Every day that passes brings us closer to getting our hands on the Xbox One (it’s coming sometime in November). So if we look at our calendar we are about two and a half months away from getting it. That’s awesome and we can’t wait. In the meantime, we’ll have to satiate our need for new hardware in videos like this from Larry Hryb at Microsoft.
Ever wondered what the inside of the new controller look like? Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson from Xbox Live, discussed the Xbox One controller with Zulfi Alam. Zulfi is the general manager of the Xbox’s accessory business and had a lot to share about the upcoming controller. Some of the stuff we’ve heard in snippets at past events like the Xbox One unveil in May or during the press event at E3. But it’s great to have it all in one video.
Last week we shared with you guys and gals an unboxing of the Xbox One that briefly highlighted each accessory you’ll get. This new video goes into greater detail on the controller. Watch the video below.
Pretty neat right? It’s interesting that the Xbox One controller has around 40 different improvements over the Xbox 360 one – which many in the gaming community already considered perfect. How did Microsoft improve it? Small things all adding together to make a big difference.
On the current Xbox 360 controller you have the battery pack extruding from the back and small screws exposed. The new Xbox One controller integrates the battery pack and has an overall screwless design. Both of those improvements add up to make a controller that is more comfortable when gaming for long durations. To get to the final Xbox One controller the team built and tested hundreds of devices and went through hundreds of user studies. The data obtained from extensive testing allowed them to improve upon the already solid foundation built by the Xbox 360 controller.
Most people who used the Xbox 360 controller could agree the D-pad was the one weakness. Thankfully Microsoft improved on this part of the controller a lot for the Xbox One. On the Xbox One controller the D-pad will sit slightly higher, use a Kings cross design, and physically sits closer to the motherboard. All this adds up to result in reduced travel time when using it making your actions register faster.
The team also improved the triggers in the new controller by adding rumble feedback. Your current controllers on the Xbox 360 already vibrate during certain moments in video games, but now Microsoft has made it so that it changes the way you perceive gaming. Those rumble packs have been shrunk and added into the triggers. Now it’s up to game developers to get creative and add them into games. One example presented by Microsoft involved gameplay during a shooter. When you shoot a sniper rifle you might get a small, quick haptic feedback in the triggers. However, use something like a rocket launcher and the triggers might shake a little more violently and last longer.
Other things added to the Xbox One controller includes micro USB, a redefined wireless protocol, infrared LEDs, and more. You’ll definitely want to watch the video to learn about it.
Source: YouTube
