Microsoft’s Xbox One controller will last longer than the console itself

The controller for Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox One console can be mashed and smashed by gamers for the next decade. Microsoft accessories and hardware manager Bob Brown revealed in an interview with Pocket-Lint that there have been numerous rigorous tests the company put the Xbox One’s controller through during its development. Microsoft tested 20 controllers over the past six months, pressing their buttons repeatedly between 4 to 5 times per second for a total of 2 million taps apiece. The thumbsticks are also worked over and over again to ensure reliability and the company even conducts a series of drop tests to ensure the controllers remain intact. The executive noted that controllers should last between seven and 10 years, or in some cases even longer. Given that Microsoft usually updates its console every five to eight years, the Xbox One’s controller should still be alive and well when the company’s next-generation system is released.