This holiday season Sony released the long awaited keypad attachment for the PS3 controller.  I’ve needed a keyboard for my PS3 in the worst way. I’ve been using the controller for two years now, including the time I was without a PC for a month. Oh! The humanity! If there is a hell, all communication is done with the PS3 controller and the PS3 chat system. However buried under the Reese Trees in my stocking there was the Sony Keypad. Release has finally come! Or has it?

The PS3 Keypad is clips to the top of your playstation controller, over the start and select buttons. A mechanical system allows those buttons to still be used. It also clips over the USB port but does not obstruct or use it.  The fit is pretty snug and there is nary a cheap rattle or squeak to be heard.  The key pad itself comes with it’s own USB port for charging and has a stand by mode to extend battery life. They keys are decently spaced out in a standard qwerty keyboard, and it has a few extra buttons. It has shoulder buttons just like a controller along with  three buttons above start and select. One of the buttons will take you directly to your friends list, another will take you directly to your mailbox and the third turns the entire keypad into a touch interface similar to a laptops touch pad. Many don’t see a point to this feature. Who’s to blame them at face value it is little more than a novelty. However I can see use for this idea with a hand held system.

You see touch screens are all fine and good because they make it easier to interact with a graphic user interface. However the down fall of touch screens is that your fingers are now taking up real estate on your screen. It is like constantly having to sit behind the tall guy at a theater. Keypads are great for texting, emailing, etc, but make web page navigation and GUI interface a hassle. This touch surface keypad makes up for the short comings of the keypads while also avoiding the issues associated with touch screens. So while you might not see a lot of use for this particular keypad, I could see it being of great consequence should it be on a keyboard hidden under a slide up screen on the PSP2. If there is one thing that Sony could do to make it more intuitive is to change the controls so that as you “touch pad” your way over a link on the last key used to move the cursor a full button press would click the link.  Using the Enter button or the controller has your hands dancing all over the place.

The keypad isn’t without fault despite it’s solid construction. It will set you back $50 which makes it like most Sony products, expensive. At the very least they could have included a USB cable or knocked $10 off the price.  You can get a standard USB keyboard and mouse for less. You can even get a full sized bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo for a few dollars more. Another issue is the location of the keypad. It sits on top of the control, totally out of the way, but absolutely hideous. For once I wish Sony would have copied Microsoft and put it between the controllers handles so it would be easier to get to and be a little more pleasing to the eye.

All in all it is a good piece of hardware, just pricey. If the price doesn’t bother you or you manage to find a deal I suggest you pick one up. Otherwise get a standard keyboard or wait for the coming Remote/keypad combination.