Most novel and sophisticated controllers ever

X

XboxKING

Newcomer
I bought a broken dual sense controller for 6 euros, the previous owner had stick drift and he tried to fix it; damaging the ‘ribbon on which the directional and buttons connect’. So I ordered the part for 74 cents from china, and yesterday I fixed it.
It came to my intention how complex it is; it contains multiple microphones, a speaker, colored LED lighting, triggers with adjustable resistance and also the haptics are really advanced. I also has precise gyroscopes inside.

Has there ever been a controller more advanced I wonder?

Post your examples :)
 
You didn't even mention it has a touchpad too 😛

Yea, the Dualsense, specifically the Dualsense Edge IMO. A while back I was actually going to post a teardown video of how complex and densely packed that controller is, as well as all the cool features it has. Very impressive engineering and design. I love what they did with the ability to replace the analog sticks and just overall it's a supremely well designed piece of kit.


As for runner up and just being a super high quality feeling controller, the Xbox Elite V2 (despite it's initial issues with QA) is awesome as well. I always liked the rumble triggers, and LOVE the ability to loosen or tighten the tension on the analog sticks to your preference, as well as the d-pad disc for certain games. My only problem I'm beginning to have with mine after a couple of years of use now is the adhesive on the rubber gripping is starting to come apart at the top where the shoulder buttons are. Same thing happened with the Original Elite I had all those years ago. Still though, you take it apart, and it's an insanely compact and well crafted high quality controller.

As a little aside, I collect controllers and love many different styles of controllers. Regarding Xbox I actually have about 9 working controllers. A 360 wireless controller, multiple Xbox One controller revisions ranging from the original design to the Sea of Thieves Special Edition controller and charging stand.. as well as the Series controllers and Elites. It's actually quite interesting after taking many of them apart over the years how they've evolved the internal designs drastically while remaining very similar feeling overall. One thing I hate is that my charging stand doesn't work for them all universally because of slight differences in the battery cover designs lol.
 
XboxKING said:
Has there ever been a controller more advanced I wonder?
Click to expand...
I'd say that's a comfortable 'no' as the controller is adding more and more technology that didn't exist in yesteryear's tech. The largest collection of features will produce the most complex controller. That said, there's one thing it's missing that another controller had - a camera. Wiimotes had a camera in the end for looking at the reference points for motion.
 
Shifty Geezer said:
I'd say that's a comfortable 'no' as the controller is adding more and more technology that didn't exist in yesteryear's tech. The largest collection of features will produce the most complex controller. That said, there's one thing it's missing that another controller had - a camera. Wiimotes had a camera in the end for looking at the reference points for motion.
Click to expand...
That was really advanced as well, good catch!
I think the Dreamcast fishing controller had a motion sensor which was also advanced for the time.
One could argue that light guns had a ‘camera’ as well, but as far as I know it could only see the screen light flash, so no position.

Though the GunCon for PS3 used positioning similar to Wii. Maybe rear projection arcade shooters did as well?
 
Dualsense Edge probably takes the cake for sheer amount of features, but I'd put forwards the Valve Index controllers as being quite advanced in their own right.

valve index controllers.jpg

The big selling point is obviously the finger tracking. It uses 87 capacitive sensors and some heavily refined software to determine the location of each of your fingers individually, including their pose. Combined with the strap design that means you dont actually have to hold the controller, this opens up the door to far more dynamic interactions. There's additionally force sensors that allow an extra 'squeeze' interaction(which doesn't have to translate specifically to squeezing something in a VR title, it could simply be an abstract form of input).

It also has two stage triggers, a force sensitive trackpad(with additional click down button), a thumbstick that also has capacitive sensors so it knows if your thumb is on it or not, haptic feedback, and of course it has the still best-in-class Lighthouse tracking system.

Lastly, they include a ton of configurability through Steam.

They're super cool. But they also cost $200 and only usable with the also fairly pricey Lighthouse tracking system, limiting their install reach greatly, meaning developers have had very little motivation to really make great use of them in their titles(which I dont blame them for, this problem should have been super obvious to Valve).
 
