My last tech purchase for 2024 was a Sony DualSense 5 Wireless Controller. It’s my fifth controller for the PlayStation 5, which will be exactly four years old at the end of this month. I have also gone through three Xbox Wireless Controllers in around three years. And before you ask, no, I don’t toss my controllers around carelessly. But there’s definitely a problem when I have spent more money on new controllers over the past four years than an Xbox Series S console.
With the exception of one controller that had a wonky button, all my faulty controllers suffer from stick drift, where the joystick seems to be moving by itself in a game even when I’m not touching it. This ghostly input is often due to dust accumulation or wear and tear. And while the former can be fixed with a can of compressed air, the latter often requires changing the faulty potentiometer in the controller.
According to the shopkeeper who sold me my late…
