Might’ve just been the glass slipper my hands needed then. Felt like a peak optimization of the sony layout, least in my mitts.
I know several folks who prefer the offset Xbox style, but I always appreciated the more symmetrical design of PlayStation. Thumbs were same height on controller for FPS or fighting genres, which I did a bunch of back then. Didn’t mind offset thumbs for other games like God of War. I think the designer in me also appreciated sony’s cleaner aesthetic as well.