G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Yes. Your ergonomic description makes perfect sense, and I think I can separate two memories that have probably been fused together.

The first thing I can rule out is the F310 as the controller you owned in 2005–2010. The F310/F510/F710 generation appeared in 2010; Logitech announced them in October 2010. citeturn0search13 So unless the date range extends a little later than you remember, your older Logitech was almost certainly one of its predecessors.

The strongest candidate is the Logitech Dual Action, released in 2005, or possibly the closely related Cordless RumblePad 2. The Dual Action is explicitly identified as the predecessor to the F310. citeturn0search7

And here's the important part: the feature you're remembering really did exist on these Logitech controllers, although "buttons underneath" is slightly misleading geometrically.

image_group{"query":["Logitech Dual Action gamepad 2005 front shoulder buttons","Logitech Cordless RumblePad 2 gamepad rear shoulder buttons","Logitech RumblePad 2 controller side view"]}

The older Logitech design had four buttons along the leading/back edge rather than the modern arrangement of two shoulder bumpers plus two long analog triggers. Contemporary descriptions of the Cordless RumblePad 2 specifically say there were four controls on that edge, positioned "within easy reach of your index and middle fingers." citeturn0search12 A period-era control description for the Dual Action likewise identifies them as:

5 — left high
7 — left low
6 — right high
8 — right low citeturn0search5

That is extremely close to the physical sensation you're describing. Instead of:

index finger has to move between LB/LT while middle finger helps support the controller

you could hold the older Logitech with something more like:

index → upper rear button
middle → lower rear button
ring/pinky → grip

So you could have four independently available rear/shoulder inputs without taking your middle fingers completely out of the control scheme.

Where the F310 memory probably entered

The F310 looks enormously like an evolutionary descendant of that controller. Logitech even made DirectInput compatibility sufficiently close that the F310 can present itself essentially like the older Dual Action. citeturn0search4

But the F310 itself doesn't have extra paddle-style buttons underneath the grips. Logitech's own specs describe its shoulder controls and show that the only actual underside control is the little XInput/DirectInput selector switch. citeturn0search1turn0search50

So I think your memory is approximately:

Controller: Logitech Dual Action / RumblePad 2 family, circa 2005
↓
Later visual association: Logitech F310, which looks like its successor
↓
Remembered ergonomic feature: four rear-edge buttons accessible with index + middle fingers
↓
Modern vocabulary: "extra buttons underneath"

And that last translation is perfectly reasonable, because what you're describing functionally is very much the ancestor of what we'd now call back buttons/paddles—keeping extra inputs under the supporting fingers instead of forcing one index finger to commute between two shoulder controls.

If I had to put money on the exact controller from your description, I'd put the Logitech Dual Action first, with the RumblePad 2 second. The 2005 release date fits your ownership window almost perfectly. citeturn0search7 memcite

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Ah — yes. That correction changes the identification substantially. I was mentally translating what you described into modern "back-button/paddle" terminology, and that's not what you meant.

I went digging specifically for an older Logitech with ordinary digital pushbuttons positioned on the rear where the middle fingers naturally sit. I think I've found your controller:

Logitech WingMan Cordless RumblePad

image_group{"layout":"carousel","query":["Logitech WingMan Cordless RumblePad G-RA4A","Logitech WingMan Cordless RumblePad back L1 L2 R1 R2","Logitech WingMan Cordless RumblePad 2.4 GHz controller"]}

This is the older WingMan Cordless RumblePad, model G-RA4A, not the later RumblePad 2/Dual Action/F310 body style.

And there is unusually good period evidence that it had exactly the configuration you're describing.

