My professional PS5 controller simply bought stick drift after 5 years, and I’m principally in mourning

Who remembers the heady days of the PS5’s launch? I do know I do, since I spent that interval of lockdown performing as a kind of fixer for many of my mates, utilizing my barely extra on-line nature to safe as many pre-orders as I may in order that all of us bought consoles. At the identical time, my function in tech journalism meant that I used to be in a position to check a bunch of equipment out early doorways.

That meant loads of the most effective gaming headsets within the early days of the PS5, but in addition some glorious controllers, and I discovered my favorite nearly immediately. Right after the console got here out, Scuf began making tailored DualSense controllers, and I bought my arms on a Reflex Pro, a stunning little bit of gaming {hardware}.

This was the DualSense Edge, a couple of years before Sony made its own pro controller, and it meant that I’ve been using back-paddles for around five years, at this point. They’re a huge help in online FPS games in particular, I find, helping me to keep my fingers on the aiming stick while I reload or jump.

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That’s made it feel almost like a minor bereavement that, in the last few weeks, my Reflex Pro has started to feel a bit weird in the hand. Movement in games has felt looser than usual, and I recently upped my deadzone settings in Rocket League to the point where it feels like I’m driving in treacle.

To the surprise of nobody at all, when I swapped back to the near-pristine standard DualSense that came with my PS5 Pro last year, barely used because it’s paddle-free, these issues evaporated. There’s only one conclusion: stick drift has finally come for my pro controller.

It’s a spectre that’s loomed over way too many first-party gaming controllers from the last couple of console generations, but I’ll be honest – I normally dodge the bullet. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a light touch on the sticks (ahem), but I’ve never even had a Joy-Con give out, despite knowing people who seem to go through a controller every six months.

I’m still lucky that I’ve got a backup standard controller waiting to be used, and I’ll be fine with it, but it’s already proving an adjustment to play without those all-important paddles, or indeed the extra grip on the back of the controller.

If money were no object, I’d be straight out to get a DualSense Edge, since I’ve still never managed to get my hands on one and I’m pretty sure it’s the best of all worlds in terms of what I want. Sadly, money very much is an immovable object, so for now I’m back to the life of the hoi-polloi, and I’ll be in mourning for at least a few weeks.