The Xbox Series X is set to arrive on store shelves this holiday season. Microsoft has shared a fair amount of information about the system since formally announcing it at The Game Awards in December, but it's kept pretty quiet on the console's controller for the past few months until today. The company finally broke the silence on it as part of a wave of announcements about the ins and outs of the new console.
One of the biggest questions on fans' minds regarding the controller has been if it will keep the disposable batteries present on the Xbox One controller, and Microsoft seems to be sticking with the same strategy it used for their previous system's pad. Just like before, the Xbox Series X controller requires a pair of AA batteries to work wirelessly, or a rechargeable battery sold separately from the controller itself.
The new Series X controller keeps much of the DNA of the current Xbox One controller, but adds a Share button for players to capture their gameplay with a single press rather than having to dive into menus on the dashboard or scream "record that" at a nearby speaker. Also in the mix is a modified eight-direction D-pad, bringing some of the benefits of the Xbox Elite controller series to a larger audience, as well as textured trigger and bumper buttons.
The ergonomics of the Xbox Series X controller have also been tweaked, giving it more comfort to accommodate to a larger number of players, including people with smaller hands. The connection port on the top of the new controller has also been updated to USB-C, modernizing the micro-USB port seen on the Xbox One controller. If players aren't into the changes, classic Xbox One controllers will still work just fine with the new system, as will Xbox Elite controllers and the Adaptive Controller. If it ain't broke, Microsoft doesn't see a need to fix it.
The decision to stick with AA batteries is certainly disappointing for fans that prefer the one-and-done approach of buying a rechargeable controller that Sony has used since the PS3 days (and was recently adopted by Nintendo for the first time with the Switch), but it does make a degree of sense. If a controller's rechargeable battery fails, the ones with built-in batteries like the DualShock 4 require fans to either send the pad back to the manufacturer or take the risk of disassembling their controller to do it themselves. Meanwhile, Microsoft's approach sidesteps this by just letting players switch out the dead or bad battery with a new one, and it does give players a choice in how they'd like their controller to work, even if it requires additional purchases.
The Xbox Series X launches holiday 2020.
Source: Windows Central, Xbox Wire