XBOX One Elite Controller Thoughts

Dave Baumann

Gamerscore Wh...
Moderator
Legend
Note sure if there is another thread on this, please move if there is.

Anyone bought one of these? I have, and although utterly frivolous, I've not felt a single pang of buyers remorse over it.

I've only delved into the extended (configurable) features to the merest extent, but just picking up and using the controller is wonderful. First off the grips on the backside of the controller are great, however even with them I do find that its tricky to have all 4 backside paddle buttons, so I only leave two on the right hand side.

The triggers feel great, with the travel feeling better than the standard controller. I do find that I frequently use the travel options, switching between short travel for Borderlands and long travel for Forza Horizon 2; historically I still tend to be a little "analogue" in my use of these triggers, often resulting in lots of wheel-spin or reliance on ABS in Forza, but I find myself using this controller a little more progressively.

It looks like the top of the controller (where the top buttons and XBOX button is) is a little larger than the standard pad and the L/R buttons above the triggers feel like they have a little more travel than when you hit the switch.

Kit comes with 3 sets of swappable direction sticks - similar to the standard pad (short stick, concave), longer stick concave versions and short stick, smooth convex versions. Can't say that I've moved off the default, standard sticks yet as I've felt no need.

MS have been on a course of evolution on the D-Pad over the various iterations of controller from the initial (awful) 360 D-Pad and the D-Pad on the elite is so far one of the best I've ever used. There's two D-Pad options, with the cross in the case and the circular concave installed by default - I find myself so far sticking to the circular pad and its the best one I've found from any of the MS pads I've used.

A couple of points to note: I do find that when picking up the controller or moving my hand off and then coming back to it, I do find that I hit the paddles on the back frequently, bending them in the direction that removes them. Additionally the sticks and D-Pad are easily removable; not in a direction that causes any in-game issues, but those with toddlers around need to hide their controllers! :)

Its an expensive piece of kit, but its quality is such that you feel like you know where you money went.
 
Question, is it good for fighting games or does it still suck ass like the 360 controller and the original XBOne controller?
 
Thanks Dave! seeing the price of custom high end controllers in the market, its actually cheap in comparison.
 
Have you actually tried it with a game like Killer Instinct? The Dpad may feel better but you dont know how good it is with fighting games until you try it
Yea it's what I use it for. It's certainly better than using the original XBO controller.

Still prefer stick for FGs though.
But the options to alter your triggers and select your pad helps. I prefer be octagon pad for KI not the d pad.
 
Yea it's what I use it for. It's certainly better than using the original XBO controller.

Still prefer stick for FGs though.
But the options to alter your triggers and select your pad helps. I prefer be octagon pad for KI not the d pad.
I d love to try it then. My greatest annoyance was the horrible dpad with the original. I though the original was improved but when I tried KI I was disappointed with the inaccuracy of the Dpad. The analog stick certainly was a no no. I think I ll pay a visit to my friend who owns the controller to try it out. Good to know that the Elite is an improvement in all fronts
 
I d love to try it then. My greatest annoyance was the horrible dpad with the original. I though the original was improved but when I tried KI I was disappointed with the inaccuracy of the Dpad. The analog stick certainly was a no no. I think I ll pay a visit to my friend who owns the controller to try it out. Good to know that the Elite is an improvement in all fronts
Like all things, it takes some getting used to, but once you got it, it's great. I had big issues with paddles when I first started using them, I kept mashing them when playing halo5, but over time I stopped over gripping my controller so now I just press the paddles when I need to.

The KI octagon was a bit easier though.
 
I'd like to get one for Halo 5, but the price is definitely a barrier. I may get in at @ $80; $100 tops.

For KI, a lot of pro players play on pad. Keits, the KI combat director even added some shortcuts for fightstick players in Season 3 because he thought pad players had an advantage on counter breakers.
 
It's a great concept, as well as a great controller. Felt really premium. Guess they could have it at 99 dollar, but the higher price actually works
 
I've wanted one but not sure what I would actually DO with it.

Mainly, do any owners think, would it actually help me perform better in a twitch FPS multiplayer aka Destiny? I cant really see how (besides paddles, which I'm unsure of), so what else is it actually good for?

