Microsoft acknowledges unresponsiveness face buttons

Sekiro absolutely destroyed mine, i think i had the block or attack there.

Playing Valhalla and Immortals Fenyx Rising back to back wrecked havoc on my Elite 2. And the A button on the face and the paddle I had it assigned it to started going out.

Same. Only buttons that ever broke for me across three controllers (all different versions), were either LB or RB.

You can tell how cheap those parts are even brand new. They click like the cheapest plastic I’ve ever heard. Boggles my mind how much stronger 360 controllers were.

They use a tiny fragile clip to hold the shoulder button in place, and it's extremely prone to failure. It happened to my Elite Controller. I got it replaced under warranty, and the same thing happened to the replacement, except this time exactly 2 weeks after the warranty ran out.

Same, it’s incredibly annoying

Never had a problem with the shoulder buttons, but I am experiencing the Y button failure mentioned in the article, and some games, HITMAN 3 namely, fail to register the trigger presses on PC. I have to run the Epic launcher through Steam so I can use Steam Input to get them to function, when the game supports Xinput and thus shouldn't require that.

I'd go back to my Dualshock 4, but frankly, I got tired of the Bluetooth issues it gave me and the Xbox controller having the ability to seamlessly switch between PC and Xbox has been a huge selling point.

I know they did make slight adjustments to the Series X controllers in this department. They feel a bit more tactile and less mushy. I've only ever had one Xbox One controller this happened to me, it was quite a few years after use though.

Goddamn those bumpers. Since the 360 days, those fuckers have started to fail and either don't respond appropriately or double click.

I had to spend $40 to get my poor abused RB on my H5 controller repaired (it's the melee button in Halo 5 and Destiny 1&2)

Same here with Apex

Strange. My shoulder buttons only ever became a problem when a younger, stupider me slammed a controller down and fucked LB up.

I had the same problem and eventually purchased a razer wolverine ultimate controller to try something not made by microsoft. The difference has been night and day. I've had this controller for probably about 2 years now and have zero issues despite very heavy use. Would highly recommend if you're looking for alternatives.

My main problem with the bumpers is that they are too responsive

That’s always been my biggest issue, which I was lucky enough not to experience with the X1. In fact I’ve been pretty lucky with the X1 controllers last gen.

The 360 controllers though I was always replacing and for a variety of reasons. One might be stuck drift, another might be a sticky button but the biggest issue was always the shoulder buttons.

SAME. Cheap trash

I legit ruined an xbox one controller playing all the dark souls games for 100s of hours. It was the r1 button.

It's always the damn RB right thumbstick that become loose/stuck. Gone through 4 controllers because of this

Mine has problems with dpad up. I opened it, checked if the contact might be dirty or something, but everything looks fine. It sometimes works but often it refuses to acknowledge the button press.

I had issues with some face buttons sticking. A little isopropyl fixed them right up though.

My LB literally started being unreliable yesterday. With this very same controller I had issues with the RB aswell only a couple months after I got it, but that magically fixed itself (probably some dust buildup or something). I'm hoping for more magic cause these things are not cheap.

Stick drift/losing input on the analogs is my issue

For me it is the dpad. Everything else worked fine, still using my origin controller that came with the console. Altough I didn't play a lot the past 2 years

the xbox button also doesn't register if I don't really push it with intent.

this is also with mine, might be by design since it obstructs the whole screen with its menu when you press it

My elite 2 has been doing this since day 1. I had it “repaired” already. Just sent me another broken one.

The sea of thieves controller has lasted me well too, minimal drifting and all the buttons still work fine for me after years of use. Also looks fantastic.

the xbox button also doesn't register if I don't really push it with intent.

My Day One, Model 1537, controller did the same thing.

Wtf is a series controller? Are you trying to mean xbox series x controller aka the newest xbox? Man what an stupid name they chose.

Had to send one in for repair last month, cause the A button wasn’t working.

Got it back three days ago. Now the Y button isn’t working :/

If it was specifically the Button, the controller weirdly has 3 of the buttons on one pcb, with the B being on the second pcb. This resulted in my friend having travel issues with that button in particular.

It is honestly impressive how much more prone to issues the Elite line of controllers has been compared to normal controllers.

I guess it isn't shocking when you look inside and see how few parts on the Elite are actually premium.

Bought two and they both had issues with the button so I went back to the cheaper version

Its so bad. 4 replacements deep and still have the issue with my Y. I think I give up.

Can confirm, got 4 replacements before I had enough and got my money back. And here I was thinking I'd treat myself with a nice controller because "it'll be worth it, you use it A LOT. Might aswell spend some more money.".

