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Xbox 2 to Have Wireless Controllers Standard
GamesIndustry.biz has the news that the Xbox 2 console, releasing this fall, will use wireless controllers by default. From the article: "Microsoft will be the first console manufacturer to ship wireless pads as standard with its hardware, but not the first to ship an official wireless controller; Nintendo has already enjoyed significant success with the WaveBird, its wireless pad for the GameCube."
Who came up with this idea... Energizer or Duracell?
Beauty is in the eye of the beerholder.
+5 Insightful
God spoke to me.
...IF the quality matches either Logitech's or Nintendo's.
Honestly, outside of the lack of a rumble option, the WaveBird is by far the best wireless controller I've ever used, and the only one I regularly use.
If they are rechargable like a Gameboy, then you have the issue of being in the middle of a game and unable to continue because your battery just ran out.
If not, you have to change batteries all the time.
Either way, I hope they at least plan to give the option for a corded controller, for those of us that still like them.
For those afraid of the battery issue, I say try it before you discount it. I got a wavebird for my gamecube and absolutely love it. Combine it with some rechargeable AAs and I don't have to buy batteries all the time.
I suppose, though, that if the physical act of changing batteries in something really ticks you off, this may not be for you.
There are rumors that the Playstation 3 would do the same as well.
Wireless controllers are an intersting option. But standard? Note that there are a whole bunch of corner cases that wireless joysticks have that haven't been well addressed yet. For instance, the Nintendo wavebird controller has no vibration capability. Most XBox wireless joysticks don't handle an XBox live headset or memory card.
Battery life is obviously a problem. I'd like to see docking cradles for the joysticks on the box itself so they can be charged and ready for play. (Or interestingly... maybe they could be connected with cables like they are currently for charging. So play with the cable while charging play without otherwise.)
And, of course, it's not as satisfying to get pissed off and yank the cable out of the box to demonstrate your frustration... (But it IS easier to throw the joystick across the room...)
So if the wireless joysticks are standard, does that mean there won't be any joystick "ports" on the box at all?
The way I would do this though (the same as I would do wireless mice and keyboards for a PC) is use a wire (say USB or whatever) and have it able to be unpluged from both the xbox (or PC) AND from the controller so I have the option to go wireless or use the wire. When it's on the wire the batterys recharge. There may already be some mice and KBs that do that but I havent seen them yet.
No doubt the Xbox2 controller will be so large it will house its own power generator.
Can anyone here think of another console that uses wireless controllers, a PowerPC proc, an ATI video card, and has no hard drive? I can. Here is a hint: it is the Gamecube. And my gamecube's power cable doesn't spontaneously combust.
;)
While I'm glad that wireless controllers are becoming the mainstream, I think Microsoft is swiftly headed toward its own death in the console market. When the Sony and big N consoles release almost a full year after the Xbox2, they will feature roughly twice the processing power, and have much more powerful and well-established development solutions (Sony especially, with their new focus on VPUs and an OpenGL-style API). The original X-Box only has 3 strong points, in my mind: 1) hard drive, 2) most powerful hardware, and 3) X-Box Live.
Well, at least they'll still have #3.
PS - I have nothing against microsoft as a company, unlike most of the posters here. I think they are good for the console market, at least so far, providing an almost Sega Genesis-like amount of freedom for developers. I just think they're making a series of mistakes here that are worthy of Nintendo
The Wavebirds are great, but they don't have support for vibration. For some games I prefer using wired controllers for this reason. Seems like support rumble and other stuff like a headset would kill batteries pretty fast. -paul
If you've been using a pair of batteries in a controller for a while and plan on playing for quite a while, change the batteries to fresh ones, put the other batteries on the side, and use them for shorter sessions until you run out. ;) It's clever use of a four-pack for AA's. Then again, I'm not 100% sure on controller battery life, as I'm sure these controllers won't have screens.
But I will say, I like the idea of the XBOX 2 having wireless controllers, as long as they're not as big-ass and clunky as the original XBOX. It won't sway me into getting an XBOX, but I concede that it's a semi-good move on M$' part.
When you need great justice, take off every zig.
What's going to happen when you have an Xbox2 party and you have 4 consoles in one basement?
This'll be sure to help keep the costs on this thing down...
I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
If they're lith-ion batteries and a docking station comes standard, I'm all for it. If they require AA batteries I'd rather deal with a cord.
Note that there are a whole bunch of corner cases that wireless joysticks have that haven't been well addressed yet. For instance, the Nintendo wavebird controller has no vibration capability.
