Support NeoGAF

[Zacfoldor]

The Xbox controller is basic but also nobody cares. This is one of the few Xbox disadvantages that will never change a mind. Believe me. Even if people care, it isn't enough to change anything. When Xbox is fucking up the big things, the small things cease to matter.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Asymmetrical sticks make more sense considering the D-Pad was surpassed by the left stick for most games back in the early 2000s. Why persist with the 1990s control layout?

For most modern games this makes far more sense…

 

[RetroGamingUK]

The Xbox controller is basic but also nobody cares. This is one of the few Xbox disadvantages that will never change a mind.

It's clearly stuck in 2005

- no motion control
- no touch control
- no USB charging

But what do you expect from a company that doesn't have an innovative bone in its body

 

[justiceiro]

Meanwhile the dualsense is sexy AF,

I buy controller to play games, not to bang them.

 

[Doctor Hades]

Seriously? Asymmetrical joysticks (last time I check my hands were symmetrical), "X Y A B" (what is this, a math test?), buttons feel terrible to press, cheap plastic feeling, AA batteries (lol), no haptics.

Meanwhile the dualsense is sexy AF, with proper ergonomics, next gen haptics, premium feeling, rechargeable, memorable and intuitive symbols for prompts. It's the only controller that checks all the boxes.

DualSense is a great controller except for the appalling battery life which is around 5 to 7 hours tops for me. The DualSense Edge is even worse despite the controller itself being excellent, if a tad overpriced in my opinion, and lasts around 3-5 hours. Sure, you can recharge these easily enough but every time you do the battery degrades slightly and you cannot easily swap them for a new one without taking the controller apart.

The Xbox controller, while being boringly bog standard for a controller these days, at least has superb battery life of at least 15-20 hours in my experience, possibly longer, plus the batteries can be swapped for a standard batteries, rechargeable batteries or even a rechargeable battery.

The battery life of PlayStation controllers since the PS4 is by far the weakest thing about them.

 

[Bojji]

It's clearly stuck in 2005

- no motion control
- no touch control
- no USB charging

But what do you expect from a company that doesn't have an innovative bone in its body

Those are gimmicks used maybe in ~10% of games.

Advanced vibrations are much better thing (still underused).

No AA batteries means your DS battery will die at some point. Battery life is also shit.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Boy....

Read that title.

Read it.

Now what in the FUCK do people do with Xbox controllers?

If we were friends in middle school, I'd be bringing over my OWN rumble pak for the N64 on weekends.

I don't trust your equipment.

 

[Kvally]

the Elite 2 that I paid good money for was crap

My Elite 2 keeps getting disconnected now, and the left bumper button has stopped working. I never had issues with Elites before until now. I went to Design Labs 3 weeks ago to order a custom elite controller, and the site is down for "upgrading to a new payment system". I tried again, and they are STILL down for upgrading to a new payments system. WTF.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Because people have different preferences.

I personally like the controller more as it feels fuller to me. But I appreciate that Playstation has made their controllers a bit fatter over the years.

 

[Toots]

My hands are adjustable. I can orient the thumb on each hand independently. Are you missing a joint or something?

Don't make fun of op because he doesn't have opposable thumbs.
He is simply missing a few hunded thousand years of evolution (as his thread suggest).

 

[Larxia]

Asymmetrical joysticks (last time I check my hands were symmetrical)

I never understood this argument, it's like people don't even try to think for a second before saying this.
Your hands are symmetrical, yes, but in most games (unless you ONLY play fps) you will 99% of the time have your right thumb on the left stick, and your right thumb on the face buttons, so asymmetrical sticks actually allow for a symmetrical placement of your thumbs.

The d-pad is located where it is on the playstation controller only because it stayed like this since the original playstation controller, because... that was symmetrical back then, since you played only with the dpad and there was no stick. They then added the stick as an extension to the controller, but you can clearly tell that it's just an "addition", an afterthought. They orignally designed it for your thumb to be placed in front of the face buttons, no weirdly lower for some reason.

Symmetrical thumbs:

Asymmetrical thumbs:

Now the Xbox controller does have some issues. The DPAD while feeling great, is loud af, and I always have some kind of issues in any of the controllers I have, either one button feeling wrong or something else, but it's kind of the same on playstation or any modern controllers sadly.