A hardware compatibility catalog describes the G-RA4A WingMan Cordless RumblePad as having:

“dual shoulder buttons L1 L2 R1 R2”

and dates that design to about 2001. citeturn1search8

More importantly, I found people discussing the actual controller contemporaneously. In 2003, an owner described the Logitech WingMan Wireless as having “4 buttons on the back (R1, R2, L1, L2)”. Another owner in the same discussion describes it as having “four shoulder buttons” plus two triggers. citeturn0search5

Then there's a 2004 discussion where somebody recommends the Logitech Cordless RumblePad and describes it as having “6 buttons, 4 triggers, 2 coolie hats and one direction pad.” citeturn1search9

So this isn't us interpreting photographs after the fact. People who owned it at the time explicitly remembered four rear controls.

And I think I now understand the physical feature you're missing

You're not looking for:

LB / RB
LT / RT

where both controls are arranged around the index-finger territory at the upper edge of the controller.

And you're definitely not looking for modern Elite-style paddles.

You're talking about something more like:

index finger → upper rear button
middle finger → lower rear button
ring + pinky → continue gripping handle

with the lower control being an honest-to-God button that you depress, rather than a trigger you curl your finger around.

That old Logitech design really did exist.

In fact, I found a wonderfully relevant complaint from a later owner of the WingMan Cordless RumblePad: after using his for years, he complains that Logitech replaced it with a worse design and literally says:

“Please bring back this design Logitech”

while praising the number of independently mappable buttons. citeturn1search1

So you're apparently not the only person who noticed that Logitech threw away something useful.

One wrinkle: your memory of the appearance resembling the F310 may still be legitimate but attached to another Logitech you owned. The Dual Action was released in November 2005 and is explicitly the predecessor of the F310. citeturn0search2 The older WingMan Cordless RumblePad is visually much stranger—six face buttons, blue analog sticks, broad body, throttle slider, etc.

So my revised reconstruction is:

You probably owned at least two Logitech designs in this mental neighborhood. The Dual Action is the one that looks like the F310 and fits 2005 onward. The WingMan Cordless RumblePad is the one that likely supplied the “why the hell doesn't every controller have buttons where my middle fingers already are?” memory.

And your remembered ergonomic reason for liking it is completely consistent with how its controls were physically arranged. memcite

G: Yes — the distinction is clear now: six total non-face controls: the normal four shoulder controls plus two additional ordinary buttons on the rear/back, not paddles and not merely the lower pair of shoulder buttons. I’m searching specifically for that layout in Logitech models from roughly your ownership window, and I’ll keep the WingMan possibility separate rather than forcing it to fit.

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Yes — now I understand the geometry, and the Logitech models we were discussing do not have what you're describing.

You mean a controller with the standard LB/RB + LT/RT quartet, and then two additional discrete pushbuttons on the rear shell, roughly under the middle fingers. So six controls available around the rear/shoulder area altogether.

I checked the F310/F510/F710 and the Cordless RumblePad 2 specifically. Logitech documentation/input mappings account for the normal four shoulder controls but no additional pair of rear action buttons. The RumblePad 2 sometimes gets described as having “buttons 5–8 at back,” but those are simply its four shoulder buttons, which is exactly the ambiguity that sent me down the wrong path. citeturn141671search1turn141671search3turn311841search46

However, I found a controller from exactly the end of your time window that has precisely the feature you remember:

Mad Catz Modern Warfare 2 Combat Controller — 2009

image_group{"layout":"carousel","aspect_ratio":"1:1","image_refs":["turn738140image0","turn738140image1"]}

Look at that rear view. Those two little square buttons toward the center-left and center-right of the back are additional controls. Mad Catz called them “Combat Buttons.”

A 2009 description explicitly calls them dual back-mounted Combat buttons, and a contemporary user review says there are “two extra buttons … on the back of the controller” intended to be operated by the middle fingers. They could be remapped to other controller functions. citeturn738140image0turn738140search0

That is now the first controller I've found that matches your description literally rather than by tortured interpretation:

LB + RB
LT + RT
+ left rear button
+ right rear button

And they're buttons, not paddles.

