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XB1 Elite Controller ($150)

You're faulting the wrong party, this is down to MS's stupidity, not people. The vast majority of their customer base (by vast I mean 80-90%+) are not even tangentially aware of SCUF, the Custom Controller Scene, or the general costs involved. Quite simply, you don't put a product like this in your E3 press conference because the obvious implication is going to be that it's a mass market item intended as a replacement for the standard pad.

For people who think these companies should only appeal to their interest during conferences. Yes it's stupid of them.
I watched the conference with my cousin. Actually watched both Sony and Microsoft. First thing I said to him was they were both well done. They had a good mix of products for everyone. I don't think I'll get everything shown as not everything appealed to me. One thing I won't do is cry about it.

I guess they should sell controllers at cost price and tell employees they can't have yearly raises because you know stuff. Lol people in this thread need to straighten priorities in life. By the way that 10-20% your ignoring are hardcore gamers like me, and we'll put money up if it means product innovation and advancing gaming beyond its current state. Casuals buy just a few games a year.
 
If Microsoft was so confident about its position in the market with the controller then they would have announced the price of it to the audience in the theater.

They didn't.
tumblr_mzucauvoa11ru72puo1_r1_400.gif
 
The amount of ignorance here is stupefying...

The Elite controller is not marketed or designed to replace the regular One controller. It is positioned feature-wise and price point to battle SCUF and other custom controller products.

-It is cheaper than those products

-It has more features than those products.

-It is compatible with ALL X1 games.

-It is not necessary to play certain games. The Elite will not transform you into a MLG pro

-It probably is better constructed than those products.

Knowing all of this, I am still scratching my head why posters are coming in here and saying:

-It is too expensive..... (It is cheaper than a SCUF by $50 conservative estimate)

I refuse to believe that we are that clueless. Better people than me can refer to the price of a A-10 Warthog HOTOS for sims, Thrustmaster Steering Wheels, Hori Arcade Stick Pros for fighters or shumps.....

Enough of this $150 is too much nonsense. If it is too much for you, then I respect that. But this product is targeting a market that is willingly paying $200+ for controllers.

Best regards,
Quoting for new page. Thanks for this post!
 
edit: Quoted Outrun's post again but Faith just did it in the post before mine lol

We'll keep doing it too, as long as the whining keeps going on
 
Scuf can make a case for $150 considering the amount of customization they offer in terms of features/colors/sticks, a smaller company dealing with thousands instead of millions has to account for the higher overhead for each part, plus who knows if they're even getting a discount on the X1 controllers in the first place.

MS on the other hand will be churning these things out by the hundreds of thousands. Their cost to market is going to be considerably lower. They chose to price gouge.

The only positive thing about the price is I'm sure the guys at Scuf appreciate Microsoft not putting them out of business overnight.
Yeah, they're hoping to target more people than the handful of people that buy scuf controllers. They put it on e3's stage for a reason. There's nothing wrong with people watching e3 and thinking it's too expensive. Learning about scuf controllers doesn't change that.
 
Scuf can make a case for $150 considering the amount of customization they offer in terms of features/colors/sticks, a smaller company dealing with thousands instead of millions has to account for the higher overhead for each part, plus who knows if they're even getting a discount on the X1 controllers in the first place.

MS on the other hand will be churning these things out by the hundreds of thousands. Their cost to market is going to be considerably lower. They chose to price gouge.

The only positive thing about the price is I'm sure the guys at Scuf appreciate Microsoft not putting them out of business overnight.

No, MS chose to price their product competitively. The market is willing to pay $175-$200, as evidenced by SCUF's success. We don't know MS's overhead or SCUF's. What we know is the price and features of the products, and the Elite has more features and a lower price than their competitor's product.
 
Scuf can make a case for $150 considering the amount of customization they offer in terms of features/colors/sticks, a smaller company dealing with thousands instead of millions has to account for the higher overhead for each part, plus who knows if they're even getting a discount on the X1 controllers in the first place.

MS on the other hand will be churning these things out by the hundreds of thousands. Their cost to market is going to be considerably lower. They chose to price gouge.

The only positive thing about the price is I'm sure the guys at Scuf appreciate Microsoft not putting them out of business overnight.

You're not seriously telling me this publicly traded company is trying to make as much money as they can?

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!
 
The amount of ignorance here is stupefying...

The Elite controller is not marketed or designed to replace the regular One controller. It is positioned feature-wise and price point to battle SCUF and other custom controller products.

-It is cheaper than those products

-It has more features than those products.

-It is compatible with ALL X1 games.