 

[adamsapple]

"What do you mean small battery life? I never have that problem"

 

[VitoNotVito]

My hands are adjustable. I can orient the thumb on each hand independently. Are you missing a joint or something?

Wow. What a skill you have.

 

[Kacho]

No AA batteries means your DS batter will die at some point. Battery life is also shit.

What's the difference between the battery in the Switch Pro controller and Dualsense? I've been using my Pro controller since 2017 and that thing still holds a charge that lasts me for days. Is it the lack of features eating up the battery?

 

[DanielG165]

It's a great controller?

 

[TGO]

This has been discussed to death before and there's a very good reason the OP just needs to accept and move on.

 

[Chukhopops]

What's the difference between the battery in the Switch Pro controller and Dualsense? I've been using my Pro controller since 2017 and that thing still holds a charge that lasts me for days. Is it the lack of features eating up the battery?

Switch Pro Controller has (or used to have) way worse polling frequency than DualSense out of the box, which also means better battery life. But the controller is shit imo.

 

[violence]

Might take.

Xbox series controller
+ Good feel
+ Great PC support with X input

- Loud face buttons and dpad
- Bright-as-fuck center button. That shit is eye searing. (I put black tape over it so that only that little bit of light above the "X" shines through.)

Dualsense
+ Haptics
+ The most quiet buttons on any controller.

- Dualshock 4 felt better. I'm sure the controller had to be bigger because there's more going on now.
- Low battery life (due to haptics and the touchpad probably.)

 

[rm082e]

I've been using PS and Xbox controllers since each brand hit the market. I have always preferred the Xbox controller. Playing on PC for.many years now, I've tried several different options and keep coming back to the standard Xbox controller.

Dual Sense has a nice shape to it, but I don't care for the built in battery or the active triggers. They at least made it big enough so my hands don't cramp up anymore.

 

[ValiantInstance]

Sony would've never come up with their recent designs if it wasn't for the Xbox 360 controller.

It's the greatest design of all time, to go along with the greatest console of all time in my opinion. And I'm not an Xbox fanboy, I own both and mainly play on PC so I have no horse in this race.

Meanwhile the PS3 controller felt like it was made for hobbits.

 

[damidu]

i can agree with the battery-life woes of dualsense, and its even worse on edge, (which is pretty much the perfect controller otherwise)
maybe they should pull a ms and go with "bring your own battery" next time. but i can already see the same group of ms fanboys bitching about "arrogant sony" for that.

 

[Bojji]

What's the difference between the battery in the Switch Pro controller and Dualsense? I've been using my Pro controller since 2017 and that thing still holds a charge that lasts me for days. Is it the lack of features eating up the battery?

Switch Pro Controller has (or used to have) way worse polling frequency than DualSense out of the box, which also means better battery life. But the controller is shit imo.

That, plus less battery draining features.

 

[Donald mac Ronald]

Seriously? Asymmetrical joysticks (last time I check my hands were symmetrical), "X Y A B" (what is this, a math test?), buttons feel terrible to press, cheap plastic feeling, AA batteries (lol), no haptics.

Meanwhile the dualsense is sexy AF, with proper ergonomics, next gen haptics, premium feeling, rechargeable, memorable and intuitive symbols for prompts. It's the only controller that checks all the boxes.

Ignoring the fanboy nonsense which I think contributes to the Xbox controller being better than it is is. You make valid points. The Xbox controller is garbage unless you pay 200 for the elite crap.

The asymmetrical sticks work fine for FPS and 3rd person shooters. But for any other game they feel weird, especially action games.

The face buttons feel like cheap plastic, try playing DMC on this controller compared to a ds4/5.

Now fighting games..I know some people use analog sticks, but alot of people use the dpad.

Try playing a fighting game using the worst designed d pad in console history, which is the 360/one/series d pad. Holy shit that is awful.

 

[Plague Doctor]

I give Xbox, Lord Phil, and his cheering squad a lot of shit. And I mean a lot. They are easy to clown on.

But their controller? Solid peripheral for PC gaming. Would recommend.

