Not like that. It always bugs me when people say their thumbs constantly knock into each other when using the analog sticks. Whenever they demonstrate it, it looks ridiculous and unbelievable that people hold the controller like that.

@liquidprince: my thumbs don't constantly knock into each other but they'll do it occasionally.

I alternate between clawing it like that and holding it with my index fingers on R2/L2 and it feels completely comfortable to me.

The right way, because I am not an imbecile.

Holy crap! No wonder some people say that the PS3 controller is uncomfortable; they're doing it wrong!

I have no problems handling both. My only gripe with the 360 controller is the D-pad and the dualshock is the shitty L2 and R2 "slip factor 10" triggers.

I always did it the right way.

That thing still sucked so much...

I guess I use the "claw"? I dunno, why use two fingers for four buttons when I can use four fingers for four buttons just as comfortably? The "right" way seems pretty fucking dumb to me. My hands aren't so feeble that I need the extra finger to support the weight of the DS3. There's absolutely no advantage to opting in to less precision. Have you ever played Armored Core?

@starvinggamer: The back of the controller is clearly designed to rest on your middle fingers. Besides, I have almost never come across a situation while playing a game where I needed such immediate access to all 4 triggers that the fraction of a second it takes to move from one to another would ever make a difference. Heavy Rain is possibly the only exception that comes to mind, given how those quick time events occasionally forced you to hold several buttons at once.

If you find it comfortable then cool, but it seems incredibly uncomfortable to me.

I alternate between the two because each position makes different parts of my hands hurt. I have never come across a more uncomfortable first party controller than the DS3 and I am so looking forward to the redesign.

I don't know about clearly, since my ring fingers fit neatly and comfortably into the grooves behind the L2/R2 buttons, and when I try to put my middle fingers there instead my pinky fingers end up half dangling off the end of the handles unless I curl them up reaaaaaal tight.

Also, Armored Core 1-3.

@starvinggamer: For me it depends on which triggers I'm using. If it's the back triggers they rest on the backside of the controller, if it's the front triggers then it's under the edge of the back triggers. But I never use my middle finger instead of my index finger to actually push the button.

I've never played Armored Core, but there are always exceptions.

People who put their middle finger on the triggers deserve feeling uncomfortable. You're supposed to go back and forth with the triggers and L1/R1 with your index fingers. It's like driving; no one uses both of their feet, because it's IDIOTIC

Always held it the right way, always preferred the Dualshock to all other controllers.

With my index fingers resting between the two shoulder buttons.

Some people also choke up on the handles so much that their palms make full contact with the controller, so even without using the claw they still manage to bump their thumbs together.

I think they need fine motor skills therapy or something.

The right way.

With my hands.

Sometimes with my feet if I'm feeling lazy.

Like a Boss!

Why would anyone hold it like that?

I hold it taking in mind the way thumbs are constructed, ie I hold it correctly and have fine control despite the sticks, unlike like an imbecile holding it with the first segment of the thumb much like a complaining very small child trying to put the wrong shape block through the wrong shape hole.

Unless I'm playing Demon Souls, Dark Souls, Dark Souls 2 or any other game where I use every single button actively together with the right stick camera a lot because then it's claw-hand time for righty with middle and ring finger on R1 and R2. Never ever does anything feel hurty.

Magic.

The claw. Aka *The Four Finger Stance*. Superior reaction times. For advanced super-dextrous players.

And you're getting it wrong. Yes, it's uncomfortable at first, but once your muscle memory and muscles themselves have adapted to *The Claw*, it's the superior way to hold any gamepad. Not only does it offer superior reaction times, complaints about things like the triggers evaporate as well. I've also noticed some physiological changes in my body, like a thickening of my middle fingers due to building up muscles, especially on the right middle finger due to playing racing games.

As far as I'm concerned, if you are not using *The Claw*, you are one of the uninitiated - an unwashed and uneducated plebian of a videogame player - so repentent, heathen!

Actually a lot of people do? It's used tons in racing, and sometimes recommended for people driving automatics.