There was also a successor Mad Catz Black Ops controller in 2010 using the same concept. GamesRadar describes its controls as “two inset, circular buttons on the back,” again remappable. citeturn738140search1

So there's an interesting possibility: your Logitech memory and your rear-button memory may still belong to two different controllers. You may very well have owned the Logitech Dual Action/RumblePad-type controller you remember visually, and encountered or owned one of these Mad Catz controllers around 2009–10.

The Mad Catz is especially worth comparing against your visual memory because the ergonomic idea is now unquestionably the right one. If it looks completely foreign to you, I'll keep digging backward through roughly 2005–2009 PC controllers from Logitech, Saitek, Thrustmaster, Mad Catz, etc., using six rear/shoulder controls as the hard criterion.

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Now we have a genuinely promising lead. Throwing away the Logitech assumption immediately turned up something much closer to the controller you are describing:

Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Analog 3

image_group{"layout":"carousel","query":["Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Analog 3 rear controller","Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Analog III back buttons","Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Analog 3 gamepad back"]}

Look particularly at the underside/rear photographs. Those large blue controls on the back of the grips are much more like what I now understand you to mean: substantial, regularly usable buttons sitting where the supporting fingers can operate them—not little auxiliary "oh shit" buttons.

And I found a fantastic piece of corroboration from someone discussing PC controllers in 2010–12. They specifically recommend the Thrustmaster Dual Analog 3 because:

“it has 2 buttons on the back down there u can use with your middle fingers”

They then explain exactly your ergonomic argument: you can hold one with the middle finger without taking that finger out of its normal position. Better still, they describe the controller as having “6!! digital! Buttons on the back, easy to reach/use”. citeturn0search11

That "six" is important because it finally removes our nomenclature problem. They're counting:

four conventional shoulder controls + two lower rear buttons = six.

That's the architecture you've been trying to describe.

The photograph also confirms why your reaction to the Mad Catz was "conceptually yes, physically no." The Mad Catz buttons really were designed as extra commands for the middle fingers, but they're relatively small auxiliary buttons. Contemporary material explicitly describes them as two unique rear buttons that could duplicate action-button/thumbstick commands. citeturn0search14turn0search0

The Thrustmaster's rear controls are big honking buttons integrated into the handgrips.

There is one especially interesting wrinkle: the Firestorm Dual Analog 3 was around during the period you're remembering. So we don't have to stretch your chronology into the later "pro controller" era.

And the rear photograph is almost comically specific:

image_group{"query":["Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Analog III underside blue buttons rear","Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Analog 3 bottom blue buttons"]}

Those two big blue areas toward the bottom aren't decorative grip inserts. Those are the extra buttons. The four blue controls at the upper rear are the conventional shoulder controls. That gives exactly the six-control arrangement we've now established as the search criterion.

So this is the first candidate where I'd actually ask whether the physical object triggers recognition, rather than merely saying it has the feature.

If this isn't it, we've nevertheless finally got a very useful search anchor: controllers comparable to the Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Analog 3, rather than searching for modern "rear paddles." I can work outward from that into Saitek, Gravis, Mad Catz, Genius, Logitech, etc., from roughly 2000–2010, because we're now looking for a fairly distinctive extinct controller design.

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Yes. And I think I see why the images felt inconsistent: the first image I surfaced was a bad visual representative of the family, while the rear-button arrangement is the genuinely diagnostic part.

Thrustmaster's own documentation confirms the FireStorm Dual Analog 3 (2960629), and a controller database independently specifies exactly what we care about: LB/RB + LT/RT + two digital back buttons (5 and 6). So we're definitely following the correct hardware architecture now. citeturn0search0turn0search1

Here's a cleaner image search concentrating on the less "Xtreme Gamer™" variants:

image_group{"layout":"carousel","query":["Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Analog 3 black silver 2960629","Thrustmaster Dual Analog 3 black controller 2960629","Thrustmaster Firestorm Dual Analog 3 rear 2960629"]}

That black-and-silver version interests me much more for your memory. It has the same basic chassis and those enormous rear buttons, but the overall impression is considerably more restrained: mostly black body, a relatively simple silver face insert, blue sticks/buttons. The surviving product listing for model 2960629 actually identifies its colors simply as black/silver. citeturn0image1

There's also evidence that this wasn't one isolated model. A 2004 owner says his FireStorm Dual Power 3 was essentially identical to the Dual Analog 3 except for having force-feedback motors. citeturn0search6 So we should probably be looking at the whole FireStorm/Dual Analog/Dual Power family, because you could easily recognize the back while a particular front photograph looks wrong.

