Well, Nintendo and Sony have their drifting joysticks, but Microsoft is currently facing its own set of controller problems for the Xbox Series X and S this generation, partially a carryover from last generation, and if you’re experiencing them, you’re not alone.
Microsoft has acknowledged an ongoing problem with unresponsive face buttons on the current Xbox controller:
“At Microsoft, we put all of our products through rigorous quality assurance testing and are committed to providing customers with an unparalleled gaming experience. We are aware some players may be experiencing unresponsiveness with their new Xbox Wireless Controllers and our teams are actively working on a solution. For the best experience, we encourage customers to visit Xbox Support for assistance."
As of now, there is no solution and you might be able to exchange it under warranty, but that process can be somewhat arduous. For an example of what’s actually going on, you can check out this video from Jake on YouTube that shows what an unresponsive Y button looks like in testing:
Arguably, an unresponsive face button is probably a worse overall problem than joystick drift, the main problem with Sony’s PS5 controller, in moment-to-moment gameplay, though it’s not clear how widespread the button issues are. But when they hit, they hit hard:
Given that we’re talking about a four month window since launch, that’s…quite bad.
Microsoft, like Sony and Nintendo, has already faced a class action lawsuit for controller problems, but that was for joystick drift, actually, a less-publicized problem with the Xbox controller, but occasionally one all the same. But they no doubt don’t want to face another one over button issues, which is why they will try to resolve this in short order.
This seems to be a pattern among modern controllers, and it’s easy to go through multiple ones in a generation, not because of any sort of abuse, but normal wear and tear that creates problems with the joysticks, battery life or now, the buttons. Even Microsoft’s expensive Elite controllers have had issue similar to this in the past, so it’s not really even a fully new problem.
It’s clear that more work needs to be done to ensure the lifespan of these controllers as more and more tech is jammed into them as the generations progress. But the basics appear to be what are failing, the joysticks and buttons, and there’s no end to these issues in sight for any of the major players right now. For Xbox, stay tuned for potential fixes for this button issue in particular.
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