That's right, he didn't nerf the maneuverability or speed of them.

He nerfed how hard you need to press L1/L2.

Do you understand what pressure sensitivity means? It applies more or less thrust depending on how hard the button is pressed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DualShock#DualShock_3

It's L2 and R2 that aren't pressure sensitive. I thought those ones were. Still, L1 and R1 definitely are.

Good ******* god, must I copy-paste the text from the article?

Fine.

Dualshock 3 controller, under Input
6+ù Pressure-sensitive buttons
(Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square, L1, R1)

DS4 controllers apparently do not have this feature, or so I am told.

I remember upgrading for ape escape.

Oh man, I hated those because I never got used to the lack of thumbsticks. I got my PS1 when they started being packaged with the Dualshock and Resident Evil: Director's Cut had just come out (my mother wanted to play it). The rumble combined with that multi-dog attack jumpscare was terrifying back then. To be fair, I was also 6 or 7 at the time.

Getting back on track, if you ever played MGS3 HD, in first persion view you can aim the full-auto rifles without firing by lightly holding R1 and firmly pressing to fire. If you're aiming a pistol, it works differently, and if you have held down R1 to prepare to fire but can't make the shot, you can slowly back off of R1 to lower your gun. L1 and R1 are most definitely sensitive to pressure differentials in the Dualshock 3.

I'm even double checking it in a Skirmish right now in a Gorgon. It is most definitely true.

The point I was trying to make is that pilots complaining about sluggishness are those used to the old controls of full thrust all the time, and to be fair this was an undocumented change and many may not have even noticed.