Yeah, same. Unresponsive A button here.

it's hilarious how the elite controllers v1 seemed to have worse build quality than standard xbone controllers

[removed]

Because all the inner components are made by one company

Just like mice, where if you have Omron switches nowadays, it will die after 3 months

It's right there in the article:

A recent teardown of the DualSense controller showed part of the problem is that Sony, along with other companies, use components with low durability as a "wilful cost-saving calculation on the consoles makers' part," according to iFixit.

For starters I think its because there are a lot more moving parts than a NES controller.

There's a few reasons:

Really, there's no technical reason these controllers couldn't be super durable at virtually the same size. But that'd cost money. Without majorly increasing sales. Hence it's not being done.

unresponsive face buttons

This one is just particularly unacceptable. Silicone keypad with carbon pills have been around for so long at this point (same exact technology as on the NES controller) that there is no excuses for them not working.

Significantly more complex parts with far more components and a market that is price sensitive.

NES controller breakdown

PS5 controller breakdown

Shit, I bought their Elite 2 controller which cost almost $200.

and I've had it for only three months, and one of the analogs drifts up on its own, and it randomly drops the wireless connection and reconnects a few seconds later.

I am NOT happy about this.

It's insane to me that every 360 controller in my house still works, but both PS4 controllers we had are ruined, and apparently this gen is even worse for reliability...

So why is it that NES controllers from the 1980s still work fine.

Do they? What is this based on? I'd imagine the majority of NES controllers don't work well at this point, and the ones that do are the exception.

Because modern controller are way more complex than old ones. A NES controller had 8 face buttons. An xbox one controller has 10 face buttons, two analogue stick, two top bumpers and two analogue triggers; And the whole thing vibrate. Also did you touch a NES controller lately? The buttons feel like you are pushing two block of plastic against each other. It has a much bigger raw feeling than modern controller (some people prefer it this way but I'm just mentioning it for comparison sake).

Also, I couldn't find any source on that but I believe a NES controller cost around 20$ in 1985 which is around 50$ with today's inflation. But if anyone can correct me on that I would appreciate it!

Xbox controllers have had issues for quite a while. Xbox One had a ton of problems with the bumpers failing. Can't remember if that was an issue during the 360 era but I think drift definitely was then, too.

And misaligned d-pad on the switch pro controller! Something Nintendo themselves seemed to have a good history with prior

It seriously needs to be addressed. I love the dual sense but I went through several PS4 controllers and I cannot do the same again. I’m super worried about the adaptive triggers breaking or the joysticks drifting.

Joycons are much worse than just drifting sticks. Between my 4 joycons I've had like 8 problems. Broken LED, part of a stick literally fell off, sticky A button, broken spring in a joystick, left joycon disconnects in handheld mode, right joycon disconnects in docked mode, input lag or duplicated inputs all the time if there happens to be literally anything anywhere near the path between the joycon and the Switch (a table, any part of my body, etc.)

It's unbelievable how terrible this hardware is from a company that has had such legendarily good hardware quality until now.

I could fix my Sega Controllers (MS/MD) as a 6 year old and put them back together fine.

No chance a 6 year old can do that with a PS5 or even a PS4 controller. They're rather complicated due to the many many more parts and especially the tensioned stuff.

... I'm sorry, but you really can't see the difference? NES controllers are so simple in its construction. Any of the new controllers has more complex parts in their triggers than the entirety of the NES controllers.

Maybe you didn't play 8h/day 7days a week back then?

$$$

Need we say more?

Of note, all sticks drift. Given enough time sticks will drift. It has a lot more mechanically going on. My Xbox 360 controller started to drift eventually with use. So part of it is the internet freaking out about things and blowing it out of proportion. They do this all the time.

I remember how Switches were dying left and right out of the box and using your dock would shred your screen.

That said, this generation seems to have phoned it in. The PS5 controller definitely cheaped out. Face buttons have been sorted out since the NES days and typically only cheap third party garbage would have issues. The Joycons also made a poor choice with their joysticks, which I hope was due to size concerns.

Companies make less profit if they build stuff that lasts forever.

You see this in every industry not just gaming.

It’s also not as simple as to just say everything new is electronic and everyone old is mechanical (there is no question that’s a factor due to technological obsolescence), but it’s only part of the problem. Especially since most of the fail points in modern goods are rarely the electronics and usually something related to the mechanical parts inside.

Those NES controllers were made after a giant video game crash caused by a system that had faulty controllers. They needed to show their product was quality.

A better question is why does my Dual Shock Analog controller work perfectly today while PS5 controllers are breaking right away. The Joycon I can KIND of understand why (not saying it's acceptable) due to their size, but the PS5 and XSX controllers are unacceptable. The answer lies in cheaper products = bigger profits. Sad that the OEMs are making products at the quality level of MadCatz.

Profit margins are more important than quality parts.

Why sell one controller that last forever when you can sell several to the same customer.

I've had no problems this generation with controllers. And the sticks people are sure are the problem on PS5 are the same sticks that PS4 used. And we seemed to get through that generation without widespread reporting of stick drift.