And there's a nice period confirmation of the feel you're remembering. A later owner specifically praises those two lower buttons because they can be held with the middle fingers without moving them out of their normal position, and describes all six rear controls as easy to reach with a short, clicky travel. citeturn0search3 That's almost uncannily close to the ergonomic memory that started this search.

One other clue moves this earlier than I initially realized: I found a 2002 academic paper using a Thrustmaster Dual Analog 2, and the researchers explicitly say they assigned “two buttons at the back of the gamepad” to scrolling. citeturn0search45 So this design lineage existed well before your 2005–2010 window.

My working hypothesis now is that you had some member of the Thrustmaster FireStorm/Dual Analog family, but we haven't nailed the exact revision. I would not yet settle on Dual Analog 3 just because its backside rang the bell. The next useful search is to go through the Dual Analog 2, Dual Analog 3, Dual Power 3 and their cosmetically different revisions, looking for the restrained/sleeker front you remember while requiring those two large middle-finger buttons on the back.

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Yes. That control philosophy exists today, although annoyingly the industry mostly calls them back buttons or paddles even when they're really ordinary click-buttons built into the grips.

The closest current matches I found are these:

products{"selections":[["turn0product3","8BitDo Ultimate 2 Bluetooth"],["turn0product10","Razer Wolverine V3 Pro"],["turn0product8","GameSir G7 Pro"]]}

The one I'd look at first: 8BitDo Ultimate 2

The entity["turn0product3","8BitDo Ultimate 2 Bluetooth"] has two substantial rear controls positioned directly where your middle fingers naturally wrap around the grips. Despite 8BitDo calling them "Pro back paddle buttons," they're much closer to the old Thrustmaster concept than the word paddle suggests.

image_group{"query":["8BitDo Ultimate 2 controller back buttons rear view","8BitDo Ultimate 2 back underside middle finger buttons"]}

More interestingly, it actually goes beyond the old arrangement. It has:

LB/RB + LT/RT + two rear buttons + L4/R4 extra upper bumpers.

They're remappable through 8BitDo's software. citeturn0search0turn0search3

There are two particularly relevant versions:

• Ultimate 2 Bluetooth: Switch 1/2 + Windows. citeturn0search0
• Ultimate 2 Wireless: Windows + SteamOS + Android + current Apple OSes. citeturn0search3

So if PC is involved, this is probably where I'd start.

For Xbox: Razer has gone absolutely nuts with the idea

The entity["turn0product10","Razer Wolverine V3 Pro"] works with Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, and it has four actual mouse-click-style buttons built into the rear handles, plus two additional upper "claw grip" bumpers. Razer specifically describes the four rear controls as being built into the ergonomic handles. citeturn0search6turn0search11

image_group{"query":["Razer Wolverine V3 Pro rear back buttons underside","Razer Wolverine V3 Pro back four buttons hands"]}

That one may actually be the closest modern expression of the reason you liked the FireStorm, rather than merely copying its number of buttons. You can maintain:

index fingers → shoulder/trigger area
middle/ring fingers → rear buttons
remaining fingers → maintain the grip

without constantly making the index fingers commute between controls.

The downside is that it's an expensive ~$200 "pro" controller, because apparently putting buttons underneath fingers that already exist has become a premium gaming feature.

There's also a cheaper Xbox/PC possibility

The entity["turn0product8","GameSir G7 Pro"] is currently around $80 and supports Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC and Android. Current versions advertise four remappable additional controls. citeturn0product8turn0product12

Of the three, though, I'd want you to look carefully at the rear photographs before buying anything, because your criterion is more specific than "has rear buttons." You're looking for controls that can become part of the normal resting grip, with enough size and travel that the middle finger can routinely operate them.

