The Unexamined Life...: Weekend Project: Get more out of your ps3 controller

I recently had a craving to play some older gamecube and ps2 games but didn't have either console. Unfazed, I found a good emulator online for my computer but needed a way to control the games because playing pikmin with a keyboard sucks. With a few drivers and a great open source program called motioninjoy you can use your ps3 controller to play all your favorite games and even control your computer!

Step 1:
Connect your controller to your pc via the usb charge cable. It should say installing driver software in the taskbar and the screen should look something like this

Step 2: Installing Additional Drivers and the program

For the controller to be properly recognized with the program we are going to use there is one additional driver that needs to be installed. This is just a zip file with an .exe in it that will install the additional drivers for you.

The 32 bit version can be found here

The 64 bit version can be found here

If you aren't sure which version you need, go to Start > Control Panel > System then look for the "System Type"

Step 3: The Program

There will now be a program called DS3 tool in your start menu.

Once this is opened there will be a tab on the top of the page called driver manager. Click this and you will be taken to a page with a list of tech jargon and a check box looking something like this

Click that check box and click the load driver button. When you return to the profiles tab, your controller should appear connected! The best profile to load is the third option (PS2 w/ POV, joystick, and analog trigger) as this gives you access to both sticks, the d pad, all the buttons, and the triggers. The only thing the ps3 mode has is a beta version of the sixaxis motion control but i didn't really see the point in that.

Step 4: Test Run!

If you select the Game Controller Panel button underneath the two motor sliders on the Profiles page, you can double click on the controller that appears and this menu should pop up. Now if you press a button on the controller a corresponding light should light up. The cross in the middle should move with the joystick as well. Once everything is working its as easy as accessing your favorite emulator, configuring what you want each button to do and going to town :)