 

[M1chl]

Fatherless behavior

Also ergonomics are complex and very often people prefer something which does not look ergonomic at first sight, etc

 

[MrJangles]

Sony has never made a decent controller, they've all been shit back to the days of the PS1. The Xbox 360 or whatever they are called nowadays controllers have set the standard.

 

[Kvally]

The Xbox 360 or whatever they are called nowadays controllers have set the standard.

The 360 dpad was trash though. I think they knew that, since they released a "transforming d-pad", which fixed my only issue with that controller.

 

[damidu]

Ignoring the fanboy nonsense which I think contributes to the Xbox controller being better than it is is. You make valid points. The Xbox controller is garbage unless you pay 200 for the elite crap.

The asymmetrical sticks work fine for FPS and 3rd person shooters. But for any other game they feel weird, especially action games.

The face buttons feel like cheap plastic, try playing DMC on this controller compared to a ds4/5.

Now fighting games..I know some people use analog sticks, but alot of people use the dpad.

Try playing a fighting game using the worst designed d pad in console history, which is the 360/one/series d pad. Holy shit that is awful.

lol that thing is a ticking time bomb, only thing "elite" about it is the price,
it has like %90 crapping out rate within a year

 

[AJUMP23]

Maybe people like the xbox battery life. I prefer the Xbox controller to the PS.

 

[Dutchy]

What good is a controller when it's got a shitty internal battery lol

 

[Wonko_C]

Seriously? Asymmetrical joysticks (last time I check my hands were symmetrical), "X Y A B" (what is this, a math test?), buttons feel terrible to press, cheap plastic feeling, AA batteries (lol), no haptics.

Meanwhile the dualsense is sexy AF, with proper ergonomics, next gen haptics, premium feeling, rechargeable, memorable and intuitive symbols for prompts. It's the only controller that checks all the boxes.

Both controllers blow: Expensive, heavy, cramp inducing, lame d-pad, stick drift prone, batteries die out (both rechargeable or AA), gimmicky gyros & rumble and prone to stick drift a few months after purchase.

I purchased an 8-Bitdo Ultimate C at a fraction of the price and never looked back: High build quality, wired (no pesky disconnects because of batteries dying) lower input lag, ergonomic, lightweight, snes-style d-pad (the best d-pad of all time), buttons and triggers that feel great to press, and it's not expensive to replace when stick drift rears its ugly head... or you can buy those fancy controllers with hall-effect sticks and forget about drift.

 

[Kvally]

Speaking of blowing...

 

[Horseganador]

I feel comfortable with both controllers, I don't understand so much discussion about the position of the sticks, the only thing I don't like is the sound of the Xbox controller, it sounds cheap every time you press a button.

 

[MMaRsu]

Awesome another daily shit on Xbox thread

 

[AJUMP23]

Switch Pro controller is great too.

 

[RoboFu]

Is that suppose to be some sort of slang?

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I give Xbox, Lord Phil, and his cheering squad a lot of shit. And I mean a lot. They are easy to clown on.

But their controller? Solid peripheral for PC gaming. Would recommend.

I haven't looked for an updated survey but something like 60% of controllers used last year on Steam were Xbox controllers

PC gamers know

 

[Kvally]

I feel comfortable with both controllers

This really is the case. I play COD on my PS5 Pro and my Xbox Series X. I can grab either controller and play the game and play the same. I have PGA Tour 2K25 on my PS5 Pro and I have the EA Masters game on my Xbox Series X. I pick up and play and I am just fine. Barely notice.

 

[Naked Lunch]

The Playstation has consistently had the worst controller in gaming since 1995.
Deal with it.

It was a glorified miracle the day I could finally use an Xbox controller on PS1 2 3.

 

[SJRB]

at least our controller is better than Playstation

 

[rofif]

You have to be brain dead monkey to prefer built in shit dualsense battery compared to AA battery tray in Xbox controller.

Not only does AA last longer, you can use batteries, rechargables, battery packs and other solutions.
With dualsense will be just like ps3. All the controllers lasting 10 minutes on a charge after 10-15 years

 

[damidu]

Switch Pro controller is great too.

that doesn't even have a functioning dpad, try playing tetris99 with it

 

[adamsapple]

I haven't looked for an updated survey but something like 60% of controllers used last year on Steam were Xbox controllers

PC gamers know

Correct, sir.