I got a kick out of the rumble pack when I first played starfox64, but really, the vibration function is nothing that couldn't be removed in favor of audio/visual cues. It's kind of nice to have that additional cue that doesn't come from the television, but overall, it's overused and for the most part unnecessary.
Now, actual, legit force feedback, that is another matter. There is nothing quite like playing a driving game with a logitech wheel and having to fight the wheel on a banked turn. But that's a little more expensive/power consuming than a motor which spins an off-center weight.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
I would love it if they used bluetooth for it.
I've had a Logitech Dinovo Bluetooth keyboard and mouse set for over a year now, the keyboard will go several months on 4AA's, and the mouse will last several days on a charge.
It might be a bit more expensive for controllers, but with native ability to add any bluetooth device to the console, such as mouse, keyboard, headset. It seems like it would be a no-brainer.
Wireless controllers are generally banned in tournaments, or at least restricted. With Wavebirds, for example, you don't want to be using one in a tournament, because if someone else sets their Wavebird to the same channel, all of a sudden you can't control your character anymore! And this is an easy thing to do, especially in a crowd with a bunch of people.
Even if the Xbox controller doesn't have channels and instead has some bluetooth-esque pairing strategy, you can still screw with it by building a device that simply spams the air with RF on the same frequency as the controller, nullifying all wireless controllers in the area. It's just a bad idea.
It makes sense -- Less wires to heat up and burn down your house.
Invalid Checksum. Retrying.
According to a spokesman, the new wireless battery will be the size of a Nintendo Gamecube and will be in the controller.
How about a wireless controller which connects to an xbox cable which would seamlessly recharge the wireless pad's batteries while playing? I'd like the same thing for my MX700 mouse. Man is it ever unnerving to have to stop playing because your batteries are about to fail...
This is a wonderful idea. When you have four consoles in a room, the controller cords get very tangled and it takes a LOT of time to untangle them.
Plus, when i am at a lan, we constantly have to have cable extenders because of the piss poor distance on the xbox controllers. The standard feature of wireless controllers would be wonderful. I can sit anywhere in the damn room i please without distance issues.
On the point about charging, Im sure microsoft would put some charging base for the controllers, or have a cable to charge while playing.
There are so many problems with this it's silly. Please correct me if it's already been mentioned before - but this is not a cost effective solution, even if they do use rechargable batteries.
For one, okay, with rechargable batteries, cuts costs a little bit - means you don't have to go and buy new ones all the time.
Can you recharge them whilst you play? I don't know. Well, if you can't, then it's pretty useless, right? You'd always have to have spares.
They could make batteries to charge whilst they're in the controller so you can play and charge at the same time, this is a better idea, but still - it's not cost effective. Why?
Rechargable battery packs don't last forever. I don't know anyone who periodically goes out and buys new controllers every few months. If you play the XBox enough, these batteries will last no time. It'll get to the point where you have to stop and charge every thirty minutes. You'll have to buy new XBox controller specific battery packs. These will, most likely, cost a bomb. Knowing Microsoft.
It's a no-win situation. Except for Microsoft.
I don't not believe there isn't a God.
on where you rest the joystick... :)
I'm suprised nobody has mentioned this yet but how many times in the past year have you lost a TV remote or a cordless phone down in a couch? This is just one more device to get lost. Kids can carry them out of the room, dogs can bury them under the bed, overzealous parents might think the are "broken" and chuck them...
I'm all for wireless but for SOME things it is nice to be able to just follow the cord and find the device. At least give people an option...
Wireless sounds great and all but I think I'd much rather just have one that comes with a 10' retractable cord. Wouldn't it be great to just hit a button on the cord and have the whole thing reel up for storage?
"A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
This would be cool if they make the same controls have a wired option to get around all possible interference problems and this would let you recharge the controls.
-prator
I've had a Logitech cordless controller for about a year. It's great. Having wireless control on the Xbox 360 is a positive step. Wow, you guys will get your panties in a twist about anything, huh?
Runs on 2 AA batteries, and I can attest to the 50+ hours of life that they mention on the site. Plus with rechargeables (say, a couple pairs), you're in good shape, and the "power pack" is non-proprietary and user-serviceable.
Do not touch -Willie
"Microsoft will be the first console manufacturer to ship wireless pads as standard with its hardware, but not the first to ship an official wireless controller; Nintendo has already enjoyed significant success with the WaveBird, its wireless pad for the GameCube."
Aah, so Nintendo was the first to have official wireless controllers?
