I once had the opportunity to overhear an peripheral maker chuckling about his belief that if you could convince a gamer that a controller would make them 10% better at Street Fighter, you’d have a sale. The memory came back to me while reading the press release for Microsoft’s newly revealed 360 controller yesterday, launching this November for a retail price of $64.99 USD / $69.99 CDN.
I suppose it was because this new controller’s transforming d-pad is said to offer the “ultimate accuracy and control for both directional as well as sweeping movements,” making it the likely desire of more hardened gamers – myself admittedly included. It also features concave analog sticks, matte silver/gray buttons, and packs-in a play & charge kit, because apparently gamers concerned with the highest level of control must be new to gaming and unquestionably require one.
I really have to give a nod to the way the entire spiel presents an evolution on the existing 360 controller, one which moves gamers into a more tactile and precise future, and not just some sort of overdue address to the shoddy d-pad gamers have been forced to endure since the launch of the 360 – including people buying new 360’s at this very moment.
Obviously if a company were just addressing a problem, some more affordable option for their customers might be in order, so thank goodness that isn’t the case here.
