lol. 5 years in they do this? The 360 D-Pad is just terrible. To the point where when I play a 360 I literally cant use it.

360 dpad absolutely blows...just like triggers on dual shock...its like they dont have any research teams that can,you know,fix those kind of little problems before mass production starts...

i will have to start looking for that adapter that lets me use the 360 pad on my ps3.

the 360 controller is that comfy :D

Finally, I couldn't stand the 360 controller when it came to fighting games like street fighter. One thing that bugs me, why limited? It should be standard now with every new 360 that comes out mostly with the new xbox slim.

* Lets get NASTY!!

<its like they dont have any research teams that can,you know,fix those kind of little problems.>

all companies have research teams for this. the problem holding back ms from changing the d-pad and sony from changing the triggers is simple: TRADEMARKS

ms/sony cant do much about it if changing a simple aspect on a peripheral means paying up the arse to a 3rd party.

Yes the D-pad on the 360 controller is not the best. But tell me when do you use it? It's mostly used to change weapons in a game etc and I have NEVER failed pressing the wrong direction.

Fighting games...You shouldn't be using a gamepad to play a fighting game to begin with. But yes, the dpad sucks for fighting games.

The D-pad is the only let down on the 360 controller. Once this is fixed, the 360 controller would become practically flawless.

the_only_king is right about the radius of the analog sticks. Make the radius bigger (decrease the deadzone), thus increasing accuracy.

why didnt they include this at the xbox 360 s

this remembers that sony needs to redesign the analog sticks of the DS3/sixaxis cause they get so greasy and dirty.

YES they redesigned the d-pad! ...but in a limited edition? Come on.

Why is it limited edition? Cant they have both on the market?

Lol, the current controller D-Pad is fail. Who's idea was it to make it so that the directions can accidently overlap and push another if you press it at the wrong angle? It's more like a circle. And it's stiff as hell.

It's about time. Probably the only good news to come from Microsoft recently.

This was highly needed - 360 controller D-pad sucks. This is the only good news from MS over the past 3 months -

Isn't it a but too late for a controller redesign? lol

A limited edition controller? Wow Microsoft just keeps on doing what they do best eh?

Is sooo inovative copying the triggers from dreamcast
And the dpad is teh awesommes

Switching my MvC3 preorder then. Awesome news.

that's the only thing about the 360 controller I would fault but as mentioned, it's hardly used for anything past pressing it from time to time but nothing gamebreaking

OMFG. THIS IS NEWS!!!

THIS IS ALSO SARCASM!!

its limited cause they have too pay for it cause i believe sony has the patent too that d-pad design

and thats where the problem is limited edition well forget that

jack who,

Ahh, i never knew Sony had that patent, Thanks for enlightening me =)

5 yrs later n now they realize it suked

Finally!

Hopefully, the d pad stays in the same place.
This is a must have for me. I've been looking at a lot of 3rd party options for just that reason lately. But, I'd much rather have a 1st party controller.

Now If only I can get a more ergonomically designed ps3 controller with the analog stick in the gamecube/xbox position. Although.... for games like Super Street Fighter 4, I really prefer the Dpad just where it is.

Best traditional controller ever???? Something to finally take down the cube controller, which also by the way, had a terrible dpad. Too tiny! Maybe good for some folks.

ok, now I'll buy Mortal Kombat for my 360 when it releases next year :)

sorry wot, something good is happening?! pinch me!

even more fuel for them prototyping for a mobile platform.

It would have been better to redesign the d-pad (which is the only thing the PS3 controller does better) when they launched the slim.

or toss in a pressure sensitive touch pad..

How did Microsoft manage to release a faulty design for the D-pad?

The answer is because it was rushed out with scratch discs and RROD :(

Well the problems are fixed, finally :-). I wonder why didn't they redesign the D-pad for the 360S? M$hafting like Xbox live for $60 and I thought $50 was too expensive... You may think it's no big deal until the bills add up yearly.

Milk... more milk please!!!

Already spent extra loot on the charge-n-play kit in the past. I've just decided a long time ago not to play fighting games on my 360.

360 owners are gonna be very poor by x-mas at this rate.

why is this a limited edition thing? if the controller needs a redesign for the dpad so badly, why aren't they just correcting it on the standard one. i dont have an xbox but the only bad thing i hear about the controller is that the dpad is horrible. this should be an update for it and not be gone in 6 months

Same old same old, I cant for the life of me think of one single excuse about why this story has once again bought all the sony fanboys in to whine about the cost of peripherals on the 360.

Please stop trolling and move on, this story has nothing to do with you guys at all!!

$60+ for a controller with an improved dpad? Talk about milking it! Not gonna replace my controllers any time soon.

64.99 for for a better dpad controller (Which was way past due. Should've made this controller standard with the release of the slim) and forced play n charge kit?

You're breaking my balls, MS

Edit: Even then its only a slight improvement cause it just looks like they have raised the Dpad a little more and still runs on the 4 contact points on the controller board (Assuming they haven't changed that)

A simple 15 minute do it yourself mod can fix the D Pad problem.

Am i going to have to be the douche who says ps3 did the 8 way d-pad first?

I never had a problem with the D pad. But I do have a problem with the shoulder buttons. After extended plays, my fingers cramp up because of pressing the shoulder buttons often. Never had this problem on my PS3.

I know huge MS fans will hate me for saying this but... doesn't a twistable d-pad sound kinda... flimsy plastic breakable component?

Presumably, there's some hardware in there that picks up that the orientation of the dpad has changed, and locks it into place, etc. I think we all know how little plastic stoppers and tabs tend to break, with a little too much force. I can't help but think that this is actually a plan to turn the 360 controller into something more... repurchasable... since the warranty won't cover "user abuse".

That's the only reason I can think of, that they wouldn't simply make the dpad more like the DualShock pad. I can't think of any games that really rely on the "circle pad" functionality of the current pad. Are there any? That's really the only thing the current dpad is better at, than its competitors... simulating an analog stick.

This could be a pre 720 design experiment. If you're designing it and want to know which type of d-pad would prefer, you release a limited one.
Then gather the data that shows whether people were interested in it.

I could also be over analysing. :P

I was hoping for a new design, I like it, however 2 things, I want it in all black, and I want it with a BUILT in battery, jesus is that so hard to get with the times MS.