What is the best PlayStation controller for RetroPie?

[techlibrarian]

I’ve been reading up and I’m leaning toward a PlayStation controller of some iteration. Regardless of which controller I got, I would probably start out using it (and may only ever use it) wired.

Having never owned any of the PlayStation consoles myself, does anyone have any advice or suggestions for me?

[techlibrarian]

SHORT VERSION: What is the easiest controller to set up and make work with the RPi B+?

LONG VERSION:

I’m planning on finding two controllers of the same type on Ebay once I decide.

I’ve read some places that say that the analog sticks lasted longer on Dualshock 1 controllers (and I have a definite fear of analog sticks dying ever since terrible experiences with N64 controllers).

But Dualshock 2 is supposed to have better R2 and L2 buttons (not sure if I care).

With the DS1 or 2, I would use something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Dual-Controller-Adapter-Converter-Playstation-2/dp/B001AATQ0Y/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
But I’m concerned with potential setup problems.

Dualshock 3 is tempting, but I don’t know if I want to spend that much. I would go through USB at first, but would kind of like the option to upgrade to Bluetooth eventually. If this controller is a lot better than the others though (wireless aside) I would strongly consider it.

Any opinions out there?

[techlibrarian]

I ended up choosing to go with 2 official X-Box 360 controllers. Walmart had the official chrome controllers on sale for $35 (and it looks like it’s not hard to find these for around this price, new). It has the “transforming d-pad” and I think the d-pad feels great so far.
I bought the “official” wireless adapter on Amazon for $17 (actually looks like the official MS Chinese product, but still official and works great so far).
It was very easy to set up following the instructions found on this site and the latest versions of everything installed from source.
I would heartily recommend the X-Box 360 controllers (with the transforming d-pad) to anyone trying to decide on a controller.

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