Houston (TheNextXbox) – The controller that is used and ships with a gaming console can make or break the console’s success. We have seen this in the past, with the Nintendo Wii creating a whole gaming niche for itself with a brand new controller. So how much should Microsoft change the next-generation Xbox controller, from what we have with the Xbox 360?
When the original Xbox released, the controller that shipped with the console was laughed at by many in the gaming industry. The controller was extremely large, far too big for someone of younger age or with smaller hands to hold comfortably.
This plagued the system from launch day, and was a hinderance until Microsoft finally swapped out the large, clunky controller with the Xbox S Type controller. This was an admission on the part of Microosft that their original controller was inadequate.
Then came the Xbox 360, which provided us with a tweaked version of the S Type controller, moving the start and select buttons to the middle, and adding the Xbox Home button, among other additions.
Now, with the next-generation Xbox getting ready to be unveiled, the questions are now popping up in terms of how much Microsoft should even bother tweaking the new controller for the console.
We have seen Sony stick with similar types of controllers for multiple generations of consoles, the Dual Shock has been around since the original Sony PlayStation.
With the next-generation Xbox though, Microsoft is surely going to tweak the next Xbox controller, but by how much?
One idea that is being actively thrown around is replacing the Xbox Home button with a touch-screen. This touch-screen could service as the same function as the home button, but could also do more. The touch-screen could display messages received from friends, game invitations, your friends list, and so on.
Although we do not believe that the touch-screen would really add any value to games, it would remove the Xbox Live pop-ups from your gaming screen, and put them down on your controller.
The other addition that could be likely here is the addition of a built-in microphone into the controller. This would take basically the Siri-like functions from the Kinect and put them into the controller. The idea being that you could input Xbox Live chat text with your voice, control your console, and so on. This could even expand to in-game chat, starting to do away with headsets.
Only time will tell what Microsoft does with the next-generation Xbox controller, do they keep it he same, tweak it, and so on?
What do you think gamers, how much, if any should Microsoft tweak the new pad?
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