@gaspower said:

Well I like to replace my controller every few years once the buttons get worn down anyways. But I suppose it's good to have the option of replaceable batteries.

The play and charge kit for the wireless 360 controller was basically only useful for the cable that turned it into a wired controller that still wasn't as good as a wired controller because you couldn't just plug it into a PC.

Have had the same controller that came with my PS3 since launch, have never had an issue with it. I bought one of the dual chargers for PS3 controllers, I throw it on there whenever I'm done playing, come back, and it's charged up and working.

I don't really care either way, I have rechargeable battery packs for my 360 controllers, but I think it's pretty rare that anyone would need to trash the entire PS3 controller. From what I've heard, it's pretty easy to just replace the battery in the unit yourself if it stops charging at some point, and those are like $4-5 on EBay.

What I've learned from this thread:

Some people's DS3's batteries degraded over time, other's didn't.

We can probably move on from that now.

WIRED 4 LIFE

To add to this changing the battery pack in a dual shock is not really that hard. You can order a replacement battery online for like 10 bucks and install it needing only a small screwdriver for the screws on the DS3 controller.

Good. Don't ever have to worry about the battery pack failing and killing the entire controller.

Just buy rechargeable ones.

@hollitz said:

Exactly! Oh, and that rechargable battery thing, which I must have used hundreds of times by now.

Seriously, I don't understand why people are actually complaining about this, or the availability of another Play & Charge kit. Complete non-issue.

so dumb

xbox is run from the battery or electric

What's with the "GOD IT'S 2013 GET WITH THE TIMES" folks in this thread? I mean as far as I know batteries are still current technology, lots of shit still uses them. No one's stopping you from jamming Eneloops in that controller, and this way when those die you still have the option to put in the normal AAs you all have lying around your house.

Have I already posted about how this isn't a big deal? If I haven't: it isn't a big deal.

Yeah I don't get it either. By allowing AAs, the XBox One controller will be using the same Eneloops that everything else in my house uses. And I bet 90% of the things I buy in the next 5-10 years will take 'em too.

...I'm currently looking at 12 extra, fully charged Eneloop AAs and 6 fully charged AAAs anxiously waiting for something to die so that they can have their time to shine :)

Stuff Still uses Batteries? I thought everything would be powered by the sun by 2013.

Wait, what? Why is that a bad thing? I constantly have a package of AA's sitting around that I get at discount prices from Costco.

What is the problem when you can fall back on Micro USB if your batteries are dead? Some people's set-ups might be different but i've never actually needed a wireless controller over a wired. Having a Micro USB port on the back of that thing is an improvement over the shitty proprietary play-and-charge malarkey we had this era.

There's been a huge problem in the battery industry in that batteries haven't changed much in the last century. We're on the cusp of some revolutionary-ass battery tech that's going to change everything, and here's Microsoft telling you that the future lies in AA batteries.

I personally have a problem with AA batteries. They're bulky and expensive, they don't last long, and you can't just chuck them in a landfill without feeling like a douchebag. You also have to constantly remove them from whatever they're sitting in to keep them from draining energy by themselves. The few times I decide to play on my Wii, I find the batteries, freshly installed from the last time I used the Wii controller, dead on arrival. They're cumbersome, annoying, and they just fucking suck.

My two cents: I have five PS3 controllers of varying ages. Only one has had battery problems. I use the past tense because it inexplicably fixed itself. None of them have had life-draining issues. Meanwhile, the AA's in all my Wiimotes and old GameBoys go dead real fast.

I haven't bought batteries in years. YEARS.

How can people complain about a built-in battery a la PS3 controller? Where are you gaming that you are nowhere near ANYTHING that has a USB plug, let alone ANY USB charger that can plug into a wall socket? Why aren't you plugging up the controller into anything that has a USB port (PC, laptop) when you aren't playing? Why is managing a cycle of rechargeable batteries at all times seen as a plus?

At the end of the day, plug in your phone, plug in your tablet, and if you've been using it, plug in your controller. Not that hard.

Seriously, what fucking bizarro world am I in? Nintendo ditches AA batteries and MS picks them back up?

Built-in has its own issues. I think the best model is what we see with the Wii U Gamepad, Wii U Pro Controller and DS line. Batteries are rechargable, but can be replaced by unscrewing the back and replaced by buying a new one from Nintendo.

Eneloop4lyfe son.

And M$ loses a point in the Pre-console war.

Is this even real?

As far as my buying decisions go, it certainly is another point I don't like about Microsoft. Microsoft's *Everything's Modular, Everything's Monetized* design paradigm is the main reason why I switched from 360 to PS3 halfway through this generation.

Every controller cost an extra 30+$ bucks for the convenience I get for free with Playstation. Every year of online play costs me another 90+$ (that's what it costed at that time). Sure - PS4 now too put online play behind the paywall, but the point about the gamepads holds true once again.

30+$ additional expense for the charge kit for each wireless gamepad? Or fiddling with recharable batteries? Or buying hundreds of dollars worth of batteries over the lifetime of the console? No thank you. Those who say internal accumulators fail, mine didn't, and I can always turn any PS3/4 gamepad into a wired controller by using the usb cable.

It's simply a matter of business ethics. Microsoft wants to monetize everything, Sony wants first to build a cohesive and elegant product.

I love how Microsoft is claiming that the development of this new controller has cost them 100 million $ and then they could not even use a different solution than AA batteries^^

OH FOR FUCK SAKE!

$20 at Walmart will get you 4 AA Duracell (the brand I use) batteries and a charger.

I bought 2 sets 7 years ago (according to the date stamp on my charger).

I haven't purchased AA batteries since 2007, but I use them every day, in my Xbox controller and TV remote.

<sarcasm>Oh no! Micro$oft decided to use replaceable power source on their Xbone controllers!</sarcasm>

Microsoft's solution is extremely practical for the end user. AA-batteries are most common ones and they can be bought in any corner of the world. They are cheap. Also AA is a rare battery type in a sense that it is one of the few with good rechargeable options. Get some 2500+ milliamp batteries and you will be playing for weeks with one charge.

At least it'll turn into a proper wired controller when using an UBS cable, just like the DualShock 3&4.

I saw this video that was posted on Reddit today and I think this is valuable information. Basically Michio Kaku is talking about why batteries seem like they are not evolving at the same pace as the rest of technology.