Yep. Nice and smooth. Fits perfectly in my hand

The Xbox 360 controller is by far the best ergonomically designed controller. I love the Xbox 360 controller, but the d-pad is sh!t!

A distant second, but honorable mention is the DualShock. It got the placement of analogs done correctly, but the shape seems to be more for looks than ergonomics.

None the less it towers way over any controller below it.

The odd man out, is Nintendo. They always made oddly looking controllers if you think about it. NES to SNES was a natural and well received evolution, but N64, GameCube and now the Wii (which works really well)! They never stayed consistent....

Of course the ultimate controller (for desk use) is the keyboard and moues!!!

I just hate the ridiculous battery pack sticking out the back. Get a built in rechargeable battery and I will be sold

but the shape of the 360 controller can't be beat.

Both the PS3 dualshock 3 (DS3) and the Xbox 360 gamepad are quite similar in size. With both controllers laid out, the dimensions of the controllers are roughly 6 x 3.5 x 2 inches. The Xbox 360 controller however does have slightly more girth around the handle area causing you to cradle the controller instead of grasping it like the DS3.

Fighters such as Street Fighter, Tekken and Soul Calibur require the use of the d-pad to execute precise moves. However, due to the finicky nature of executing a move, exact precision is required. When observing the d-pad of both the standard Xbox 360 and the PS3 controllers, you will notice a significant difference between the two.

On the standard Xbox 360 controller, the d-pad is utterly useless due to its odd design. Moves are extremely hard to execute because you literally feel like you are trying to move a single piece of plastic, versus having independent up, down, left and right angles.

This is where the PS3 dualshock controller excels. The d-pad on the DS3 is actually quite good. The angles are very easy to hit on the d-pad to execute special moves in games. Despite being on a single piece, the d-pad actually feels like the up, down, left, and right angles are on separate buttons due to its partitioned bending design. When you press down, the character will actually squat or sidestep down, instead of starting to walk forward or backwards due to inaccuracy.

Most racers utilize the Xbox 360 triggers or L2 and R2 on the DS3 to accelerate and decelerate. I can see that Sony wanted to make the L2 and R2 buttons more like race car pedals, where you experience increasing pressure or resistance the more you press the L2 and R2 buttons.

The Xbox 360 triggers are a single solid spring action press, similar to that of a trigger of a gun, hence the name triggers. Once fully depressed you actually experience less resistance.

In theory, the PS3′s DS3 ‘triggers’ look good on paper, but perform poorly in practice if you are not used to them. You will even start to lose grip of the buttons after holding on for a long time. In contrast the Xbox 360 gamepad’s triggers, once fully depressed offer very little resistance ensuring less fatigue and longer gameplay time.

Analyzing controller performance for shooters is extremely difficult because a huge part of it relies on gamer preference. Traditional console gamers who have used the dualshock controller since the days of PS1 more than 10 years ago, will swear that the dualshock is the best controller for shooters. The dead zone is an area around the center of the analog stick which allows for the aim to rest without the on screen reticule moving all over the place. After careful analysis of both controllers, the PS3 has a slightly smaller dead zone than the Xbox 360′s gamepad.

This means that the Xbox 360′s gamepad has a larger dead zone, or area where little to no movement is registered. The PS3′s DS3 has a smaller dead zone, meaning that it takes less effort to register a movement using the analog stick. The PS3′s analog stick is also noticeably loose compared to that of the Xbox 360′s analog stick, which offers a bit of resistance. With a larger dead zone it takes more effort and motion to make a movement. Coupled along with higher resistance or friction to the analog stick, it can lead to over compensation for gamers. Also sloppy aiming occurs due to greater motion required to achieve a movement. The razer onza fixes that for the xbox 360.

Since the PS3′s DS3 has a smaller dead zone the analog stick is much more responsive. Also, with the analog stick being looser, and have more room to move it is more akin to a mouse’s movement(still not quite there).

Eh, it's the same... -.-

Or would you rather see SSX changed to SSCross?