According to Microsoft, the new Xbox One controller will outlast the console in terms of durability.
The Xbox One controller has undergone a redesign to launch with the Xbox One console due out “later this year”, and has been built to withstand any gamer’s rigorous button mashing.
Each controller should last between seven and ten years at the minimum, revealed Microsoft after six months of tough testing on the device.
Within the Microsoft testing lab at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Seattle, twenty controllers have been tested for the past six months by Microsoft’s Accessories and Hardware Manager Bob Brown.
“Each button gets pressed over and over, between 4-5 times a second,” said Brown to Pocket-Lint during a tour of the Microsoft testing lab.
Those manic button pushes add up to 2 million for each of the twenty Xbox One controllers, which is recorded by a computer to check those button presses are working accordingly. With the testing continuing further, Brown revealed that the current batch have undergone 3 million presses, equating to a lifespan of over ten years, long after the Xbox One has been replaced.
Microsoft’s new controller was revealed during the Xbox One reveal last week on May 21, and introduced a wide range of small innovations to the current Xbox 360.
“The Xbox One controller is updated with over 40 design innovations,” said Microsoft during the Xbox One reveal. “The Xobx One controller has been designed by gamers, for gamers, for the next generation.”
The Xbox One controller introduces “feedback directly into the triggers”, meaning the device will include new dynamic impulse triggers.
Similar to the PS3 DualShock 3 controllers, the Xbox One gamepad has an integrated battery compartment and can be charged via a mini-USB cable.
Making slight design alternations to the existing Xbox 360 controller, the Xbox One controller has a different handle contour with offset analog sticks and new Menu and View buttons, replacing the Start and Back buttons.
Next, read our Xbox One vs PS4 comparison.
