What’s up Gameflip!
I was pretty curious during last E3 when Microsoft announced their new Xbox ELITE controller, which will retail for only and nothing more than just $149.99. Ouch!
But hey, this is a performance controller so there should be a reason for price, right? So I started to learn more about it and even TESTED this baby at E3 playing Halo: Masterchief Collection, more specifically Halo: CE. Although my interaction with it was very limited and I could not test more than one game, I have my thoughts about the features:
Swappable D-pads and thumbsticks
I tested a controller with a higher right thumbstick and regular left thumbstick. Super useful for shooter games. Sniping around with that mod felt great.
The D-pads, yeah… I’m not sure about that one. I personally think that the current Xbox One controller already have one of the best D-pads around, so I felt that the change doesn’t add much to the overall experience. I’ve heard some people saying that the swappable D-pads are nicer for fighting games, BUT C’MON! If you’re talking about a “Pro Gaming / High Performance” controller for a fighting game, you’d rater go with a legitimate Arcade-Stick. No fighting game fan will ever deny that 
Back Paddles
Wait, what?! Back Paddles?
Hell yeah! I LOVE THIS IDEA 
But I have to say… It felt weird to me at the first time. When playing, I’m used to comfortably rest my fingers on the back of the controller. Not with the PADDLES. I bet it’s a matter of being used to it.
For what should I use that? Well, you tell me. Since you can configure all the functions of the buttons, you can put these to use for any game. In my opinion, racing and action/shooter games are the most obvious genres that will benefit from that.
On racing games I would the paddles to shift gears (oh, no ■■■■ Sherlock). On shooter and other 3D action games I’d replace the Y, X, A and B buttons for these, so I don’t have to take my thumbs out of the right stick, letting me perform aiming and maneuvers while crouching, jumping etc.
I’d also love to see sports games like FIFA adding shortcuts to the paddles, so I don’t have to be browsing team behavior lists with the D-pad. Pressing P1 or P2 would do the job for me, so I can concentrate on the opponent’s team positioning.
Button Customization App
A fancy controller deserves a fancy app. I just hope they don’t offer DLCs for that.
I haven’t had the chance of checking this one out, so all my opinions below are based on what I read.
Fortunately enough, Microsoft says on their website that you can create and load multiple profiles for your customization, which means GREAT F*#$^&@N AWESOME NEWS! In my opinion, of course.
Being able to quickly change and save controller settings will help A LOT people like me. I like to play most of the genres and I’m definitely not planning to use my Forza setup to play Sunset Overdrive.
I just hope Microsoft to be a nice guy and roll out this app for the regular Xbox One controller, since I sometimes find myself missing the jumps on games like Dying Light, once there’s no way to fully customize the controllers there so I have to choose between bumpers and triggers to perform such action 
Hair Trigger Locks
Lock you triggers and BOOM! HEADSHOT!
I can see this one being a nice feature for shooters, nothing else. I might be wrong though.
Having the need to lock a trigger means that you use that button a lot! That reminds me my times with GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark on N64 mashing the Z trigger to take out opponents with the infamous PP7.
For PRO players (read as “PRO” a person who’s willing to make money out of playing shooter games or just that guy or girl who is so close to being a “ninja meets Rambo” that people call him/her a cheater, without of course using any sort of cheating stuff) I think this might be very useful. 
Final Considerations
So is it worth the price?
It depends. ** crowd booing **
If you are a serious gamer that wants to bring your games to the next level, I’d say YES. You have probably spent that amount on a nice headset already, so why not picking something that will continue to help you develop your skills?
If you are a casual gamer, I’d not go for that. With $150 bucks on Gameflip, Mr. Flipper just bought Witcher III, Batman AK, Splatoon, GTA V and Bloodborne. If you are a casual gamer, do as Mr. Flipper.
If you are a “not sure if serious, not sure if casual” type of gamer (please, don’t say mid-core), then I don’t know what you want. But I you might be just like me, so I’d get my hands on one of these controllers and test it. See if it feels right and then make the decision. If that’s a YES, I’d highly consider selling some of your old good but dusty games to “sponsor” your Xbox Elite Controller.
So what is your opinion on the Xbox Elite Controller?
If you’re not an Xbox One owner, would you like to see companies like Sony and Nintendo rolling out “Elite” controllers for their consoles too?
Enough said, thanks for reading this long post and here’s a badass picture:
All images in this post, except the badass cat/unicorn one, were taken from the official Microsoft website.