Valve says "more players than ever are choosing to play Steam games with a controller," and nearly 60% of them are on team Xbox

Valve says "more players than ever are choosing to play Steam games with a controller," and nearly 60% of them are on team Xbox

Controller use on Steam has tripled in six years

www.gamesradar.com

 

[RoboFu]

Hot Take: I feel that analog triggers are useless 99% of the time.

 

[ComputerBlue]

I'd like somebody to do a test on this but I don't know how you'd be able to do it without using something mechanical, you couldn't do it yourself but I swear the PlayStation controllers have higher precision with the analog sticks than Xbox do. Xbox are so stiff.

I'm with you OP. It's not even a contest. The only time it may have been worse was during the PS3 era because the PS3 triggers were horrible and the controller was too small. But even then everything else was better.

 

[AJUMP23]

that doesn't even have a functioning dpad, try playing tetris99 with it

I have and I win. get gud......

 

[OctopusBox]

I don't mind anything about it other than the cheap clicky face buttons. I used mine to play my PC handheld a few days ago after not using it in forever and tapping buttons is loud and annoying and that controller has less than 10 hours of use.

Definitely prefer Dualsense though.

 

[NomenNescio]

You have to be brain dead monkey to prefer built in shit dualsense battery compared to AA battery tray in Xbox controller.

Not only does AA last longer, you can use batteries, rechargables, battery packs and other solutions.
With dualsense will be just like ps3. All the controllers lasting 10 minutes on a charge after 10-15 years

You can just replace the built-in battery in the controller, genius. It's sold in Amazon for dirt cheap.

 

[Black_Stride]

Personally think the ergonomics of the XB1+ controllers were/are better than the DualSense.
Might just be muscle memory coming from the DreamCast but the D-Pad/Analogue stick locations feel natural for me.

Really like the haptics of DualSense and with good implementation Gyro.

Xbox series controller
- Bright-as-fuck center button. That shit is eye searing. (I put black tape over it so that only that little bit of light above the "X" shines through.)

If you are on PC and dont want to download the Xbox Accessories App then you can just use Steam controller preferences.

 

[Shadowstar39]

Yeah that is the one thing about xbox controllers that I never liked. I got used to the asymmetrical design as i did with the switch, but it is missing a ton of features compared to the dual sense and even the joycons.

- One I miss the touch pad. I know people bitch about that (mostly xbox only players and fanboys did), but it was so useful as it not only works as a mouse pad it also works as multiple button array. left for map right for inventory. Or you want a radial, can do, its programable by the devs.

- Haptic rumble, its just another level above.
- Pressure sensitive triggers, fun. I get that multiplayer fps players don't like them but they can be switched off, I like them as i don't play mp games and value immersion.
- Colored lights- Some again mostly xbox only owners and fanboys bitch about this, and yeah ps4's were at first very bright, but it has been fixed with settings and a more subdued lights on the ps5 controller.
There is great immersion with this. People take it for granted but damn GTA those red and blue rotate or when you are getting shot at and bleeding the controller lights turn red. You get it in your peripheral vision, again adds immersion.
- Six Axis gyro controls - I love this option but it isn't implemented enough. For switch its so great being able to fine tune headshots with gyro aiming, or puzzle games that can use it

As someone who loves immersion, loves rumble, loves haptics lighting, the xbox controller is a step down.

The pluses for xbox controller:
- Removable batteries. As I have usless ds3(ps3 controllers) that don't work as the batteries are shot. I shouldn't have to disasmble it to replace with a after market battery.
Xbox solves this. Although they really should ship with removable rechargable battery packs. Otherwise a $13 purchase on amazon will get you two recharge paks.
Also Xbox controllers don't die from battery as quick.
- Cheaper - the standard black one is $59.99 in the states, any other colored or special options are the same cost as dual sense ps5 controllers $74.99 Which is overpriced considering what is in the dual sense.

Xbox really flaked out on the controller, its almost identical to the XB1 which was close to the 360.
Why Microsoft didn't get shit for it unfortunately so expect them to continue the trend of zero innovation in the controller. Too many shooter fans are "its good enough, I don't use those features anyway".