, so that makes TimeSplitters an overall worse experience with this controller. I then played Crazy Taxi, and that felt fine. I played the 10-minute mode to see if holding the X button for a long period of time would get uncomfortable, and even painful. I’m happy to report that everything went fine, and I was able to play the game just as well as I would with a Dualshock. I also played Super Bust-A-Move 2, and that controlled fine. That’s all the PS2 games I played, but I also played a few PS1 games.
The first PS1 game I played was Namco Museum Vol. 1. This game has an actual museum you can walk around in, in full first-person movement. However, this game does not work with the thumbsticks, so you are required to use a D-pad to move around in this 3D space. That’s why I wanted to test this game, and well, I think this controller might handle 3D movement better when being forced to use a D-pad. The reason I say this is because the rounded D-pad provides a better experience in this specific case than the separated buttons on a Dualshock's D-pad. I also tried the game Bosconian, and that controlled very well. Finally, I decided to play Ape-Escape via the Pizza Hut Volume 1 demo disc. This also controlled fine, and I had an overall good experience with this controller.
Should you go out and buy the GameStop PS2 controller yourself? No, of course not, there’s no real reason to get it over a real Dualshock anymore, outside of novelty. However, this controller is a great third-party controller, I would even say it’s the first step down from an official Dualshock, and that’s not a bad thing. Should I have tested more games? Yes, and I would’ve if my PS2 was actually reading DVD discs. Is my bias showing? Yes, definitely, but I still had a mostly great experience playing a couple of my favorite games with it. People commonly assume all third-party controllers are cheap and bad. I don't think you should assume every third-party controller is terrible. There are some good ones out there, I’ve even used a handful of good ones as my main controllers at some point. The GameStop PS2 Controller is an example of a great third-party controller.
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