Is this Dualshock 2 controller bootleg

controllersps2

A few days ago I bought a Dualshock 2 controller and some PS2 games at a thrift store. The controller was really cheap, $1.99, but the cases were separating from each other. It looked like an easy enough fix, so I bought it. It worked and functioned well like I'd expect Sony stuff to. The only issue being that due to the case separating along the top, R2 stuck a little when pressed.

I took it and another Dualshock 2 (a broken one to use for parts) apart today and found something odd: the Dualshock 2 logic boards looked completely different, with the board inside the thrift store one not looking like any other out there on the Internet.

Thrift Store

Thrift Store PCB

Regular

Regular PCB

Especially the connector…

Thrift Store

Thrift Store Connector

Regular

Regular Connector

Also the part of the frame where the shoulder buttons rest is way different and a lot more fragile. They were broken in the thrift store one and I tried to fix it with a glue gun.

Thrift Store

Thrift Store Shoulder Button

Regular

Regular Shoulder Button

Additionally, the buttons on each were different and would only fit in whichever controller they were a part of.

Face Buttons, Both

I'm a Nintendo fan and when dealing with SNES controllers (especially the ones that shipped with the redesigned console) a good place to start looking is the text on the back. Maybe it's the same here.

Thrift Store

Thrift Store Shell Back

Regular

Regular Shell Back

I hate 3rd-party accessories, whether it's for my game consoles, iPhone 6s, MacBook Pro, or anything else I own. Bootleg products ripping of the original is the only thing, IMO, that's worse.

I'm kind of thinking that this is a bootleg controller, but I'm not sure. If it was, the bootlegger went to great lengths to make it look and feel like an official one. Is it bootleg?

Best Answer

I think your controller is legitimate. I am presuming this only as i do notice one difference in the bottom of the controller to the right of the scei you have different letters one is an A the other is H....this is most likely hardware revision enumeration. Either way im supprised you are using analog sticks instead of digital dual shock with ps2 if you are so opposed to lower quality builds....