Sony Playstation Dual Shock 2 - A great controller

Sony's fisrt party controller, is pretty much the same as the original playstation dual shock controller with a couple of tweaks, mainly more solid analog sticks and a much lighter weight. Sony's Playstation 2 console is the market leader, beating out competitors Microsoft (Xbox) and Nintendo (Gamecube) so one must wonder how its controller stacks up, as a game controller and against the competition.
First off, the layout follows a traditional controller layout that Nintendo started off with the NES, with the directional pad on the left, and the main action buttons on the right. There are two analog sticks (again, which nintendo introduced to the Nintendo 64 controller) on the bottom of the controller and 4 shoulder buttons. Becuase the system can play PSone games aswell, and majority of those games did not use analog untill the very late 90's, it is ideal for the directional pad to be here. The analog stick would have been prefered in this position however, as most PS2 games use it and it is now the norm of the industry. The controller is comfortable, and well suited for most types of games. It is, however, not the best whem compared with the competition. But each controller mind you has its own strengths and weaknesses. The analog sticks, when using both for games such as First Person Shooters (FPS's) are not ideal, although smooth, the thumbs sometimes interact and makes the controller feel small. The shoulder buttons are geat, but when compared with the Gamecubes analog click shoulder buttons, and the Xbox's analog triggers, they seem a little outdated, and not as fluid. The D-Pad, after long play, can sometimes strain the thumb becuase of the resistance the pad has. However, it is an ideal controller, and very good all around. 4 stars.