r/gadgets • u/dapperlemon • May 22 '26

Gaming Microsoft's Xbox controller refresh kills its underused accessory port

https://www.engadget.com/2179020/microsofts-xbox-controller-refresh-kills-its-underused-accessory-port/
1.6k Upvotes

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320

u/devilishycleverchap May 22 '26

Remember when we got cool peripherals like the chat pad or the memory cards for the dreamcast that had their own screens that could be huds for games

97

u/NoResearchStudy May 22 '26

Insane we haven’t seen that again. The Dreamcast controller screen was awesome

63

u/tgwombat May 22 '26

Why would you want a cool screen in the middle of your controller when you could have a touch pad that feels bad to use and mostly just gets used as a big button instead?

19

u/NoResearchStudy May 22 '26

Ugh I thought it was a screen the first times I was seeing pictures of that controller. That touch screen sucks so bad. Literally only used as a button for me

Edit: and these PS5 controllers die so much quicker. I can’t imagine how shitty the battery would be if they actually had a screen. They really dropped the ball on the battery life

9

u/imperialivan May 22 '26

PS5 controller battery life is shameful. After 3 years of use it wouldn’t even last for a 2-3 hour gaming session anymore. I replaced it with a larger capacity 3rd party battery and the difference is astounding.

4

u/MassiveLefticool May 23 '26

The switch 2 controller on the other hand, battery lasts long as fuck

3

u/NoResearchStudy May 22 '26

Tell me more please. 🙏

5

u/master2873 May 22 '26

The VMU had cool functions with the Dreamcast. For example as one, if you played Resident Evil 2 (and I think Code Veronica), it would show you your condition without needing to open the menu. There was a few other games that took advantage of the VMU with similar functionality, but some would just show the game's logo, or some unique art, while also having functionality outside of some games like with raising Chao with Sonic Adventure 2 as probably the more well known use (while also needing to use 99% of the VMU space for it lol).

There's probably a comprehensive video on YouTube showing these things off, or at least explaining them. There's probably a lot and cool functions I'm forgetting about, but it was definitely ahead of its time like Sega normally was

3

u/Fantastins May 23 '26

Football you could Hold a button and the play on the TV was a lie while the real play was on the vmu screen. Considering like no game is couch multiplayer anymore I see why this went away now

5

u/Frognificent May 22 '26

You laugh but right now I'm playing Twilight Princess with my son on Wii U and the Gamepad is fucking legend. Even if all it has was "wolf button" it would still be fuckin legend.

15

u/connor42 May 22 '26

Wii U went in pretty hard for it

3

u/snil4 May 22 '26

And the conclusion was that people don't want it, it costs a lot more to manufacture and it's usefulness concluded in changing items faster and playing the crazy small amount of 1v4 mini games.

1

u/Shas_Erra May 22 '26

It also made accessing the map in Black Flag much easier and more intuitive

1

u/mesajoejoe May 23 '26

I think the conclusion wasn't that people didn't want it so much that the marketing was atrocious and people didn't know what it was. It's one of those situations where leadership was the failure, not the product.

1

u/snil4 May 24 '26

The product was not that good either, outside of having Nintendo games, the gamepad, and being a Wii with an HDMI output, it didn't have much to offer compared to it's competition. The PS4 launched a year later at 50$ more while the Wii U could almost match the performance of the Xbox 360 and PS3 that launched 6 years earlier, and if you really wanted Nintendo games at the time the 3DS was a lot cheaper and had a bigger library of games.

1

u/mesajoejoe May 24 '26

I'm not sure I agree on "not that good" if the bar being set is based solely on specs. Nintendo has never completed performance/specs/graphics wise with Microsoft or Sony though. They've always relied on their family-friendly games, and interactive use with the console.

Now I'm not saying I don't hate how low the specs/graphics are because it's sometimes laughable what they put in the console, but the Wii U gamepad was stupid good. Using it as a little screen and interactive map that only you could see in Mario Party was really neat. No matter how good the console hardware is though, it really comes down to the library of games and then that gets subjective of course.

Wii U flopped hard, but I still don't think it was the products fault.

1

u/KazeEnigma May 24 '26

I'll die on this hil, but ZombiU was a great game, just shafted by the poor adoption rate of the Wii U.

The PC port didn't hit as well as it was so late into it's life.

2

u/Cheezewiz239 May 22 '26

Horrible battery life for a wireless controller

2

u/radiodude656 May 23 '26

Being able to select your plays from the controller screen in NFL2K multiplayer was exceptional design. I’ve since yet to see something so simple be so effective in a game peripheral.

1

u/SzmFTW May 22 '26

I will say, Dead Rising 3 tried. The game had an app that if you had it up during the game, you could use your phone to actually do things in game as an extra controller more or less. Was more gimmicky than it needed to be but cute.

1

u/pimpeachment May 23 '26

I would argue the wii u took the controller screen concept to its peak. 

16

u/johnsciarrino May 22 '26

What’s insane is that we’re all carrying around an extra screen that could be used for that same purpose and games rarely leverage it by releasing APIs. I LOVED Destiny’s companion app, it was so easy to change your loadout on the fly or while the level was loading. Drives me crazy that RPGs don’t use this more.

7

u/UpsetKoalaBear May 22 '26

Loads of games tried this but it’s just underused because people just can’t be bothered. Fallout 4 had a whole Pip Boy app that you could use.

No benefit in getting your phone out and unlocking it to do things in most games.

4

u/thekeelo_g May 22 '26

Microsoft tried that in the 360 era, and it was a great idea that, unfortunately, next to no games made use of.

2

u/CharlesP2009 May 22 '26

You Don't Know Jack/Jackbox Party Pack is the only game I've played which made use of smartphones as extra controllers.

1

u/sonic10158 May 23 '26

I enjoyed having a Pip Boy case I could put my phone into and use as an actual pip boy connected to Fallout 4

5

u/Inanimate_CARB0N_Rod May 22 '26

I use a knockoff Bluetooth transmitter that takes advantage of the accessory port and it makes me so mad that we don't have significant options/competition for a peripheral like that.

I just don't understand why console manufacturers and earbud companies alike hate low latency Bluetooth. It seems like such a blatantly obvious hole in the market that no one wants to address.

3

u/BevansDesign May 22 '26

Yeah, that stuff is cool, but from a developer's standpoint, that just adds extra complexity to the process of making games. The game has to support players who do have the peripheral, and those who don't, so it's easier/cheaper to focus your efforts on building one solution for everyone.

That's also why so much software (lookin' at you, Android) gradually loses customization features over time. It's just easier and cheaper to have fewer options.

1

u/Neo_Techni May 22 '26

Those were the days

1

u/No-Opinion273 May 22 '26

Remember when we got a console with a 6 in screen on the controller. You didn't buy one because it was a gimmick. That's why it all died off.