New Xbox for 2024! New hybrid Xbox by 2028! But can we appreciate Microsoft’s leaked Sebile driver for a second?
The $70 platform could arrive in 2024 packed with the best parts of Sony’s DualSense, Valve’s Steam Controller, Google Stadia, and, hopefully, 8BitDo.
Obviously, this is the “precision haptic feedback” of the Sony DualSense.
Well, here’s hoping! It’s what I’m most excited about because it really adds a new dimension to some of Sony’s games, which just aren’t the same when you take them away.
Check out our DualSense x-ray below, compared to this one from an xbox padto see the difference in your haptic motors:
Note that some controllers shipped with “precision” or “HD haptics” that didn’t have the impact, even if they technically featured linear actuators instead of old-school eccentric rotating weights like Xbox gamepads still do today. The Steam Controller had a rather iffy tactile feel, and the Nintendo Switch’s tactile feel is not up to DualSense level…
So what is the good feature of Steam Controller?
Would you believe Microsoft’s “haptics work as speakers” have already been made? This always makes me lol:
The Steam Controller could truly Do that. Heck, the Taptic Engine on your iPhone technically I can do it too.
But I’m also very hopeful that Microsoft will put a gyroscope in this, not just an accelerometer, so we can have the same gyroscopic aiming revolution that I am experiencing on my Steam Deck and with Zelda in Change. Is so good to aim bows.
What benefit could Google’s Stadia controller have gotten?
It’s why Sebile is so important. Microsoft was positioning it internally as its first “universal wireless controller,” theoretically capable of controlling Xbox across consoles, mobile devices, PCs, and the cloud.
The controller can do that because it connects directly to the cloud, the documents show, in addition to Bluetooth and Xbox Wireless. Google Stadia pioneered direct cloud access by connecting the controller directly to your home Wi-Fi network and allowed me to seamlessly switch between playing a game on my PC, TV, and phone. Here’s something I wrote in 2019 about Stadia and Destiny 2:
I launched a TV session with the Stadia Controller while we were killing tiny minions, switched to a desktop with a mouse and keyboard when I needed better aim for a boss fight, and resumed the game without issue on a smartphone before to go down. the hallway to have a snack — all while playing with a colleague more than 5,000 miles away in London, without any major problems.
Amazon’s Luna controller also had a direct connection to the cloud, but… no one talks about Luna anymore.
Okay, I’m reading between the lines here. too much And I’m willing to be disappointed, but Sebile has three lovely ideas that catch my attention:
- A “rechargeable and interchangeable battery”
- “New modular joysticks” with “improved longevity”
- “Seamless pairing and switching” between multiple paired devices
First, Sony and Xbox fans have long argued over the merits of Sony’s rechargeable but short-lived internal lithium-ion pack versus Microsoft’s slot for standard AA batteries… but controller specialist 8BitDo delightfully said “Why not both?”
Yes, you are looking at a 2x AA-size Rechargeable battery pack that can stay inside your 8BitDo controller, charging via its USB-C port, and if it ever runs out mid-session, the AA batteries work well too.
Second, many of 8BitDo’s controllers have a neat slide switch on the back that lets you switch between four paired devices via Bluetooth – one click to go from Nintendo Switch to iPhone or PC. However, it looks like Microsoft could do that with an app.
Third, while The Ultimate Bluetooth Controller from 8BitDo unfortunately No Does it come with that style of battery or that four position one, does They come with Gulikit Hall Effect sensor joysticks that should hopefully eliminate stick drift, at a time when both Sony and Microsoft are using exactly the same joysticks prone to skidding.
Presence detection when lifting to wake could be a big problem for battery life! Former Polygon Editor-in-chief (and current editor) Chris Grant tells me that the Xbox One controllers seemed to last forever if you had Microsoft Kinect set up, since the camera handled that presence detection feature.
What are the chances of this?
Leaked Microsoft documents show that Sebile is not a fantastic project: it was already funded in May 2022. Leaked slides suggest this is he new Xbox controller, arriving in May 2024 for $70 and will be included with every new Xbox sold starting next fall.
It’s not the only new controller that was up for discussion, with another version codenamed “Igraine,” a new Elite controller called “Actium,” and a new deluxe controller called “Zarasai.”
But the latter two had yet to secure internal funding, and internal Microsoft documents also warned that the “full Sebile product vision” was “not currently approved,” setting out scenarios in which a stripped-down driver would ship instead.
By the way, Sebile and Igraine would supposedly ship with a packaged accessory of some kind called “Bonnie” or “Bonnie Pro.” Is that the name of the rechargeable battery? A carrying case? An interchangeable stick or a stick ornament? Your guess is as good as ours.