-It is not necessary to play certain games. The Elite will not transform you into a MLG pro

-It probably is better constructed than those products.

Knowing all of this, I am still scratching my head why posters are coming in here and saying:

-It is too expensive..... (It is cheaper than a SCUF by $50 conservative estimate)

I refuse to believe that we are that clueless. Better people than me can refer to the price of a A-10 Warthog HOTOS for sims, Thrustmaster Steering Wheels, Hori Arcade Stick Pros for fighters or shumps.....

Enough of this $150 is too much nonsense. If it is too much for you, then I respect that. But this product is targeting a market that is willingly paying $200+ for controllers.

Best regards,

Well I'm convinced.
 
The amount of ignorance here is stupefying...

The Elite controller is not marketed or designed to replace the regular One controller. It is positioned feature-wise and price point to battle SCUF and other custom controller products.

-It is cheaper than those products

-It has more features than those products.

-It is compatible with ALL X1 games.

-It is not necessary to play certain games. The Elite will not transform you into a MLG pro

-It probably is better constructed than those products.

Knowing all of this, I am still scratching my head why posters are coming in here and saying:

-It is too expensive..... (It is cheaper than a SCUF by $50 conservative estimate)

I refuse to believe that we are that clueless. Better people than me can refer to the price of a A-10 Warthog HOTOS for sims, Thrustmaster Steering Wheels, Hori Arcade Stick Pros for fighters or shumps.....

Enough of this $150 is too much nonsense. If it is too much for you, then I respect that. But this product is targeting a market that is willingly paying $200+ for controllers.

Best regards,

This guy gets it.
 
Scuf can make a case for $150 considering the amount of customization they offer in terms of features/colors/sticks, a smaller company dealing with thousands instead of millions has to account for the higher overhead for each part, plus who knows if they're even getting a discount on the X1 controllers in the first place.

MS on the other hand will be churning these things out by the hundreds of thousands. Their cost to market is going to be considerably lower. They chose to price gouge.

The only positive thing about the price is I'm sure the guys at Scuf appreciate Microsoft not putting them out of business overnight.

So what? Why have you lot held onto this simpleminded 'mass production' argument to generate a number for production, marketing, rnd and support? What about after care and addional training to their reps? Really short sighted and a poorly thoughtout attempt to strengthen your stance.
 
So what? Why have you lot held onto this simpleminded 'mass production' argument to generate a number for production, marketing, rnd and support? What about after care and addional training to their reps? Really short sighted and a poorly thoughtout attempt to strengthen your stance.

$100 worth of extra support per controller.
 
Got to manhandle this a little bit at the fanfest yesterday, it's quality.

$149 will probably be too much for me, but the build quality definitely seems like the price is justified.
 
$100 worth of extra support per controller.

Please point out where a number to cost effort was used? This is your claim?

Give an outline about the costs before you continue with your slippery slope fallacy. You seem to be in some capacity to make these claims.
 
You're right - they cost more and you can't pay most games with them.

You're right, they have LESS utility since they can only be used with certain titles.

You both seem like you're trying so hard to be super snarky, but I don't disagree with you. You're both absolutely right. But that's not my point.

My point is, the things Outrun listed aren't "elite" or professional controllers. They're gadgets aimed for true enthusiasts who want to get the most authentic simulator/arcade experience. They don't (usually) use these controllers to gain an advantage against other players, they want their gaming experience to be as close as possible to the "real thing".

Wouldn't be surprised if the price was even justified with the wheel and the joystick - they're probably both quite a lot more complex than your regular controller or m+kb.

Literally the only reason the Elite controller exists is to give the player a tiny advantage in competitive shooter games. It's not any more authentic than playing with the standard controller, hell, it may even not be any more enjoyable or fun than playing with the standard controller.

Scuf controllers seem to be aimed at the exclusive kind of "elite", the ones that not only are willing to pay any amount of money for the tiny advantage, but also have this "scuf controllers are only for the BEST OF THE BEST" mentality. When MS decided to spend valuable conference time - conference that I'd argue is aimed at the "regular" gamers far more than the super hardcore competitive ones that pay for Scuf controllers - telling us about their version of the competitive controller, people took it as MS trying to make the custom competitive controller more mainstream and accessible to everyone. Not like a "hey look at us, we want to take this time to pander to the 0.00001% of our playerbase" type of message, but more of the "forget those overpriced Scuf controllers, now YOU can also be part of the elite!" type.

As it stands, 150 bucks is a stupid price tag. For the elite best of the best, it's a slightly cheaper alternative to Scuf controllers - but without the COOL customization and SWEET brand value. They can shell out a bit more to get an awesome and super recognizable Scuf controller. Why would they bother with a boring-looking Microsoft one?

