Sure, it cuts down on clutter, but that’s going to be a moot point when you have to throw your busted controller away.

Back when video games were still primarily a for-kids hobby, many of them had no qualms about leaving their controllers right in the middle of the floor until their exasperated parents told them to put them away if they weren’t using them. As gaming has become a form of mainstream entertainment for adults, though, an increasing number of gamers want to keep their setup tidy, and Japanese gaming peripheral maker Columbus Circle thinks it has just the thing.

Compatible with PlayStation 5, 4, and 3 controllers, Columbus Circle calls it the Hanger Rack. It’s designed to attach to the underside of your living room table, allowing you to utilize otherwise unused space in your home to store your DualSense/DualShock between gaming sessions.

Sounds like a pretty clever idea, huh? But before you go rushing out to buy one, you might want to take a look at a few photos.

As shown in the pictures, the Hanger Rack has a vaguely T shape, so that the controller hangs at two of its points. The problem, though, is that those points are the analog sticks, the most finicky and fragile bits on modern controllers. With analog stick drift being the number-one hardware fear among gamers these days, it’s baffling that Columbus Circle would go with a design that looks like it’ll be putting a constant pull on the sticks equal to the weight of the controller, which in the case of the PS5 DualSense, with all its motors, speakers, and other fancy bits, is 280 grams (nearly 10 ounces). Modern controllers aren’t cheap to replace, either. In Japan, a DualSense will run you around 7,500 yen (US$65), and DualShock 4 6,500, and the DualShock 3 has been out of production for a long time.

It really is hard to imagine why they didn’t just design a hook that would cradle the controller from below, or at least hold it by its hard plastic, non-moving sides. The overall response from Twitter users in Japan has been furious head scratching, with comments such as:

“Are they insane?”
“They’re hanging the controller from its weakest points.”
“The core idea is nice, but I think the execution is just going to break controllers.”
“No gamer would want to store their controller like this.”
“And when you take it out, you’d have to be extra careful not to get the sticks twisted or tweaked as they’re coming out of the slots.”

Oh, and if you’re wondering how the Hanger Rack, which is scheduled to go on sale in April, attaches to the underside of the table, apparently you’re supposed to both insert screws into the table and apply adhesive tape. Between that and the suggested price of 638 yen, it really does seem like there are probably easier and cheaper ways to break your controller.

Source: Game Watch via Hachima Kiko, Twitter
Top image ©SoraNews24
● Want to hear about SoraNews24’s latest articles as soon as they’re published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!