Victory!
After going to two video game stores, inquiring, being told they didn't have it, returning home despondant, nearly ordering it on Amazon, finding out that they had one in an Electronics Boutique on the Upper East Side, calling that store to ask them to hold it, taking the subway downtown, crosstown, and uptown, running through the rain to the store, then making my way downtown, crosstown, and uptown back to my apartment, I am now in possession of likely the dorkiest purchase I have ever made, let alone devoted 4 hours of my life to obtaining. Behold!
Here's a closer look at my glorious acquisition:
It's a Playstation 2 controller! Shaped like a Slime! From Dragon Warrior!
I guess that's about it.
But what does it do? Where are the buttons?
How does it work, I mean?
It's a regular, fully-functioning PS2 controller, not some specialty controller like the Dragon Quest sword-waving game thing. The buttons are all on the bottom of the slime, so you hold it upside-down facing toward you. It's not as comfortable as a regular Playstation controller, but neither is it as uncomfortable as it seems like it should be. You get used to it pretty quickly. Also, it's a fully-functioning PS2 controller; all the buttons are analog, twin analog sticks with L3 and R3 buttons, all four shoulder buttons, and rumble feature. Still, it seems well-suited to Role Playing Games and others where precision and speed are not an issue.