Why did Microsoft use that odd "black sheet" design for the original Xbox controller?

Since time immemorial, controllers have had the same basic design when it comes to buttons. You have the button itself, which pushes down a springy rubber pad, which has a conductive disc in it, which touches the contacts on the board. Imagine my surprise when I opened an Xbox controller for the first time! While the D pad uses this familar setup, the main buttons have a black plastic sheet over the board contacts which are pushed with hard plastic numbs in the rubber pads. It seems like this plastic sheet is conductive and it completes a circuit when pushed.

Why did Microsoft choose this design? I would have thought the reason would be that it seals the board contacts and prevents dust getting in and interfering, but this doesn't seem to be the case as the buttons on my Duke are starting to get unresponsive. I'm not sure it's a cost-cutting measure either, as it still uses the springy rubber pads, only with hard plastic instead of the conductive disc. In terms of repair-ability, does it handle being peeled up to get at the contacts underneath?

 

Isnt that a product of wanting analog buttons instead of the standard digital ones?

 

The Xbox controller's ABXY buttons are analogue?

 

"The Xbox controller featured dual vibration motors, two analog sticks, a pressure-sensitive directional pad, two analog triggers, a Back button, a Start button, two accessory slots and six 8-bit analog action buttons (A/Green, B/Red, X/Blue, Y/Yellow, and Black and White buttons)."

 

lol there was this trend in that generation, right?
ps2 advertised "256 levels of pressure on all buttons"
worst controller ever

 

Well, they needed to do something when the old 64-bit number and 32-mega size didn't mean much anymore.

 

Huh, never knew the ABXY buttons were analogue. So the black pad isn't just a conductive thing that makes contact with something on the board? If so, it might just be I'm not pressing hard enough for them to fully register Does it still get dirty though?

How does the PS2 have analogue buttons though? It uses the same old rubber pad with contact disc that controllers have always used.

 

That's the pressure, same with the triggers, pressing them lightly won't do shit. Xbox One on the other hand has amazing triggers.

 

The Xbox One controller is really good, definitely the best thumbsticks I've ever used. A shame it doesn't work wirelessly on PC!<br>

 

Also why the PS1 Dual Shock wouldn't work with the PS2 on some games (supposedly). Though, my feelings on the Playstation controllers are well known by now.

I think I prefer the 360 thumbsticks, but I do like the rumble triggers.

 

Well, I'm mostly saying I like the xbone controller's thumbsticks because is the deadzone so small. It's actually kinda hard to go back to using the thumbsticks on other controllers.

 

It's the controller that beat the GameCube controller for me.

 

I always preferred the S Controller although the placement of black and white were terrible for certain games.

 

I'm actually a big fan of the Duke (pun somewhat intended). I like its design better the S and I think it's quite comfortable. Though it was certainly a bizarre move on MS's part to make such an unusually large
controller.

 

My guess would be the people who designed and approved it had big hands.

 

I've had an original XBox for well over a decade now and I didn't know that the ABXY buttons were analogue. I know that the two triggers are, but I don't think I've ever seen a game where the control mechanics require you to, for example, press A lightly for one function, and heavily for another. Is it definite that the ABXY buttons are analogue?

I mean the first XBox, of course - I HATE the way Micro$oft, in their typical "**** the customer's wishes" attitude named the XBox 3 the XBox One, meaning that those of us who still love the first XBox have to call it the "original XBox".

 

analogue buttons are the reason.

other consoles with analogue face buttons are the PS2 and the PS3, but not the X360

 

I prefer the GC's controller. Haven't tried a Duke yet but I will say that the S isn't a controller that works well with my hands... Maybe its because I used a GC since 2006 and started Xbox in 2012 or so? Who knows...

 

You must have weird hands.

 

I don't think many games made use of the pressure-sensitive buttons on the DualShock 2. I know Gran Turismo 3 did, and I think 4 and Tourist Trophy did too. I don't know of any others.