For the regular gamers, which is like pretty much everyone here, it's just a controller with a couple of more buttons and exchangeable sticks and d-pad. Over twice the price of the regular controller is absurd to them.

I feel like the controller alienates both parties.

e: also the fact that everyone who thinks the controller is overpriced is a whining, ignorant idiot is kind of telling how fucking stupid we've become as consumers. You people make me sad.
 
I paid almost $300 for my modded controller.

If you want the features the Elite has in SCUF or other brands be willing to pay at minimum $200. And those controllers do not have the 3.5MM jack.

The adjustable hair triggers on the custom controllers typically require you to take the controller apart to adjust them. So basically they are only working properly in an FPS. The Elite can be adjusted on the fly.

I will easily fork out $150 for this. It's cheap when you compare it to SCUF / Cinch etc.

And frankly my modded controller is not a very good build quality.
 
I fell in love with this control and the ideas behind it until I saw the price. No way I would pay for that; it is extortion pricing.
 
You both seem like you're trying so hard to be super snarky, but I don't disagree with you. You're both absolutely right. But that's not my point.

My point is, the things Outrun listed aren't "elite" or professional controllers. They're gadgets aimed for true enthusiasts who want to get the most authentic simulator/arcade experience. They don't (usually) use these controllers to gain an advantage against other players, they want their gaming experience to be as close as possible to the "real thing".

Wouldn't be surprised if the price was even justified with the wheel and the joystick - they're probably both quite a lot more complex than your regular controller or m+kb.

Literally the only reason the Elite controller exists is to give the player a tiny advantage in competitive shooter games. It's not any more authentic than playing with the standard controller, hell, it may even not be any more enjoyable or fun than playing with the standard controller.

Scuf controllers seem to be aimed at the exclusive kind of "elite", the ones that not only are willing to pay any amount of money for the tiny advantage, but also have this "scuf controllers are only for the BEST OF THE BEST" mentality. When MS decided to spend valuable conference time - conference that I'd argue is aimed at the "regular" gamers far more than the super hardcore competitive ones that pay for Scuf controllers - telling us about their version of the competitive controller, people took it as MS trying to make the custom competitive controller more mainstream and accessible to everyone. Not like a "hey look at us, we want to take this time to pander to the 0.00001% of our playerbase" type of message, but more of the "forget those overpriced Scuf controllers, now YOU can also be part of the elite!" type.

As it stands, 150 bucks is a stupid price tag. For the elite best of the best, it's a slightly cheaper alternative to Scuf controllers - but without the COOL customization and SWEET brand value. They can shell out a bit more to get an awesome and super recognizable Scuf controller. Why would they bother with a boring-looking Microsoft one?

For the regular gamers, which is like pretty much everyone here, it's just a controller with a couple of more buttons and exchangeable sticks and d-pad. Over twice the price of the regular controller is absurd to them.

I feel like the controller alienates both parties.

You don't speak for regular gamers you speak for yourself. And a reductionist perspective is lazy, its far far from the truth. And if they find the nauced subtleties and tuning of the controller hard to grasp then they shouldn't need convincing, as with anything that is specialised or refined to an audience, its not for them.
 
The amount of ignorance here is stupefying...

The Elite controller is not marketed or designed to replace the regular One controller. It is positioned feature-wise and price point to battle SCUF and other custom controller products.

-It is cheaper than those products

-It has more features than those products.

-It is compatible with ALL X1 games.

-It is not necessary to play certain games. The Elite will not transform you into a MLG pro

-It probably is better constructed than those products.

Knowing all of this, I am still scratching my head why posters are coming in here and saying:

-It is too expensive..... (It is cheaper than a SCUF by $50 conservative estimate)

I refuse to believe that we are that clueless. Better people than me can refer to the price of a A-10 Warthog HOTOS for sims, Thrustmaster Steering Wheels, Hori Arcade Stick Pros for fighters or shumps.....

Enough of this $150 is too much nonsense. If it is too much for you, then I respect that. But this product is targeting a market that is willingly paying $200+ for controllers.

Best regards,

I don't disagree but it's all relative to the individual consumer. When PS3 was released at $600, technology wise it was worth every penny of it. However the majority claimed it was overpriced and got a 360. The price of this product makes rational sense but it's not like purchase decisions are always made based on that. They are often emotional.
 
I don't disagree but it's all relative to the individual consumer. When PS3 was released at $600, technology wise it was worth every penny of it. However the majority claimed it was overpriced and got a 360. The price of this product makes rational sense but it's not like purchase decisions are always made based on that. They are often emotional.

