My wife and I just bought a PS3. We’ve never gamed *any* systems before. Until more PS3 games come out over the next few months, most of the games we are interested in are PS2.

What we are unsure of is what the best controller to use. Should we buy PS2controllers and adaptors with the PS button like Pelicans ps2-to-ps3
Controller adapter?
Or would we be better off with the sixaxis or another PS3 controller?

Also I’ve read that a PS3 firmware upgrade allows for the “rumble” but there’s nothing about what controllers this will work on.

If you don't mind not having rumble stick with the SIXAXIS, I'm not sure what the best method is for using a Dualshock 2 is if you want rumble.

An original Dual-Shock 2 with an adaptor (radio shack works fine - Pelican has a history of making shoddy crap that burns out controller ports) is almost all you'll need. It even works for PS3 games, and doesn't have annoying triggers.

When you say "original" Dual-Shock 2, do you just mean the ones made by Sony, or do you mean the original ones that came with the Playstation 2?
I found some new ones made by Sony at

http://www.amazon.com/Sony-Playstation-Dualshock-Controller-Emerald/dp/B00006FWUT******sr_1_10/102-1308426-3040946?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1189484330&sr=8-10

but I couldn't find the original ones that came with the ps2... maybe Ebay...

An original Dual-Shock 2 with an adaptor (radio shack works fine - Pelican has a history of making shoddy crap that burns out controller ports) is almost all you'll need. It even works for PS3 games, and doesn't have annoying triggers.

How do you hit the PS button when playing a PS2 game on the PS3?

I bought the Pelican adapter, and it works well for me. It has the PS button, and there is no noticable lag.

How do you hit the PS button when playing a PS2 game on the PS3?


You just press the PS button on the Sixaxis, which will be detected as the 2nd controller. But you play using the Dual Shock 2, which is set as controller 1.

I have the Radio Shack adapter. Works perfectly.

OK, I use the original DualShock 2 that comes with the PS2, or you can buy one from any store - as long as it's Sony it should work great. And as for the PS button functionality with the Radio Shack adaptor, the Blu-Ray remote control from Sony (if you have it ) works just fine AND it doesn't mess any controller settings up. I found that when using the Sixaxis for the PS functions, it sometimes screwed up which controller was plugged in - so I just use my remote. It also has the advantage of not activating a controller and wasting charge time on your sixaxis. SO to sum up my personal opinion - use a Sony Dual Shock 2 and a Blu-ray Remote (sony) for PS buttons. I had Pelican extension cables burn out 2 dreamcasts, so I don't use their shoddy crap - did they replace my dreamcast? No. I had to.

Old post but didn't want to make a new thread. I have two PS2 controllers that I want to use to get some 4-Player split screen warhawk going on and maybe NHL 08. If I bought 2 of the radioshack adapters to use how would I get the game to work? So I use a sixaxis to start the game up and at that time are the PS2 controllers recognized already if they are plugged in? So the extra players would just have to press START?

You don't need a sixaxis to start the game up. Turn on the PS3 (use your finger on the console or use the blu-tooth remote) and then hit the analog button on your controller. Voila! Now your controller will work. It should be recognized as the first controller. I don't know what would happen with a second controller, but it would probably be recognized as the second one. If you use a six-axis to start up the PS3, you'll probably have to disable the controller and switch it's settings to get the PS2 controllers to work in game. It was that way with Resistance - start the game with the PS2 controller, but since the sixaxis was active and taking up a slot I had to change it's slot, then turn it off. I turn my system on with the Blutooth and it usually assigns it to the very last controller slot so it's not an issue.