Let’s go today to discover the new Xbox controller that wants to revolutionize the way we play without breaking our habits. It is Joline Tang who shares with us the behind the scenes of this work of goldsmith that reminds us of what we have already discovered about the creation of the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S.

The Xbox controller has evolved a lot over the past 19 years since it has had at least 7 official versions between the Duke in 2001 and the controller that will be released at the same time as the Xbox Series X | Xbox Series X|S.

If the first Xbox controller remains for many a monster far from being manageable for players without large hands (not to mention the location of the buttons, which makes us think of the eccentric ideas of Nintendo), it had to Now and already adopted the asymmetric sticks (ergonomics> habits).

There were then several improvements such as the “hollow” sticks of the Xbox Series X|S pad, the democratization of wireless controllers with the Xbox 360, but also the “home” button, the addition of vibration motors in the triggers with the Xbox One or the official “pro” controllers with additional triggers, interchangeable buttons / sticks and finally game profiles / keys incorporated into the controller with the Elite versions.

If certain choices are still debated, such as not having integrated a non-removable rechargeable battery as is the case with other manufacturers and favoring removable batteries and batteries, the evolution of Xbox controllers responds for the moment perfectly to demand from players.

We will not forget the appearance of the Xbox Design Lab in 2016, allowing us to order on the Internet a completely personalized version of the official controller, or the many “limited” versions of the Xbox One controller with different variations (a textured effect for the palm of the hand for the Halo version, different triggers and grip for the Forza version).

Obviously, the copy had to be reviewed for the release of the Xbox Series X | Xbox Series X|S and the design team explains their approach to this complex subject. How to improve a controller, without it being too obvious not to disturb the habits of the players.

They opted for several modifications, and the first is the D-Pad. It is directly inspired by the modifications found with the two iterations of the Xbox Elite controller. It allows you to have the four classic directions, but also the diagonals, while offering a pleasant location for the thumb.

Then the idea was to make the controller “nice” for people with smaller hands. For this it was not possible to reduce the size of the whole controller since this would cause a dimension problem for the majority of players.

To achieve this objective, it was necessary to rework the triggers and the bumpers. At the same time, the addition of textured “points” to give the fingers a new sensation on the triggers / bumpers allows the hand to rest more easily by adding a sensory cue for the hands.

Finally, a single new button has been added to the controller, it is the Share option. Its operation is intended to be as unintrusive as possible on the gaming experience. Just press once to take a screenshot, and leave it pressed to take a video capture.

This development goes further than a controller for a new console since this new controller will be compatible with PC, smartphone and Xbox One. This compatibility is a two-way street since the previous controllers (Xbox One compatible) will also be compatible with the Xbox Series X | Xbox Series X|S.

The controller weighs the same weight as the previous version to again keep playing habits and it retains the color codes on the buttons for accessibility reasons but also for the practical side in games.

Xbox is putting the small dishes in the big by launching this controller in 3 different colors as of the release of the Xbox Series X | Xbox Series X|S on November 10, 2020 (Robot White, Carbon Black and Shock Blue). This is also a first, players usually do not have the choice for the color of their controller when launching a console.

Another unchanged feature, its price, which will be 59.99 €, like its big sister.