The issue there was that there was already a precedence for lower priced consoles with similar features. The precedence for custom controllers are in the $200 range.
 
The amount of ignorance here is stupefying...

The Elite controller is not marketed or designed to replace the regular One controller. It is positioned feature-wise and price point to battle SCUF and other custom controller products.

-It is cheaper than those products

-It has more features than those products.

-It is compatible with ALL X1 games.

-It is not necessary to play certain games. The Elite will not transform you into a MLG pro

-It probably is better constructed than those products.

Knowing all of this, I am still scratching my head why posters are coming in here and saying:

-It is too expensive..... (It is cheaper than a SCUF by $50 conservative estimate)

I refuse to believe that we are that clueless. Better people than me can refer to the price of a A-10 Warthog HOTOS for sims, Thrustmaster Steering Wheels, Hori Arcade Stick Pros for fighters or shumps.....

Enough of this $150 is too much nonsense. If it is too much for you, then I respect that. But this product is targeting a market that is willingly paying $200+ for controllers.

Best regards,

This is all subjective. I own a HOTAS warthog, and have dropped coin on premium pads before.

I am not saying this is "too expensive" because I can't afford 150$ and wouldn't ever spend 150$ on a controller. I say its too expensive because I from what they have advertised you don't seem to get what you pay for. It seems overpriced for what it is, not because the price is unsurmountable.

Thats a subjective point of view. I also buy Macbook pros, which I know are kinda overpriced, usually just cause I really like the physical form factor and I think its worth the premium. Others think I am stupid for that reason. If I felt the ELITE controller in my hand and it somehow felt worth it, I might pull the trigger, but they haven't really pushed much more than fancy magnetic sticks, remapable paddles, and the switchable triggers, which are neat, and worth a premium, but not anywhere near 150$ in my opinion ( and apparently, others opinion as well ).

Your argument seems to hinge around the assumption that people think the SCUF controllers are worth it. I think those are even more of a bad value.

Just people putting their opinions out there! I don't think many people were saying that 150$ for a controller is obscene, they were saying that 150$ for THIS controller is obscene.
 
Scuf can make a case for $150 considering the amount of customization they offer in terms of features/colors/sticks, a smaller company dealing with thousands instead of millions has to account for the higher overhead for each part, plus who knows if they're even getting a discount on the X1 controllers in the first place.

MS on the other hand will be churning these things out by the hundreds of thousands. Their cost to market is going to be considerably lower. They chose to price gouge.

The only positive thing about the price is I'm sure the guys at Scuf appreciate Microsoft not putting them out of business overnight.

There isn't a comparable Scuf alternative at $150 or at all.
 
Got to manhandle this a little bit at the fanfest yesterday, it's quality.

$149 will probably be too much for me, but the build quality definitely seems like the price is justified.

Good to hear, how were the sticks?

Is the tension any tighter? Can you adjust the tension itself?

Can't wait to get one.
 
Let the thread speak for itself, then.

Yup, is divided opinion.

Like I said before, people are baffle by this price when we also have people that pay stuff like 200 dollar for a gaming chair, 300 dollars for a headset, 1000 Dollars for a Tv. Why not for a Control?

WOW @ the price.

This thing is gonna bomb hard.

Except its not going to, Pernello already stated in this thread they are not expecting huge sales for this product:

It uses the new bumpers.

Hopefully people will get a chance to pick one up. It's heavy and the fit-and-finish is amazing. The sticks are stainless steel. There is a delrin bushing in each thumbstick cavity that is silky-smooth and should basically never wear out. There are two profiles that remember your settings and follow you to different consoles.

This is not a minor cosmetic special-edition. Watch the videos with the dev team. We worked closely with a bunch of pro gamers to really refine every aspect. We don't expect it to sell in huge volumes. For us, this was about building the best most premium controller we could make, and the price came out that. When you feel it in person, I think you'll see where that $150 went.
 
The amount of ignorance here is stupefying...

The Elite controller is not marketed or designed to replace the regular One controller. It is positioned feature-wise and price point to battle SCUF and other custom controller products.

-It is cheaper than those products

-It has more features than those products.

-It is compatible with ALL X1 games.

-It is not necessary to play certain games. The Elite will not transform you into a MLG pro

-It probably is better constructed than those products.

Knowing all of this, I am still scratching my head why posters are coming in here and saying:

-It is too expensive..... (It is cheaper than a SCUF by $50 conservative estimate)

I refuse to believe that we are that clueless. Better people than me can refer to the price of a A-10 Warthog HOTOS for sims, Thrustmaster Steering Wheels, Hori Arcade Stick Pros for fighters or shumps.....

