Strange Gamepads

Bought "complete in box" version of EyeToy Play Hero for Playstation 2 and thought I'd present the glorious "controller" here. Front and back of the box. Little beat up, but in fairly good condition. This is the Scandinavian release. The included game. In really nice shape. Looks like this was not used much or not at all. Manual and disc. Again in pristine condition. Behold the "controller". Just a cheap green toy sword made out of hard foam. Again Looks like this was also hardly ever used. The game scans for the green part with EyeToy camera and translates the movements onto player actions. The game actually refuses to continue past title screen if you don't present the sword to it. I guess piece of green cardboard roughly the same size and shape would also do the trick. The sword. The sword again. Ready to slay some dragons.

I have couple of DualShock 3 controllers that are working but externally in really bad shape and some of the plastics are broken around the analog sticks. So I decided to see if I can refurbish one of them using cheap aftermarket case. The starting point. This controller has seen better days. Opening DualShock 3 is pretty straightforward. There are only 5 screw on the back of the unit. No hidden screws and all are same size. After removing the screws you have to apply some pressure to  the back cover in the area between the analog sticks. This releases one clip that is still holding the plastics together. Then carefully lift the back cover up. You have to maneuver the cover around the trigger buttons. The back cover removed. And the mandatory warning. Be very careful with the battery. Even though this is only joystick, the battery can be dangerous. Do not short the battery wires or damage the battery in any way. The first thing I do is to remove the battery. Using your ...