I've been looking for a new Dual Shock to replace my PS2 controller (which got messed up because of my room mate's misunderstanding of my "yeah you can borrow it" policy not extending to him letting other people borrow it without me knowing and not giving it back for a week), and first party controllers are, obviously, expensive. And most third-party ones suck - though not all.
I used to have a third-party controller for the PS1 that was amazing. It had rubber grips on the bottom, a turbo button, and everything just felt good when you played with it. Unfortunately I let someone borrow it that never got it back to me. I need to stop being so liberal with my lending.
However this past summer when Allie's dog chewed up her Sony-brand dual shock and we got a third-party replacement to save a few bucks, it was bad. Buttons stuck, the cord was short, definitely not worth what little we saved on it.
So what's your experience with third-party peripherals? Is it a recent trend that everything third party sucks so hard? And, also, do you have any suggestions for a cheap-but-good third party Dual Shock 2 controller?