Enough of this $150 is too much nonsense. If it is too much for you, then I respect that. But this product is targeting a market that is willingly paying $200+ for controllers.

Best regards,

Solid post.
 
At first I thought it was designed as a replacement for the original but now I get it. Very cool. Glad a first party is making a high end controller.
 
I get what they were trying to do, which is to make the best "pro gaming" controller possible. I just wish there was a third option that met in the middle somewhere. I mainly like the idea of having the 4 programmable "paddle" buttons underneath. I would gladly sacrifice all of the fancier bells and whistles if it made the price drop by about 70 bucks.
 
The amount of ignorance here is stupefying...

The Elite controller is not marketed or designed to replace the regular One controller. It is positioned feature-wise and price point to battle SCUF and other custom controller products.

-It is cheaper than those products

-It has more features than those products.

-It is compatible with ALL X1 games.

-It is not necessary to play certain games. The Elite will not transform you into a MLG pro

-It probably is better constructed than those products.

Knowing all of this, I am still scratching my head why posters are coming in here and saying:

-It is too expensive..... (It is cheaper than a SCUF by $50 conservative estimate)

I refuse to believe that we are that clueless. Better people than me can refer to the price of a A-10 Warthog HOTOS for sims, Thrustmaster Steering Wheels, Hori Arcade Stick Pros for fighters or shumps.....

Enough of this $150 is too much nonsense. If it is too much for you, then I respect that. But this product is targeting a market that is willingly paying $200+ for controllers.

Best regards,
That's what people are expressing though, that it's too much for them. That's all.

It's not like they suddenly think the controller isn't top quality. People just got excited when they saw this sexy new thing during the conference, they were looking forward to it and now they just found out it's out of their price range. Of course they are a little bummed. It's completely natural.
 
Here is some additional context.

Elite level controllers

Thrustmaster HOTAS Wart Hog Joystick: $407. Perfect for Star Citizen. But why buy when you can play SC with a Mouse and Keyboard?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00371R8P4/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Mad Catz Pro Racing Force Feedback Wheel and Pedals for Xbox One: $394. But why buy when a regular controller works just fine?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GSJAQ9W/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Hori Real Arcade Pro: $149. Perfect for SFV..... But why buy when a DS4 will do?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ND0EBQ8/?tag=neogaf0e-20

We buy because we want and it makes us feel good :)

You have a point when it comes to luxury high end controllers (anyone can decide if those are worth it but that's a different topic). But this post doesn't make sense at all.
Replacing a controller with a controller is not the same as with genre-specific hardware.
A racing wheel is a racing wheel and not a pad and boosts the enjoyment of any (sim) racer greatly.

In all of the cases above (apart from fight sticks for many people) you would actually want to replace even the Elite controller for the specialized devices you've listed.
 
I pre-ordered one. I barely found out about it being on Amazon, and just ordered now. I hope I get this on day one, sucks I placed my order in so late. =/

Then again, it's really expensive, which makes me think not a lot of people are flooding to buy it. I'm so excited for this, even though it's a bit pricey. I love my X1, and specifically the X1 controller. So getting an ultimate version of my fav controller, it's worth it to me. I want this badly.

This + the new X1 UI w/ windows 10 + Halo 5. OMG. I mean this controller + Halo 5 and Foraz. Lawd. I hope this controller is out before Halo. Amazon has a Dec place holder, but that's usually a generic placeholder.
 
Good to hear, how were the sticks?

Is the tension any tighter? Can you adjust the tension itself?

Can't wait to get one.

They seemed pretty tight, they had two of the controllers, one with all the little pieces that you could swap out and another which was configured in one way. I didn't get to hold the pre-built one, but I got to fiddle with the one where you could swap the pieces around. Putting different length sticks was interesting.

Would have been nice if the bottom buttons could be configured as new buttons or combos.. but that wouldn't be fair :)

In person the controller looks very slick, and just 'feels' a lot more solid than the typical controllers.

Also, the D-pad and buttons they had at the show had Gears of War logos.. I wouldn't be surprised to see them release themed buttons down the road.
 
That's what people are expressing though, that it's too much for them. That's all.

It's not like they suddenly think the controller isn't top quality. People just got excited when they saw this sexy new thing during the conference, they were looking forward to it and now they just found out it's out of their price range. Of course they are a little bummed. It's completely natural.

Let's be honest. Not every post in here has been "Ah that's unfortunate but it's out of my price range."

I'm quite certain I've seen posts that have straight up been "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."
 
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