Guess they could have it at 99 dollar, but the higher price actually works

It's funny how expectations work. I think I initially expected this to be 80 or something, now that it's 150, 99 would seem like steal. I'd almost surely get one at that price.

Overall I dunno, given the new DF article I'm thinking investing in a SSD for your XBO is a better use of that cash!
 
I've wanted one but not sure what I would actually DO with it.

Mainly, do any owners think, would it actually help me perform better in a twitch FPS multiplayer aka Destiny? I cant really see how (besides paddles, which I'm unsure of), so what else is it actually good for?



It's funny how expectations work. I think I initially expected this to be 80 or something, now that it's 150, 99 would seem like steal. I'd almost surely get one at that price.

Overall I dunno, given the new DF article I'm thinking investing in a SSD for your XBO is a better use of that cash!
It would. I wouldn't consider destiny twitch though. It feels fast because it's 30fps, but it's not as twitch as COD, Or Titanfall.

The Elite controller is a good use of cash. There is only 1 input to the console, the controller, and two outputs : sound and screen. Investing in actual I/O should be considered an improvement even if system performance is the same. Some screens do 1080p much better than others. Some headsets do sound much better than others. Some controllers do much better than others. All are passable of course, but we are talking about improving the actual experience and enabling a player to improve than I/O is the answer.
 
I guess, but I dont know what would actually be different/better about it.

If there was some situation where the paddles or dpad really helped your particular gameplay then ok...other than that, what, it's heavier? By some accounts it's not even really more durable as key interior parts are the same as normal controllers, at least that I've read.

I want one no doubt, but I just feel like the $60 controllers seem pretty fine and high quality.

It would be nice to see one on sale for around $99...
 
The paddles on the back are just mirrors for the front buttons yes, or did I misinterpret descriptions of this thing?

If they were unique buttons, I might have invested in this pad for things like MAME or whatnot - not that I faff with MAME anymore, but whatever. :p

It's overly expensive IMO. "Yes but high quality!" Well it better be for that price! :p It's nearly 2x the cost of a regular pad IIRC. Jesus, the profit margin on that thing, it would give Apple execs wet dreams.

I have a regular xbone pad with the USB charging kit (insulting that they still sell these separately), but never actually use it, sadly. Better this way, than buying the deluxe pad and never using that one I suppose. Regular pad is great to hold and use. Easy to clean too, unlike PS4 pad which has all these stupid ugly ridges and crannies on it, and built in windows support is nice as well. I wonder if the headset output works on the PC, tho...
 
A bit OT but I'm looking to get one of my DS4s upgraded, I looked at the Scuf option and then found Sharq - which by all accounts offers the better option(s) and customer support. I'll cost me ~£50 to upgrade with the paddles, instant triggers and grips and whilst I'm not overly comfortable with spending that much I figure it's worth a spin...I like the idea of not having to move my thumb to press X or O - seems a good way to get an edge online (I need all the help I can get!).
 
It looks like the top of the controller (where the top buttons and XBOX button is) is a little larger than the standard pad and the L/R buttons above the triggers feel like they have a little more travel than when you hit the switch.
On another look, this appears to be wrong - the black on the standard just looks slimming

The paddles on the back are just mirrors for the front buttons yes, or did I misinterpret descriptions of this thing?

If they were unique buttons, I might have invested in this pad for things like MAME or whatnot - not that I faff with MAME anymore, but whatever. :p
They are additional buttons on the pad that are configurable to any of the buttons on the joypad, so for instance in Borderlands I have to push the left thumb-stick to run, on this controller I could remap that to one of the paddles. Actually, the XBOX app allows you to remap any button to any other button with the Elite controller, and a limited set of remapping available on the standard controller. The Windows 10 App for controller remapping has recently been released but I've not looked if additional buttons can be assigned arbitrary keyboard assignments.
 
Note sure if there is another thread on this, please move if there is.

Anyone bought one of these? I have, and although utterly frivolous, I've not felt a single pang of buyers remorse over it.

