PlayStation digital controller variants.

I'm trying to catalogue each variant of the PlayStation's digital-only controllers.

So far I have this list, in chronological order of appearances.

Official 1st Party Controllers

SCPH-1010 (gray)




These were the first production controllers included with the early gray debugging units, and with the original SCPH-1000 launch units in Japan. They were also sold separately for a couple of months afterwards before being redesigned and given the new designation SCPH-1080.

The SCPH-1010 can be identified by having slightly shorter legs than the SCPH-1080. The cord is also very short, only about 3 feet long. They are also lacking any sticker on the back of the connector, and the ferrite ring.

SCPH-1010 (blue)



The original DTL-H1000 series of blue debugger PlayStations shipped with a custom blue version of the SCPH-1010 controller. These are now incredibly rare, and I'd really like to have a better photo.


SCPH-1080 (gray)




By far the most common PlayStation digital controller variation. Often referred to as the "original" controller, it is in fact the second.

These are known to come in at least the SCPH-1080 A, H, and M configurations. This refers to the sub-contractor that manufactured the controller.

A = Alps
H = Hori
M = Mitsumi

The differences between the various sub-contractor versions are unknown to me at this time.


DTL-H3010 H (Net Yaroze controller)



This controller is identical in size and shape to the SCPH-1080, but has a black matte finish.


SCPH-1080 (colored series)

These were at least made by Hori.

Red


White


Clear Black or Smoke


Black



Sony released these semi-rare colored variations of the SCPH-1080 shortly before the debut of the Dual Shock series.

Demo and Development hardware

DTL-H controller for use with the DTL-H2000 development hardware. It is cosmetically identical to a SCPH-1010. Instead of the standard connector it uses a 9 pin D-sub.



Clones

Coolpad. Probably the best fake out there. Or is it official?




Note that the label on the back does not have a letter following it. This would mean that it used either a different, or very old mold.


Innovation



The "Super" version has a little ridge underneath the grips.


It came in multiple colors, at least one of which might have been blue!





Innovation also released an upgraded version, the Super PSX pad Turbo.


Found on a Russian message board.


Blaze Infrared


Common Chinese knock-off. Very lightweight.


Questions:

Have I missed anything?

Are there variations within the SCPH-1010 series?

Were there A and H versions of the Net Yaroze controller?

Was there ever a blue SCPH-1080?

Was there a green SCPH-1080?

 

nice set
i always loved this controller, still using them instead of the analog ones on my ps1

you got me curious so i went thought my pile of them, and with the 3 grey ones (scph-1080), 2 black ones and a yaroze pad, only one that caught my eye is this, as it says M instead of A or H.

 

I suspected there would be an M variant as well. It stands for Mitsumi. Interestingly, they also make controllers for Nintendo.

 

Really interesting fact there man! Boggled my mind

 

Hey...

Did you know...


that the playstation...

was originally going to be a NINTENDO system?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

Great info, especially about the different manufacturers. I maintain a Thread concerning another controller in the early history of the PS1. The Dual Analog which came out right after the digital controllers you are covering. Your post is really informative, I quoted you back in my guide.

PSX Dual Analog Guide- Flightstick - Barracuda - □xo∆ FAQ
http://www.racketboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=52&t=19126&p=217621#p217621

Speaking of the manufacturers, I noticed that Alps is one of them. I have two Alps "batwing" controllers from the PS1 era and wondered where they fit into the history. An interesting footnote concerning the Alps batwings is the design almost came back in the PS3. Maybe this was to be manufactured by Alps?

 

You missed the Lodgenet controller, it is a SCPH-1080 with an RJ style connector.

 

Thanks!

I'll add it in a separate section along with a few other odds and ends.

 

Maybe just update your OP? This saves having to look somewhere else, all the PS1 Digital controllers in one useful Reference Guide.


EDIT
I found more information concerning the Alps controller and updated my Guide. Note below in the quote where the handgrip design was scaled back, maybe the large Alps controller was part of the initial concept for the official PS1 controller?

 

I think the article at 1up is referencing the more standard handles we're familiar with. The original PlayStation controllers were sort of a hybrid snes/n64 look.

