Hands-On with the Xbox 360 Gamepad

Due to numerous sources of leaked information, chances are you've already seen what the Xbox 360 controller looks like. It resembles the standard Xbox Controller S, though it's predominantly white instead of black. We finally got our hands on the thing at the recent taping of the Xbox 360 premiere event, and we're here to give you all the details. In short, we really liked the feel of it: comfortable and familiar, but definitely new and improved.

The Xbox 360 controller is wireless, and that's probably the biggest difference between it and the existing controller. If you've ever used a Nintendo Wavebird, you know how convenient and surprisingly responsive a wireless gaming controller can be. The Xbox 360 controller should deliver that sort of an experience, though unlike the Wavebird, it won't sacrifice the built-in rumble feature for the sake of its wireless design. Microsoft has told us that the controller will have both high-speed and low-speed rumble features, but it's one thing we weren't able to get a feel for yet. We wonder if the rumble on the 360 will be toned down or otherwise altered from the rather harsh rumble implementation on the Xbox that we're familiar with.

Wireless won't be your only option, by the way, as you'll be able to plug your controller into your Xbox 360 via a USB cable, which will not only function as a standard wired connection, but also trickle-charge your controller's batteries. We understand that the controller can use two AA batteries or a rechargeable battery pack. The controller will reportedly give you an early heads-up about when your battery charge is running low, ensuring that you're never caught off guard in the heat of battle. The bottom of the controller also has an input jack that's compatible with any cell phone headset for voice communication. The old Xbox Live "puck" technology has been integrated into the controller itself, so you won't need to stick any big chunk of plastic into the top of the device. In fact, the top of the controller has no holes in it, unlike the Controller S. You'll be sticking your memory card directly into the Xbox 360, rather than into the controller (not that anyone uses Xbox memory cards anyway).

As suggested by early rumors, the white and black buttons on the now-familiar Xbox controller are gone and have been replaced with two additional shoulder buttons, making the overall design and form factor of the Xbox 360 controller quite similar to that of the PlayStation 2's Dual Shock 2 pad. The shoulder buttons aren't all identical, however. The Xbox-style analog triggers have been kept intact, but digital buttons have been added on top of them. So if a game requires you to use all four shoulder buttons, you'll be pumping the triggers with your middle fingers while hitting the buttons with your index fingers. The buttons are labeled LB, LT, RB, and RT for left button, left trigger, right button, and right trigger, respectively. The triggers feel as solid as they do on the Xbox. The buttons yielded a light, responsive click.

The directional pad on the controller felt good and pretty much similar to the Controller S. We could easily imagine pulling off dragon punches and other precise fighting game-style digital motions on that pad. The concave-topped analog sticks are positioned and have the same feel as the Controller S equivalents. Same goes for the translucent face buttons, labeled A, B, X, and Y, and arranged in a diamond shape. The "back" and "forward" buttons have been raised higher on the controller, and flank a new button shaped like the Xbox 360 logo--similar to the Xbox "X," but tilted slightly upward. This button lights up when in play, and in split-screen games, whichever quadrant of the screen you're playing on will also be designated accordingly on the circumference of the button. More importantly, this new button will reportedly give you direct access to your Xbox Live dashboard. No more having to jump through various menus to get to your friends list and all that sort of thing while in-game.

Microsoft's first-generation Xbox controller was a bulky thing that the company revised fairly early on, probably after receiving a lot of significant customer feedback about the shortcomings of the original design. The Controller S was the result. As such, the form factor of the Xbox 360 controller definitely takes an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach, though we're happy to have the additional shoulder buttons in exchange for the white and black buttons, which never felt quite right in most games. Meanwhile, the switch to a wireless design is a rather bold one. The controller looks and feels great, but the proof will be in practice, and we can't wait to try it for real.