So, after months of ignoring Wipeout HD, I decided to get back into it again. Cue wailing and gnashing of teeth as I tried in vain to side-shift with the PS3's triggers. As I was about to give up on the game for good, I decided to re-map them to the shoulder buttons; I had done so in the past, but I had never been able to get comfortable with the new layout. This time, however, after several races, it felt natural again and gave me the ability to play Wipeout HD correctly for the first time since I'd gotten it way back in 2008. Now, I've been playing it almost non-stop, and I'll probably start playing online in the near future.
Now that I've been able to play it well, I can see that it easily shames the other games in the series for depth, challenge, and content (although those games have their own advantages over Wipeout HD), and I think that it even manages to edge out F-ZERO GX as the best hovercraft racing game ever. It's one of the best racing games in any style in its own right.
Just thought that I'd post this here. See you online!