3rd Party Controllers

What are your thoughts on controllers made by third party companies and what are your experiences with them?

I do own a couple for the Switch and for the Wii, especially the wired ones that have a cable length of a million feet. I do like them, it does save a few bucks compared to buying the authentic kind. But some do work. Gamestop has sold some 3rd party ones and never had a problem with them.

I won't get one from Amazon, though. I bought a wireless pro controller for the WiiU once and the battery would die within five minutes.

I've had awful experiences. They've broken on me at the worst times, sometimes within two weeks of purchase.

I've owned them for PS4 and Wii. I've yet to have a single one function properly.

I've tried a fair few third party controllers to use on PC, but honestly none of them seem to match up to the first party ones like XBox and Switch until you're spending the same amount of money, if not more. At that point I don't really see the point because first party ones usually come with a better waranty and better compatibility with games and software

I have a 3rd part Switchy controller and a Logitech controller I use for PC gaming.

I didn't have any drift issues with the Switch, but lost the middle part where the joycons connect for a bit and needed a replacement. The third party controller was much cheaper and it's been mostly good. It's a more comfortable size for larger hands. It, unfortunately, does sometimes have some issues connecting with the Switch at first though. It lacks motion controls too which can be an issue.

The Logitech controller has been amazing and made my PC gaming experience much more enjoyable.

ZeoStar said:

I've had awful experiences. They've broken on me at the worst times, sometimes within two weeks of purchase.

I've owned them for PS4 and Wii. I've yet to have a single one function properly.

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I haven't seen many third party controllers for the ps4 and the ones I've seen are overpriced. What brand was it if you don't mind me asking?

Myself I have used a few for the ps3 and didn't have any issues with them that were major. I did take a risk with a few ones that I orderered recently for my new ps3 that I was given so when I get them I will see if they work. I will share my experiences with them.

I had a Logitech controller that worked fairly well. It broke a while ago, though. I also have a 3rd party Switch controller that I replaced with a Pro controller once I got one. It was ok, I guess, but was purely wired which I found annoying..

From my own experiences some of them are really good for the price.
The wired switch ones feels really cheap. But they're a decent alternative to paying 60/70 for an actual controller

Rather than using a 3rd party controller at this point after buying multiple and having them stop working after a few months I just decided to buy adapters instead. Now I just use my PS5 or Xbox controller with my switch since I can remember the button location rather than the lettering or symbols.

I got 2 of 3 controllers I ordered today, and tested both out.

The first controller looks exactly like a genuine dualshock controller, but I knew it was a third party controller. The buttons turned out to be stiff so it isn't ideal for gaming, but the main purpose was just a collector's item even if it is worth nothing financially.

The second controller doesn't have company branding. It was supposed to be a wireless controller, but it only works while connected to a charging cable which isn't a deal breaker and other than that it is very responsive to my input.

Just now waiting for my third controller which is an actual wired controller, when I receive that controller expect some impressions for that.

Alexa Bliss said:

I haven't seen many third party controllers for the ps4 and the ones I've seen are overpriced. What brand was it if you don't mind me asking?

Myself I have used a few for the ps3 and didn't have any issues with them that were major. I did take a risk with a few ones that I orderered recently for my new ps3 that I was given so when I get them I will see if they work. I will share my experiences with them.

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I don't mind you asking. I just wish I remembered the brand. It was one of those things I randomly ordered from amazon because it was cheap, I saw a couple good reviews and just 'okayed' it.

It looked exactly like this, except I believe it was missing the PS4 logo on the home button. Within 2 weeks the sticks started to deform from the controller. I had been taking good care of it and shelving it when I was finished. Unfortunately, it seemed nothing I could have done would have stopped this from breaking.

ZeoStar said:

I don't mind you asking. I just wish I remembered the brand. It was one of those things I randomly ordered from amazon because it was cheap, I saw a couple good reviews and just 'okayed' it.

It looked exactly like this, except I believe it was missing the PS4 logo on the home button. Within 2 weeks the sticks started to deform from the controller. I had been taking good care of it and shelving it when I was finished. Unfortunately, it seemed nothing I could have done would have stopped this from breaking.

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Definitely a low quality knockoff, even my knockoff dualshock wasn't of very high quality though that purchase was on purpose. Which I am happy that I did get a decent unbranded controller as a back up.

Thanks for the response as well.

Alexa Bliss said:

Definitely a low quality knockoff, even my knockoff dualshock wasn't of very high quality though that purchase was on purpose. Which I am happy that I did get a decent unbranded controller as a back up.

Thanks for the response as well.

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I would have responded sooner, but I wanted to see if I could find an actual picture of the controller. Now I realize I must have thrown it away at some point. Oh well, I'll still post if it ever turns up.

I also have a weird off brand wii classic controller, which seems to work like 20% of the time. When it does work it's perfect. But for some reason it completely shuts down most of the time. It's the same deal, a normal controller without the nintendo label. At least the buttons didn't spring off.

Alexa Bliss said:

I haven't seen many third party controllers for the ps4 and the ones I've seen are overpriced. What brand was it if you don't mind me asking?

Myself I have used a few for the ps3 and didn't have any issues with them that were major. I did take a risk with a few ones that I orderered recently for my new ps3 that I was given so when I get them I will see if they work. I will share my experiences with them.

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Okay I found the actual controller. The sticks are completely non functional, and I was right that I remembered it didn't have a PS4 logo on the home button. I was so upset with this thing I'm surprised I didn't throw it away. I was so excited when I saw how pretty the colors looked, then one day I was playing Skyrim I noticed a slight drift, then the joystick slightly popping out. It escalated very quickly. After this I gave in and bought an $60 actual controller from gamestop.

With the features that the dualshock 4 had, I don't think I would have purchased a third party one myself.

I know some company is gonna try to mimic a ps5 controller and I wouldn't be shocked down the road of seeing them pop up on sites like Ebay.

I must have gone through like 3 trash madcatz controllers on the original X-box.

On the 360 it was a different story, my original 360 controller broke and the replacement official one MELTED on me. Its the Gamestop controller that lasted until today and still works perfectly fine.