Question : Why are those xbox elite controllers so expensive they are like 3 times the price of a standard xbox controller
 
Davros said:
Question : Why are those xbox elite controllers so expensive they are like 3 times the price of a standard xbox controller
Click to expand...
It basically comes down to the build quality (which ymmv.. they all start peeling the grips at some point) and things like being able to adjust the tension of the analog sticks, 4 back buttons, different concave and convex sticks, d-pad/disc. It's an incredible feeling controller. The first time you hold one, you'll be surprised at how solid, and high quality it feels.

But the reality is that it's still prone to all the same issues that will happen to a standard controller. Sticks could potentially drift, USB-C ports internal solder connection can break due to flex, and so on. If you're not really into controllers like that.. there's no reason to waste the extra money on an Elite controller, IMO.
 
Thanks Remij I've got an xbox 360 pad (among others) that's still going strong so I'll stick with that
ps: I remember when I got my 360 wireless pad it was called xbox360 wireless gamepad for windows, if I do decide to get a xbox one pad do I have to get a windows version of it ?
 
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Davros said:
Thanks Remij I've got an xbox 360 pad (among others) that's still going strong so I'll stick with that
ps: I remember when I got my 360 wireless pad it was called xbox360 wireless gamepad for windows, if I do decide to get a xbox one pad do I have to get a windows version of it ?
Click to expand...

Nah you don't have to.

You'll probably want to get a Xbox wireless USB adapter though. All Xbox One and Series controllers will work with the adapter, and all will also work wired . The newer controllers (Series) have Bluetooth as well, though IMO, the BT connection in Xbox controllers is spotty (dropped inputs at times) and it's definitely best to go with the official wireless adapter (2.4Ghz) which is always rock solid.
 
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Davros said:
Question : Why are those xbox elite controllers so expensive they are like 3 times the price of a standard xbox controller
Click to expand...
Not only Remij's response, but also premium items with a limited audience will charge a price premium to justify their costs. In short, higher margins on elite gear.
 
Incredibly immersive! Nothing as immersive for driving games as a little thumb twiddler...

'Incredibly immersive' is a steering wheel and VR. 'Immersive' is a wheel or VR. A little thumbwheel thing is 'kinda immersive'. Except for playing Revolt where it would be incredibly immersive.
 
Davros said:
Question : Why are those xbox elite controllers so expensive they are like 3 times the price of a standard xbox controller
Click to expand...
while there are a bunch of things that are internally similar or identical between the elite and standard controllers, the elite controllers do have lots of little things in them that would add to the BOM. There are 4 switches for the back buttons, located on 2 boards on the Series 2 controller. A rechargeable battery, and the extra cost of the wireless charging board on the back. A bunch of magnets to hold the sticks, dpad, and back paddles. The analog sticks are different and have an adjustable tension spring, and the stick's caps are metal compared to the standard's plastic, and have a screw to adjust the tension. The controller itself has extra memory for the multiple profiles. There are more mechanical switches overall when compared to the standard controller. The profile button and nexus button are both tac switches, as opposed to the silicon mush buttons of the standard controller's nexus and share buttons. And there are a bunch of little manufacturing things that would add to the cost. The controller is covered in rubber. The area around the analog sticks have a separate plastic ring that prevents wear. The trigger stops are made of plastic, and are held in place with a screw. Is is 3x the cost? I don't know. But there are a bunch of differences, and they weigh substantially more. On a side note, Power A or PDP made an elite-style wired controller for Xbox. I thin it was just a little more expensive than the standard Xbox wireless controller. You could swap the sticks, but they were plastic and just clicked on and off, so no magnets, no tension adjustment. But the controller did have a nice weight to them. Tearing them apart revealed that they had big metal weights in them and they were electronically very similar to their standard $25 wired controllers.
 
Not exactly a controller (ok not even a controller) but more a gaming peripheral the Aura Interactor (and yes the Laydeez do think it makes me look sexy)
My local cash converters had about a dozen of these still boxed on sale for 99p so I thought why not
1722120946203.png

I also have the modern version of this called the BassMe+
1722121023151.png 1722121254326.png
 
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