Xbox One controller features 40 design changes

The Xbox One will feature a redesigned version of the Xbox controller, Microsoft's Marc Whitten announced today at the console's unveiling event.

The controller looks similar to the previous Xbox controller. The analog sticks are thinner and have some texturing on the sides and look like perforated rubber coating. The controller has been updated with 40 design changes, including new dynamic impulse triggers, a newly designed precision directional pad that is more cross-shaped, an integrated battery compartment and a Wi-Fi Direct Radio Stack. Players will also be able to plug in stereo headsets and other accessories for use with the controller.

"We're taking the world's best controller and making it better," Whitten said.

Microsoft has also redesigned the way the controller talks to the console; the speed of communication between the controller and console is at least 15 percent faster. It also features smaller handles, a redesign that conceals screws and tiny motors in each trigger for "HD rumble" effects.

The original Xbox controller, released in 2000, included two analog sticks and triggers, a pressure-sensitive directional pad, Back and Start buttons and six analog action buttons: A, B, X, Y, black and white. The Xbox 360 controller introduced in 2005 added the Guide button in the middle, moved the back and start buttons to the center of the controller and removed the black and white buttons with bumpers over the triggers. The controller also included compatibility with accessories such as the chatpad mini keyboard and headsets.

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