How soon people forget. They were only beaten by, what, 2 DECADES?
Did the video game crash result in peoples' memories being wiped of everything that came before it?
"You know your god is man-made when he hates all the same people you do."
[with wireless controllers] I can sit anywhere in the damn room i please without distance issues.
+5 funny!!!
We've secretly replaced Slashdot with new Folgers Crystals - let's see if it notices.
Gee whiz, you linux geeks amaze me!
Nowhere in TFA did it mention rechargable batteries, but everybody is ranting and raving about what a horrible implimentation this will be.
Don't you realize MS is way smarter than you folks?
I guess if you can't copy the original source from AT&T or MS it can't be done?
I've got a speedpass in my car that the tollbooth reads as I whiz past at 5mph and I have never had to replace a battery in it. If I were going to make a wireless controller, I'd start with on of those with some buttons that would let me alter the SN it was echoing back to the reader... instant controller, no batteries required!
As an owner of TWO cats, I can say, what a relief!
:(
I've already had to toss out 2 PS2 and 1 XBox controller(s) due to cats chewing the cable. I don't know what it is about strings and cables but they drive cats wild.
Microsoft Standard Battery's
"A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'" - DNA
As much as the battery issue worries me, I've got to say I'd be worried about losing them more than anything. Go over to play halo 3 and realize that one of my controls has disappeared, not a fun situation.
Since the xbox controller interface uses usb, then they should just include a usb cable with each controller. That would allow you to plug the controller into the xbox to allow you to recharge and at the same time continue your game.
"Microsoft will be the first console manufacturer to ship wireless pads as standard with its hardware"
http://www.vidgame.net/BANDAI/playdia.htm
That is all.
Microsoft will be the first console manufacturer to ship wireless pads as standard with its hardware
Does the CD-i not count as a game console? It shipped with wireless controllers standard. Albeit, they were IR, not WiFi or RF.
Just tape a short lenth of ribbon to the controller-- works great for people who keep turtles as pets, too.
That honor belongs to Atari. However, they were so big that they were really too difficult to use.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
Surely they could build these things with Lith-ion batteries built into them, and a charging stand to go along with it. Hell my cordless phone has an inbuilt rechargable battery, why can't these "high tech" companies build something similar?
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The last wireless joysticks I used were for Atari2600, and it sucked down 9volts. I completely forgot we're in the age of rechargable cellphones.
God spoke to me.
If I were doing the design, I'd use the same wireless system for data from the controller as for the headset. Both have similar requirements - a few hundred kbps of bandwidth and (most importantly) low latency. This way you have seperate batts.
Personally I would like to see standards used in consoles - i.e. a few USB ports for general purpose devices - USB controller, USB headset, USB memory stick, and USB keyboard for quickly typing
PWN3D B107C|-|!
Flame-defense: I know this will never happen because standard devices won't generate Micro$oft and $ony pr0f1t. Maybe Nintendo has the balls?
I'm not 100% sure which came first, but it's also worth pointing out that the Memorex VIS and Bandai Playdia both came with built-in wireless controllers in the very early 90's... there's also the Nuon that came out in 2000. Of course, all three are terribly obscure (If you haven't heard of any of them, consult Google), so it's no huge surprise they're forgotten... but...
The Playdia was only released in Japan, and the Nuon was essentially a DVD player (which obviously would have a remote), so you can kind of exclude them from the argument... but the Memorex VIS definitely WAS released in North America, and actually runs some flavor of Windows as an operating system, so you would think Microsoft would have some recollection of this system... I can't blame them for trying to forget it though.
Funny story actually... Memorex actually refused to allow any Windows or Microsoft logos on their product or in the software, even though Microsoft wanted them to (Notice the "Compatible with Windows CE" that Sega had to stick on the front of the Dreamcast). Supposedly, the decision went all the way to Bill Gates, who gave in and allowed it to go unlabelled.
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
I can tie two GC controller cords together, and get about the length of an XBox controller's cord.
(5ft and 10ft respectively...)
The obvious win here is to make the wireless recievers standard (and not bluetooth, I'll bet they're buying Spike) and housed within the unit. Then, provide standard ports and allow both wired controllers (you know, buy a cheap wired controller for the kids / guests / whatever, and the good ones for yourself) and wireless, and allow the wireless controller to charge-while-playing by attaching a cable. I've been crossing my fingers for wireless standard on Xbox2! And while I love my Gentoo box, I love my Xbox, also. I just don't have time for PC gaming these days.