Thanks for opening up this thread Dave! When I first got mine I was so incredibly impressed by the device that I wanted to post something but didn't feel it warranted opening a thread just for it. I probably should have. :)

Anyway, I personally find it absolutely incredible. At first I was somewhat hesitant to plonk down the 150 USD for the device even though I really wanted one to try out. But after having gotten it, like you, I have absolutely no buyer's remorse.

The analog sticks have smoother and, IMO, more precise and predictable motion. The XBO analog sticks were already good, but these are just fantastic. The D-pad is the best I've used in the past decade with very defined and precise behavior.

The bottom paddles are absolutely fantastic and I'll get to why in my response to Rangers.

I've wanted one but not sure what I would actually DO with it.

Mainly, do any owners think, would it actually help me perform better in a twitch FPS multiplayer aka Destiny? I cant really see how (besides paddles, which I'm unsure of), so what else is it actually good for?

It could. The better analog sticks should already help. However, for people that are already good and used to the reponse curve and characteristics of their controller, there might potentially be a slight adjustment period. Similar in many ways to when I moved from el-cheapo mice to significantly more expensive and more reponsive mice. When I moved from cloth mousepads to high reponsiveness plastic mouse pads also required a period of adjustment.

But what I think is absolutely killer is the bottom paddles. They do the most to bring the controller closer to giving the mouse and keyboard "feel" of gaming.

In that I mean that, for instance, in a 3rd person action game where you have an independant camera. Traditionally, on a controller you have the option of either using the face buttons or the left analog stick, unless you go through some really awkward contortions you can't use them simultaneously. So you can't manipulate the camera at the same time as you're doing combat, not like you can with a keyboard and mouse.

That, for me, was one reason I felt that console controllers were absolutely horrible for anything with a user manipulatable camera (like a 3rd person action game). To a lesser extent that also affects FPS games.

With keyboard and mouse, you have your movement (keyboard) and view manipulation (mouse). And those don't interfere with button useage (depending on configuration you can easily use 20+ keys/buttons while moving and manipulating your view).

With controller you have to decide between using movement (left analog) or D-pad. You also have to choose between whether you want to manipulate your view (right analog) or use one of the 4 face buttons.

The Elite controller doesn't address the conflict between left analog and D-pad, so it still falls far short of keyboard and mouse there. However, it addresses having to choose between using the right analog and face buttons, which is far more important, thus bringing it closer to a keyboard and mouse experience. Of course, doing so will take a fair bit od adjustment. Anyone that has used a console controller for a long period of time will instinctively know when and how to use the face buttons. Using the bottom paddles will take time to unlearn those and relearn a new set of control options.

And that doesn't even get into remapping of buttons (a mouse and keyboard mainstay, except when developers are too retarded to implement custom keyboard bindings).

But it's worth it. OMG is it worth it.

Even if you don't get an Elite controller and get a cheaper alternative with bottom paddles, is worth it. Even if you can't rebind buttons.

But if you can afford an Elite controller it is definitely worth it. I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but if console gaming is all you do. IMO, the elite controller offers at least as much value as a high end gaming mouse (80+ USD) + a good quality mechanical keyboard (120+ USD). And I'd definitely go on to say that it offers far more value as an upgrade over a standard controller than 150+ USD mouse offers over standard mice.

As someone who often feels buyer's remorse for buying things (like the last time I bought a 200+ USD smartphone), this is one of those rare occasions where I feel I got fantastic value for money.

Other people may not agree, of course. I have plenty of friends that still swear by their 10-15 USD generic mice and 5-10 USD generic keyboards and think me crazy for spending 80+ USD on mice and 100+ USD on keyboards. :p

Regards,
SB
 
The XBO analog sticks were already good, but these are just fantastic
This is a funny one - it feels to me like all the analogue elements, sticks and triggers, have better action, being smoother and more progressive, however I can find no indications as to how this is achieved so wondered if it was a placebo effect. Seems like reviewers and user do note the same though.
 
The Windows 10 App for controller remapping has recently been released but I've not looked if additional buttons can be assigned arbitrary keyboard assignments.
Seems the Win 10 app is exactly the same as the XBOX app (not much surprise, I guess) and only allows controller button reassignment.
 
Back
Top