Playing game demos at E3 is great, but let’s face it – you usually get to play through the exact same sequence that you’ve just watched at an E3 press conference. With that in mind, I made a beeline to the tech demo section of Microsoft’s Best of Xbox Showcase last night to delve deeper into the Xbox One’s controller.
I desperately wanted to check out the Xbox One controller as the Xbox 360 one is my favourite controller of all time, hands down. While sharing the same relative form factor, I wasn’t about to accept the new Xbox One controller until I held it in my hands and actually tried it out.
Now that I have, let me tell you that it’s great.
If you’ve a cabled USB Xbox 360 controller, you’ve almost got an Xbox One controller. Lighter than the normal 360 equivalent because it’s shed the weight of its battery pack, the Xbox One controller basically feels the same as its predecessor. The controller’s sticks have been made slightly smaller, but I wouldn’t have noticed if it wasn’t pointed out to me.
The tech demos involving the Xbox One controller were all focused around feedback, essentially. With new rumble motors sitting underneath the controller’s triggers – which were fluid and a treat to use, by the way – a four-motor rumble system (don’t forget about the controller’s traditional rumble motors sitting on each handhold) was a delight to experience.
I know what you’re thinking. It does sound kind of dumb, but the extra motors in the Xbox One controller can be used to produce amazing results. The tech demos all had the rumble motors simulating different events – a heartbeat, a gatling gun being fired, a car’s motor starting, and so on. Each simulation felt unique, but more importantly, spot on. It’s hard to describe just how it worked, but you could literally feel the Xbox One’s heartbeat ripple across its face using a combination of those four rumble motors. A different firing sequence simulated the vibrations felt when you start a car… and then those that you’d feel as the car gained speed.
The best of the rumble motor tech demos simulated the vibrations of a helicopter in flight… and let me tell you, if DICE doesn’t ask the Microsoft techs for that rumble sequence and put it into Battlefield 4, I’ll be disappointed. Truly, this little addition to the controller really could add a whole new dimension to game play.
It’s not all perfect, of course. The controller’s left and right bumpers feel… off. It’s hard to put my finger on why, but the bumpers just don’t have the same type of tactile feedback that the 360 ones did. They are the only part of the controller that also give off a third-party controller vibe, as if they were made of a slightly cheaper plastic or something. Near the same vein, the controller’s d-pad feels like it will be more responsive, though I’ll wait to make a verdict on that when I get to play a bit of Killer Instinct. I think I would have liked to have seen the click-on, click-off d-pad of the special edition 360 controller released about a year back incorporated into this new controller.
Microsoft may not have gotten everything about the Xbox One right, but they’ve sure nailed the controller. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, eh?
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