Earlier this week, Microsoft announced their newest elite controller! By all reports, it’s a beautiful piece of hardware. It’s performance-class—meaning that it was made by theater majors—and it meets all the needs of competitive gamers everywhere.
Specifically, it fulfills their need to pay lots of money for something they already have. The hefty $1.5o price tag has some gamers gasping in fear. Who can afford such an expensive peripheral?
Microsoft’s answer? Who can afford not to own this amazing piece of technology? It was designed with the help of actual videogame players—all of them eight years old or younger. The kids wanted extra-pushy buttons and retractable controls sticks. It was super cool. The kids had so much fun pushing and pulling the control sticks that they forgot to actually play games with the controller.
Just don’t pull out the control stick too far, or it will fall off. This thing costs a buck fifty, after all.
The triggers are now hair triggers, which sounds like a great idea, unless you own a pet that sheds a lot. I can’t tell you how many gaming sessions have been destroyed by Fluffy’s hair hitting the buttons.
The controller has reprogrammable buttons, so you can play hilarious pranks on your friends. Button speed can be adjusted, which sounds like a nice feature, but I have no idea what it means. There are four slots for interchangeable paddles, which is great if you’re playing ping pong.
Overall, the $1.50 controller is a bold move by Microsoft! But does it cost too much? Maybe gamers will flock to Sony and its $1.00 controller instead! Only time will tell.
As of my writing this, Microsoft has announced it has sold over three copies. They expect to sell five by the end of the year.
