Now that third-party companies are coming out with controllers for the Xbox 360 and PS3, what do you think of them? Have you used any that you would recommend above the ones that came with your console? In the previous console generation, it seemed like the third party controllers (at least some of them) were superior to the originals. That seemed especially so with the Xbox as the fat, overly large controllers that first came out for it were pretty awful.

I like my 360's original controllers pretty well except for the grip (or lack thereof). So I modified them by wrapping baseball bat grip tape around the handle parts of them. It makes them much less slippery in long gaming sessions. The look like they got broken and taped back together now, but oh well.

I would stick to the originals. I have had 1 GAMEware controllers before (GAME is a game store branch in the UK) for PS2 and 1GAMEware battery pack and had to return them both cause they are just sooooo badly made that half the buttons never worked and the battery would constantly disconnect my controller. If you use the official pads then that means that they will almost always work with the console.

I haven't tried any third party controllers for the Xbox, but the third-party controllers I've tried for N64, Playstation and Gamecube were terrible.

1st party all the way. sv93 had it right on: I used to work at an EB Games (Or Game Stop for you non-Canadians) and we sold a ton of crappy controllers to people...and then sold them the same crappy controller a few weeks later. Cheaper? Sure. Cheaply made? Heck yes.

Normally I don't care what controller you're using, but I've got to say I HATE turbo controllers. When I'm playing CoD4 and someone is firing their G3 (Semi auto rifle) faster then my MP5, there is a freaking problem.

Third party GC controllers do indeed blow chunks. I'm one of the few people who like the xbox controller original, as well as the S, so I never used anything but Microsoft there. I consider the OEM 360 controller to be one of the best ever made, but that baseball grip tape sounds like a great idea. I've got some polypropylene felt tape somewhere, I need to see if that works.

Maybe for last gen there were some allright ones, but for cuurent, the first party is better than all the other options out there. I love the dualshock 3 controllers and the standard 360 controller is great with the exception of the d-pad. The greatest news for my 360 was when they announced that they were fixing that at liezpig. The worst for it was when it was announced that the revised version wasnt comming to america . . .

I think it just depends on your luck. I've got a Mad Catz controller for my PS3, and it works fine, as did my GameStop 360 controller. I usually opt for third-party because (a) it's cheaper and (b) so far I've had nothing but good luck except for one PS2 controller that kept having the right analog stick get stuck.

I usually trust the first party stuff more, but I've had 3rd party controllers in the back and I've had no problems with them.