The blue batwing controller came out quite some time after the PlayStation's release. Around 1997 or 1998. Could it have been the leftovers of earlier prototype builds? It's possible, but none of the existing material on the subject seems to indicate so.

However, I am almost certain that there was a similar controller involved with the PS2's early showings at conventions and tech-shows. So clearly, somebody at Sony has a fascination with them.

I'll certainly keep updating the OP with new photos and info. Right now, I'm stuck looking for a photo of that Lodgenet controller, and one of the blue controller that doesn't look like a postage stamp. And unless I'm imagining things, I swear I saw a gold SCPH-1080 in a magazine years ago.

 

in the OP you mention that differences between manufacturers are unknown at this time.

i can open up my Mitsumi and Hori 1080's and take a quick peek if i see anything obvious there if you want to ?

 

Yes, I would appreciate that very much. The differences between the M, H, and A analog controllers are huge, but I'm betting the digitals are nearly identical.

 

Thats real, it belongs to the gold 10 million edition console, the rarest of all ps1s and probably all playstations.

True, but even controllers with the same labels can be different. I think each manufacturer went through multiple revisions.

Also, The digital controllers are made in different places. Most come from China, but I've personally owned some made in Japan, Malaysia, and Phillipines. Would be interesting to match manufacturer to location. As far as dualshock goes, I only have some made in China and Korea, and dual analog from Japan.

 

Based on the interview, the initial design alludes to larger and maybe different handgrips then the final product. The Duel Analog has longer grips but not really a drastic design change. Then there is the prototype Sony SNES controller has no handgrips, there is a picture of it back at my Guide.

Norio Ohga was pushing for a flight stick inspired grips design of sorts. Maybe Teiyu Goto was creating either something similar to the Alps or the PS1 Flightstick which appeared later on, after the Duel Analog. I'm leaning towards the Alps design since it kept appearing as a possible controller on the PS3 and maybe even the PS2. It would be interesting to see exactly what the original PS1 flight grip design would have looked like.

 

here's a mitsumi and a hori 1080 in their respective order.
pictures are super bad but you can see they're clearly different.
i'll take better pics later on if wanted/needed

edit: regarding build quality, the Mitsumi pad feels considerably more flimsy / cheaper quality than the Hori pad. The plastic seems cheaper and the solder job generally looks worse.
same with the silicon pads on the buttons, which are also different color btw, on the mitsumi pad they're pink/red solid color and Hori pad had a transparent ones.

Mitsumi:


Hori:

 

now you have me looking...

I have a SCPH-1080 that doesn't have a letter... It just says "made in Malaysia"

 

I'm looking for photos or information on that gold PS1 now. I've heard of the midnight blue edition, but never a gold PlayStation.

Yes, eventually I think I'll try to get each country represented as well within sub-categories of each model.

Very interesting. In my searches I came across the label to a SCPH-1010 that was the same way. I wonder if these even have letters on the back at all?

Anyway, I think it is likely that your particular SCPH-1080 might be a very early unit. Might have come packed in with a SCPH-1000 model system. Do you know the history of the controller?

@mugi

Thank you for the photos and information. I'll add them to the OP in short order.

It doesn't surprise me that the Mitsumi board seems to have the worse build quality. It was the same way for the dual shock controllers. At leas they didn't resort to using those terrible plastic films over the PCB that some of the later controllers had.

By plastic, do you mean the plastic of the PCB, or the actual casing of the controller?

 

ehm, sorry, i meant the casing. The board itself seemed fine aside the poor soldering job.
It's worth another note though that they are different. The PCB of the Hori pad was considerably darker from the underside.

 

Your photo for the DTL-H2000 pad is incorrect- you list it as a D15 plug, but show a D25 plug- it's actually a D9 plug- here's one of mine:


I should add that both of my controllers use SCPH-1010 shells.

 

I had thought it was a 15-pin wide connector like this one:



But yeah, it's probably a DB25.

I missed the ferrite tube on the end there. So it's likely somebody's old PSX to Parallel port pad. I'll update it.

And did you notice? The photo of an SCPH-1010 I used in the OP is actually ASSEMbler's DTL-H pad. I screencapped his video talking about it since I couldn't find a better photo online.