An officially licensed recreation of Microsoft’s original Xbox 360 controller is being released by Hyperkin, and it appears to have the potential to bring the 2005 nostalgia trip to contemporary Xbox systems and Windows PCs.
What’s New?
The Xbox 360’s inaugural internal development codename, Xenon, inspired the creation of the Xenon controller, which revives the original 17-year-old design while also adding Menu, View, and Share buttons, a 3.5mm headphone socket, and a detachable USB-C cable.
It will be offered in addition to the standard white in black, pink, and red.
What’s More?
Pricing and availability have not yet been disclosed, but if Hyperkin’s $70 reproduction of the Duke controller is any clue, this may be a very accurate and pricey recreation.
These early renders show a D-pad that has the same left lean as the originals, which may be too true in some minor details.
Digging Into More Details
To offer a left directional press a bit extra leeway, I personally used to sand the inner left wall of the D-pad surround on my Xbox 360 controllers.
When the controller is out, we’ll find out how it functions in practice, but I can confidently state that, unlike the Duke, the Xenon may be a controller you genuinely love using rather than just keeping on your shelf for sentimental reasons.
