Posted Mon Aug 12, 2013 at 11:30 AM PDT by Brian Hoss
Each Xbox One Controller will support wired and wireless functionality.
One the greatest impacts of the Xbox 360 occurred in PC gaming, and that the prevalence of a standardized controller for developers and players in PC games. With the advent of the wired Xbox 360 controller, PC gamers across the board found that games natively worked with one of the best controllers in the world, and was even fully supported in the UI and with vibration feedback. Microsoft also released a wireless USB module to bridge PCs and 360 wireless controllers, but that module had a much smaller impact, often failing to work in a dependable manner.
Third person action titles such as 'Assassin's Creed' and 'Batman: Arkham Asylum' have been ported to the PC with full expectation of a 360-like controller for use, and thus eight years of PC games are filled with controller dependent examples.
With the Xbox One readying for deployment, its new controller, which follows the 360 template and is not a major departure, has raised the question of "will the Xbox One controller take the place of the 360 wired controller in the PC gaming landscape?"
For now it seems that the 360 wired controller used by millions, has nothing to fear, at least for the rest of the year. It seems that Microsoft will wait until 2014 to address PC support for Xbox One controllers. And yet once that support is deployed, it is quite possible that the new controller, with its improved ergonomics, sensitivity and vibrating triggers will be the controller of choice.
Two major details contribute to this possibility. First, Microsoft plans to make the new Xbox One controller backwards compatible with 360 controller supporting games. In essence, players will be able to control 360 era games on the PC with the new controller, but not on the 360.
Even more significantly, Microsoft has stated that unlike the 360 controller, which is split between wired and wireless versions, there will be no specific wired version of the Xbox One controller. Instead, each Xbox wireless controller, including the ones that will ship with the console, will support a wired mode suitable for PCs.
Naturally, the 2014 PC game support date sounds a lot like post Xbox One launch, and therefore not an immediate priority. Just as other official details surrounding the Xbox One have had their reversals, the Xbox One PC controller support in 2014 cannot be guaranteed.
Source: Kotaku
Author: Brian Hoss
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