And I think your ergonomic argument is sound. Modern controllers essentially standardized around index-finger workload: LB/LT and RB/RT. Even if you don't need additional inputs, moving two existing inputs down to the middle fingers gives you something valuable: four simultaneous independently controlled inputs without sacrificing the mechanical grip of the hand. The old Thrustmaster solution wasn't necessarily about more buttons so much as better distribution of work across the fingers.

So if you told me, "I don't care about having 18 inputs; give me the normal controller inputs but put two where my middle fingers naturally are," the 8BitDo Ultimate 2 is the first current controller I'd physically try, with the Wolverine V3 being the more extreme version if Xbox compatibility and price aren't problems.

G: [Non-text content: thoughts; content_type=thoughts]

G: [Non-text content: reasoning_recap; content_type=reasoning_recap]

G: Yes — and PlayStation actually gives you a few better choices than I implied before, including one that I think is particularly relevant to your preference for buttons rather than long paddles.

The official option is the urlSony DualSense Edgeturn0search3 for PS5 and PC. It has two rear inputs, but Sony gives you two interchangeable physical shapes for them: long levers or little half-dome buttons. Those half-domes are interesting for you because they're much closer to “put a button underneath my middle finger” than the usual paddle arrangement. Sony confirms that either pair can be mapped to any other button input. citeturn0search1turn0search2

product["turn0product2","PlayStation DualSense Edge Wireless Controller",{"render_as":"hero"}]

image_group{"query":["DualSense Edge half dome back buttons rear view","DualSense Edge controller back half dome buttons installed"]}

But there's another one I'd especially put on your brick-and-mortar fondling list: the urlNacon Revolution 5 Proturn0search9. It's officially licensed and works on PS5, PS4 and PC, and it has four rear shortcut buttons, not two. Nacon explicitly allows all four to be mapped. citeturn0search9

product["turn0product6","Nacon Revolution 5 Pro Wireless Controller",{"render_as":"block"}]

image_group{"query":["Nacon Revolution 5 Pro back rear buttons","Nacon Revolution 5 Pro underside four rear buttons hand"]}

That one may be closer to the old Thrustmaster philosophy. The controls are integrated into the rear body rather than simply being two giant appendages hanging off it. And having four gives you some latitude to discover which ones actually fall naturally beneath your fingers rather than accepting somebody else's definition of ergonomic.

There's also the Victrix Pro BFG, compatible with PS5, PS4 and PC, with four mappable back buttons. citeturn0product1

product["turn0product1","PDP Victrix Pro BFG Wireless Controller",{"render_as":"block"}]

And the Razer Wolverine V2 Pro supports PS5 and PC and has six additional remappable controls in total. citeturn0product5

product["turn0product5","Razer Wolverine V2 Pro Wireless Gaming Controller",{"render_as":"block"}]

For your particular criterion, though, I wouldn't rank these by specs. I'd physically try them in approximately this order:

1. Nacon Revolution 5 Pro — most promising if what you want is rear controls as part of the normal grip.
2. DualSense Edge with the half-domes installed — only two rear controls, but potentially the closest to your “ordinary button under the middle finger” idea.
3. Victrix Pro BFG — four rear inputs and worth seeing how naturally they fall under your fingers.
4. Wolverine V2 Pro — lots of inputs, but I'd be more suspicious that you're buying “pro-gamer extra buttons” rather than the specific ergonomic solution you're after.

And I think trying them in person is particularly important in your case. We're not really shopping for “a PS5 controller with rear buttons.” We're shopping for a controller that lets you squeeze the grips normally while independently operating four controls with index + middle fingers. A spec sheet can't tell us whether a particular rear button sits under your resting middle finger or requires you to loosen your grip and hunt for it—which would defeat the entire damned point.