Get Up Close and Personal with the New Xbox One Elite Controller

One of the biggest surprises from Microsoft at E3 wasn't a new game, but instead, some new hardware. The Xbox One Elite Controller is Microsoft's new, premier handheld. It's fully customizable in a way no other controller has (without extensive hardware modding at least), and improves on the problems with the original Xbox One controller.

It also has a starting cost of $150, so there's a good chance many of us won't ever get to play with it. But today, we can at least pretend this magnificent piece of hardware is sitting on our coffee tables, thanks to GameReactor.

Here, we can see the Elite's underside triggers. Many twitch gamers have invested in addons to their controllers that let them pull their triggers as fast as possible. For the first time, the functionality will be there by default, letting you finally use those fingers you'd normally just have holding the controller. If you prefer to play the normal way, you still can, but if you'd like a faster snap to aim, this is right up your alley.

Here you can see the Elite's top, featuring both of its stick variants, and the more traditional D-Pad. You can choose to either have concave or convex control sticks, so both Xbox loyals and recent converts from Sony can use the sticks they like best.

The full line up of swappable D-pads and sticks. The new, disco ball esque D-pad is meant to conform better to your thumb, and takes some inspiration from the Steam controller's haptic feedback pads. It will still work like the regular D-pad, but the question remains whether it can make a case for the Xbox Elite as the best controller for fighting game fans.

While an odd close up, it does reveal two additional things. One, Microsoft has learned to more clearly label which part of the battery box you press on to open. Two, there's a lever you can clearly see that will lock in/release the additional bottom half triggers. Fairly nifty way of keeping them in, if I do say so myself.

It's going to be interesting seeing how the average consumer responds to the Xbox One Elite controller. What do you think? Will you get an Elite? Will you wait for the price to drop? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments below. For further news on the Xbox One, be sure to check here on GameSkinny.