# \[minor pit\] Man, what the hell is up with the wireless XBox 360 controller? (PC) **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 20, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809 "2009-09-20T06:58:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/1 "2009-09-20T06:58:09Z")
Seriously, WTF. I have a wireless keyboard. I charge it maybe once a month. I have a wireless mouse. I charge it maybe once a week. I have a wireless headset. I charge it maybe once every two weeks. Where the fuck does Microsoft get off making this controller take _batteries_?! I see, after a bit of googling, that one can purchase a rechargeable “battery pack” for wireless X360 controllers. Shame on them. This should have been standard. Rather, the controller should have had a rechargeable battery incorporated. It’s lazy (or greedy) design to require disposable batteries. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/2 "2009-09-20T07:17:26Z")
My mouse takes batteries. What’s stopping you from picking up some NiMHs? ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/3 "2009-09-20T07:25:22Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > My mouse takes batteries. What’s stopping you from picking up some NiMHs? My mouse doesn’t. That’s the point. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/4 "2009-09-20T07:51:07Z")
And mine does, so I’m saying that it’s not just Microsoft that does this. There are pros and cons to both. The inconvenience of needing to have fully charged batteries on hand can be offset by needing to put your mouse out of commission for an extended period if you forget to charge it. They might be profiteering on the battery packs, but at least they’re only $10, way cheaper than most batteries. I got an “extended” battery for my cell phone as a gift, and I’m sure it cost at least $30. Now this POS phone has up to half the battery life of a decent phone. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/5 "2009-09-20T09:01:15Z")
My mouse _never_ needs charging. It’s got his nifty high-tech component called a “cord” that supplies power to the mouse. The signal’s pretty reliable, too; I have yet to have the mouse cut out like some of my old wireless peripherals would. Cords are still pretty expensive, though; my mouse cost nearly _twelve_ dollars. Hopefully the price of cord technology will fall in time for it to be implemented in the controllers of the next generation of XBox. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/6 "2009-09-20T09:11:22Z")
Seriously? If you’ve ever had a PS3 and had to start sitting a foot away from the TV because your controller ran out of power and you had to use the USB cable to charge the internal, unremovable battery (or worse, stop gaming all of a sudden), you’d know this is a GOOD thing. Granted they should’ve included the rechargeable battery pack as standard and made you resort to standard AAs only as backup, but it’s really not that big of a deal. It doesn’t require disposables. Get yourself some high-quality rechargeable AAs like one of [these](http://www.amazon.com/o/ASIN/B000IV0REA) and you’ll always have a hotswap set available. Each battery is 2000mAh to boot, something that’s hard to find with manufacturer-supplied rechargeables. ---
**Author:** ![MJinks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@MJinks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MJinks)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/7 "2009-09-20T11:26:32Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > Seriously? If you’ve ever had a PS3 and had to start sitting a foot away from the TV because your controller ran out of power and you had to use the USB cable to charge the internal, unremovable battery (or worse, stop gaming all of a sudden), you’d know this is a GOOD thing. With the PS3 you can just change over to a different controller and allow the other to charge. I always have one controller, attached by the USB cable, sitting next to the console. OTOH I usually prefer batteries to battery packs. You can have spare re-chargeable batteries sitting by but you can’t have a spare pack on standby. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/8 "2009-09-20T14:15:25Z")
Yeah, rechargeable batteries are nice and pretty cheap. The rechargeable battery packs are really good too. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/9 "2009-09-20T14:54:03Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Shame on them. This should have been standard. Rather, the controller should have had a rechargeable battery incorporated. It’s lazy (or greedy) design to require disposable batteries. The wireless Xbox 360 controller was designed in 2004/2005. A time when battery packs weren’t considered a standard part of small electronics. In fact, there was a howl of outrage from gamers when Sony announced the PS3’s controller would feature a non-removable recharagable battery instead of the AAs of the 360 controller. That said, you can buy an Xbox 360 controller with a recharagable battery now. But the AA version is still the standard controller set sold in stores and packed with the system. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2009, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/10 "2009-09-20T15:22:27Z")
Personally I like having one 360 controller that recharges when hooked up and one that is just on AAs. The charging cord is about as long as older cords for things that were actually tethered, so I’m good with that, and since my second controller doesn’t get used much, I don’t have to go for extra batteries often. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/11 "2009-09-21T02:41:48Z")
There are pictures floating around the net of those MS rechargeable packs being broken open to reveal nothing more than some plain old rechargeable AA’s inside, so there’s probably no real reason to go with their product over, say, Energizer’s. Also, if the gamefaqs boards are anything to go by, the play and charge kit is a piece of junk and tends to break easily. If you do go for MS batteries, the quick charge kit is apparently the way to go. I use rechargeable AA’s, well when I use my wireless controller anyway. Most of the time I use a wired one now. ---
**Author:** ![Kewk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ab992/32.png) [@Kewk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kewk)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/12 "2009-09-21T04:36:15Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Shame on them. This should have been standard. Rather, the controller should have had a rechargeable battery incorporated. It’s lazy (or greedy) design to require disposable batteries. So one day, after playing 1000’s of hours, your controller will not be able to hold a charge anymore and now it is a wired controller? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Some\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ad7895/32.png) [@Just\_Some\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Some_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/13 "2009-09-21T10:44:02Z")
Given how wireless game controllers consume batteries I have a few sets that I keep in rotation with the charger. A set comes out, a new set goes in. Now it does bother me that Microsoft’s wireless XBox controller can’t charge the batteries unless you have their pack (though I wouldn’t be shocked if someone had a hack for it). ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-pit-man-what-the-hell-is-up-with-the-wireless-xbox-360-controller-pc/510809/14 "2009-09-21T12:39:10Z")
> [@Kewk](#): > > So one day, after playing 1000’s of hours, your controller will not be able to hold a charge anymore and now it is a wired controller? This. The one thing I hate about my PS3 is knowing at some point in the future, I’m going to have to drop $60 to, essentially, replace my battery.