Evo Reminder: Wireless Dualshock 3 Controllers Are Banned!

By MrWizard on May 30, 2013 at 9:20 am

Evolution 2013 is a Bring-Your-Own-Controller event. We provide the consoles, games, monitors and speakers for every game station, but it’s up to the players to bring the controller they plan to play. This year we are restricting the controllers players are allowed to bring to ensure fair play and guarantee the integrity of the results. Players will not be allowed to use wireless controllers at the event this year.

How Wireless Controllers Work

All EVO games will be run on the Playstation 3. The Playstation 3 Dual Shock and Sixaxis controllers are both wireless devices. Plugging your controller into a PS3 for the first time pairs your controller to that Playstation. This pairing will be remembered by the Playstation until you sync your controller to another Playstation. We have found no reliable workaround to remove this pairing.

Since there’s no easy way to unpair a controller from a Playstation 3, any player who had previously played on a game console may accidently interfere with another game in progress. In order to ensure the integrity of the event, players will not be allowed to use controllers which pair themselves with Playstations.

Regarding Removing the Battery

The remove battery idea was tried and still doesn’t work. Since the DS pad is synced via Bluetooth, the charge cable has no sync capabilities.
Since the controller has no battery, it has to get enough juice to run it, and before it syncs to the new console, it will remember the old one for around 2 seconds. This is enough to ruin a match in progress.

Specifically Banned Controllers

The Sixaxis and Dualshock 3 controllers designed for use on the Playstation 3 are specifically banned.

Allowed Controllers

Fight Sticks. To our knowledge, all fightsticks made by Hori, PDP, and MadCatz use a wired connection and do not pair themselves to the PlayStation. They are all allowed.

MadCatz Fightpads. MadCatz Fightpad use a bluetooth USB dongle to pair the pad to the dongle. Since they do not create a paring between the pad and the Playstation 3, they are allowed.

All PS2 Controllers used with a PS2/PS3 convertor. Dualshock 2 or other PS2 controllers used with a converter box to convert them to PS3 controllers are allowed. For players accustomed to using a PS3 controller, this is your best option. We have included links for a recommened convertor box and Dual Shock 2 controller for your convenience