Microsoft this week have released details about a new wireless Xbox controller that will be available soon. On the surface of it the changes all look superficial, and you would be forgiven for thinking that this was just a themed controller. The colour scheme even looks a little like the Halo Reach special edition set, but no, this is a whole new kettle of fish.
So as you can see the colour scheme has gone for a silver look, with even the A,B,X,Y buttons are losing there traditional colours and going for a translucent white, black and grey look. I really like the look of this, and for gamers that have been playing for a while who don’t even think about where the buttons are anymore, great. But for all the newbies out there, they might struggle a bit not having the colour prompting anymore.
But the changes are more than just skin deep with this new controller. For one the joysticks are now a little bit concave, which is supposed to make it a bit more comfortable. Although I think I would still stick with my Caps4stix. The piece de resistance though, is the newly engineered DPad. A lot of people have moaned that it didn’t quite do the trick in the past and so it has been redone. With a 90 degree turn it now raises the cross section up by a quarter of an inch, making it a lot easier to use.
So when can you get your grubby little paws on this new controller I hear you asking. Well if you are living in the States it should be available from Nov 9, but only as part of the Play and charge kit and selling for $64.99. If you’re stuck this side of the pond it will only hit our shelves next February, and the price, well we can only guess, £50, £60, £70. No, I’m not bitter about Microsofts’ pricing policy in this country.
I am wondering, however, if this going to replace the standard controller that you get with your Xbox. I’m not sure that I would fork out the dough for this controller. Especially if I knew I would get one next time I upgraded. If it does become the new standard controller, I feel sorry for all you guys who have already bought the new xbox.
As if it wasn’t enough that game developers want to start charging extra for 2nd hand games (see previous post), and the Kinect has come out considerably more expensive than originally promised (especially here in the UK.) It turns out that Microsoft are putting up the cost of Xbox Live subscription.