I would suggest it could be a reporting problem. Either a deficiency last gen or a much higher emphasis this gen.

In other news my 8bitDo SNES controller buttons are very sticky. And it's making me sad.

I swear by 8-Bitdo's controllers because they are literally just NES/SNES/Genesis controllers with modern stuff in them. They even have an official deal with Xbox for their SNES variation to use on mobile devices for Gamepass. I swear by the SN30+ Pro as the best controller... well ever honestly because it's like it comes from an alternate timeline where the Nintendo PlayStation happened and got all the way up to the Nintendo PlayStation 4. They work on everything and besides the newest rumble stuff on the PS5 and trigger rumble on the Xbox Elites, it does everything including gyro on the Switch better than first party stuff.

It amazes me that, a company can so blatantly dunk on everybody by straight up reproducing the best features of old school controllers and that everyone just hasn't officially swapped to them for a solution since no one else can get their shit together.

Because the NES controllers that don't still work fine got thrown out 30 years ago.

I remember the face buttons on mine would sometimes get stuck under the shell. We didn't have Reddit and Twitter to complain on, we just had to deal with it.

Microsoft’s selling the console at a loss and is trying to make up some of that loss with controllers. Enough cost pressure to get margin and the quality drops, that’s what we’re seeing.

Either because these companies want to have a bill of materials that is like 10 dollars so they can pocket 40 when they sell it to you for 50 or they intentionally put in shit that they know will break and you'll come looking for a replacement in a year or two.

what's wrong with the PS5 controllers? Everyone says they're the best controllers they've ever used.

NES controllers from the 1980s do not "still work fine", they have accumulated over 30 years worth of crud, and probably need to be opened up and cleaned.

Things are not made to last long nowadays so that you may buy again. Stonks. Just like shoes.

Planned obsolescence.

because of complexity. 1980s was entirely digital and a button that works 51% still worked perfectly fine. nowadays most buttons are analog and a joystick that is 80% accurate will have drift.

the reason for why they cost more is that companies have learned to not make a profit from the system itself, but from accessories. These things go on sale on Black Friday for $35.

Xbox 360 controller bought back in 2007 works to this day and I'm using it every other day.

I've paid £25.

Drifting is because of too many features

More points of failure?

I've heard about Switch Joycons getting drift, and about issues with XBOX One controllers. I've been using the same Joycons since launch day and the same XBOX One pad since 2014 on a regular basis and both of them still work just fine.

Chiming in to say I had a similar experience.

Over nine months I had to replace mine three times. One faulty A/X, second controller RB stopped registering at all, third disconnected frequently from the wireless adapter.

The store did not accept a return as they said MS handles all this and replaces them. I tried to do a full reclamation thing but it would not have passed as MS does offer free replacement..

I sold my brand new fourth one (also MS replacement) to a friend for somewhat cheap, informing him of the issues that will likely arise. It's so far worked for him, but warranty is up soon.

I can't stress enough that no one should get these at all. Some get lucky, but really, most don't. A majority of these have some issue.

100% with you, though I bailed sooner. But, that said, how cool are those Wolverines? The buttons are a bit stiff, but the clicky feedback is SO NICE.

I'm really happy with my Wolverine Ultimate. Razer is the only brand I have found that utilizes two extra shoulder buttons in addition to the rear buttons. Plus being able to program one of the extra buttons to throttle or boost a joystick is super handy at times.

​

That said, I had some significant quality issues with Razer as well, but their customer service was accommodating enough that I didn't jump ship.

The bluetooth on the Elite 2 is terrible also. Not to mention that you can't rebind the paddles to anything other than buttons already being used on the controller, completely defeating the purpose I had for them.

Yeah the wolverine or the Power-A fusion are the two best options if you want a nice, durable xbox controller. They are both wired but the build quality is much higher than the elite and they are much cheaper (well at least the fusion is).

I have an Xbox one controller. The right dpad button barely responds.

Is that the controller or console lags? It annoys me as well.

I noticed that too. At first I thought it was a console problem (not sending the full vibrate signal on hold guide input) but no, using my older XB1 controllers with my Series X still has the solid vibrate when you hold guide. Haven't had the latter happen though, it at least always works even with the reduced feedback.

I have the opposite problem. I’ll press it once and the shutdown screen shows up

The electrical contact cleaner solution works really well. Have my joycons from launch and only had to spray twice. But I feel it.

I have had great luck with my switch pro controller! I love it. Just wish the triggers were pressure sensitive, cuz I use it on my computer.

I’m scared to use my joycons though. I don’t want to get em drifting.

You can always use 360 or One controllers if the new one fails

And there's a warranty so they'll send it to you for free, you dont have to buy a new one.

I bought and returned two Xbone controllers with this same issue, so who knows. People do seem to talk more about it this gen though.