People take issue with the controller thing because it is in the intersection of what common hackernews readers know/understand and related to this situation.

People take issue with the controller thing because it is in the intersection of what common hackernews readers know/understand and related to this situation. So the conclusion could be that if the controller is a bad / cheap, everything else is also similar, hence the reason for this situation. But from what I can tell, the pressure vessel + multiple levels of redundant safeties for surfacing all seem pretty well-done. The fact that the CEO and sub designer is down there tells me this wasn't some entirely sloppy cost-cutting solution they hobbled together. Also, one of the "passengers" they call "Mr Titanic" is also down there - so not a clueless person looking for an adrenaline rush as some other comment mentioned. These people understand the risks first-hand and have deemed it acceptable to go on it - game controller or not.