The Xbox controller is the primary game controller for Microsoft's Xbox home video game console and was introduced at the Game Developers Conference in 2000.
The first-generation Xbox controller (nicknamed the "Duke") was the first controller bundled with Xbox systems for all territories except Japan. A smaller and redesigned variant, called "Controller S", was sold and bundled with the console in Japan. It was later released in other territories and by the end of 2003 had replaced the first-generation controller worldwide. The larger original controller remained available as an optional accessory, and was re-released for the Xbox One after fans requested it back.
When the physical design of the controller began, for the controller had already been manufactured. Microsoft had asked their supplier, Mitsumi Electric, for a similar folded and stacked circuit board design used in Sony's DualShock 2 controller, but the company refused to manufacture such a design for Microsoft. This led to the controller being bulky and nearly three times the size of Sony's controller. This initial controller design was never launched in Japan, where the console instead launched with a smaller, redesigned version named "Controller S" that did use the more compact circuit board design.
Duke and original Japanese Controller S controllers made in Malaysia featured a dark green cable. When the Controller S was released in the West, early models featured the green cable, however later Controller S models switched to a black cable and were made in China.
The Duke's digital directional pad is visually similar to the digital directional pad on Microsoft's previous game controller, the Microsoft SideWinder. However, the Controller S dropped that design and replaced it with a plus shape on a disc.
The controller was oversized and was not very well received. While the product was being announced, some audience members threw objects at Blackley while he was on stage. The controller has been criticized for being bulky compared to other video game controllers; it was awarded "Blunder of the Year" by Game Informer in 2001, a Guinness World Record for the biggest controller in Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008, and was ranked the second worst video game controller ever by IGN editor Craig Harris.
Over fifteen years later, Seamus Blackley contacted Phil Spencer, the head of the Xbox division, and pitched an idea to revive the old controller, following a series of joking posts through social media that showed strong consumer desire for the controller. Spencer gave Blackley the rights to the Duke controller. The original design was modified with some subtle changes to the bumper design, shoulder buttons and overall layout to make it compatible with the Xbox One, as well as an LCD screen that displays the original Xbox boot sequence when turned on. The Duke was released for Xbox One and PC on April 30, 2018, through a partnership with Hyperkin.
It is also possible to save an Xbox Live account on a memory unit, to simplify its use on more than one Xbox.
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