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Three Hundred and Sixty Controllers on Windows

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Being able to use real controllers for my Windows games is a big deal for me. When I first hooked up a 360 controller to my dinky little game it felt noticeably less dinky. There's something very natural about using a mini-joystick and ABXY buttons that I don't get with the arrow keys and a few randomly selected keys from a keyboard.

Earlier this week at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, Microsoft announced the Wireless Xbox 360 Controller for Windows. According to the press release, it will cost $59.95 and be released in December 2006. Now that sounds an awful lot like the Holiday 2006 date that they keep giving for the XNA (non-beta) release.

There aren't many details, but I'm guessing that this might just be a bundle containing a wireless 360 controller and an Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows (announced way back in May). Another press release from Germany gives the estimated price for this receiver ($19.99) and release date (late December 2006). Considering that 360 wireless controllers retail at $49.99, you save about 10 bucks getting the bundle (assuming that my guess is correct and it is, in fact, a bundle).

In the meantime, there's the wired Xbox 360 Controller for Windows, which is a standard wired 360 controller plus a CD that includes the required drivers. If you already have a wired 360 controller you can apparently get the drivers from Microsoft Update, but I haven't tried this to verify (since the CD worked for me).

While I'm glad that they're releasing the wireless 360 controller for Windows, I'll be sticking with the wired controller for a while. I'm programming more for the 2-foot (PC) experience at the moment and won't be doing a lot of 10-foot (console) programming right away. I also tend to lose wireless components easily under piles of junk on my desk. With a wired controller I can just follow the cable...

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