Announced at CES, Hyperkin has revealed the next in their line of retro Xbox controllers for modern hardware. This time around they’ll be recreating the form factor of the Xbox Controller S, which was the revision of the original Xbox’s rather beefy handpiece.
The original controller that shipped with the OG Xbox was rather divisive. It was rather bulky and rather unwieldy, even if you had big hands. This was apparently due to difficulties with the manufacturer of the controller’s PCB, but most players at the time only saw a giant controller where most of the facial real estate was taken up by a humungous logo. The controller was nicknamed “The Duke” (I actually remember hearing this moniker during the console’s lifespan) and was eventually replaced by the less massive Controller S. Apparently, some people have some love for the original monstrosity since Hyperkin recreated that one first, followed by the Xbox 360’s controller.
Hyperkin’s new creation, cleverly named DuchesS, is made to work with PC and Xbox Series X|S. It has modern features like a share button and a headphone jack. Perhaps most importantly, it uses Hall Effect joysticks and analog triggers. The early images shared by Hyperkin show off white and black variations. Unfortunately, there hasn’t yet been a translucent “crystal” version announced.
I don’t have a tremendous amount of nostalgia for the Controller S, but I always love seeing retro controller recreations. I’ve certainly got enough based on the SNES and Genesis/Mega Drive lying around. I think if I had one wish for the controller, it would be that it could work with the OG Xbox. I always appreciate fancier controllers for old hardware.
There is no release date or price stated for the Hyperkin DuchesS.
