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The reason why your Xbox controller still uses AA batteries

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The reason why your Xbox controller still uses AA batteries

Rechargeable controllers might seem the modern choice, but the gaming community is torn.

On December 12, 2019, during The Game Awards, Microsoft revealed its shiny new gaming console, the Xbox Series X. It had a solid-state drive for much shorter loading times and a brand-new controller that still needed a pair of AA batteries to operate. By then, both of Microsoft's rivals had long abandoned replaceable batteries, and their controllers shipped with internal rechargeable ones.

So, what happened? Why did Microsoft expect its customers to bring their own AA batteries in 2019, and why does it still do so to this day?

If you are not a gamer or have never owned an Xbox, you might not know that the original Xbox console shipped with a wired controller. And when the Xbox 360 arrived, it shipped premium units with a wireless one that ran on a pair of AA batteries. The controller could last a pretty long time on those two simple cells, but eventually they ran out of juice and needed to be replaced.

At the time, the Nintendo Wii also needed a pair of AA batteries, while Sony went from a wired controller on the PlayStation 2 straight to a wireless one on the PlayStation 3, which had an internal rechargeable battery. Nintendo eventually moved to rechargeable batteries with the Wii U in 2012, but Microsoft has stuck with the pair of AA batteries to this day for standard editions of the console.

The debate was alive in the room when Digital Foundry sat down with Xbox in 2020.


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