For gamers who've griped about the Xbox 360's leveled down d-pad, Microsoft's telling old-school controller fans 'have it your way'. In fact: Have it both ways.
On November 9, the company says you'll be able to buy a version of the Xbox 360 gamepad with a twistable d-pad, one where the 'cross' portion can be either flush with the surrounding circle, like the current gamepad, or raised, where the cross lifts several millimeters above the disc.
That's most of all to please fighter fans, weaned on simpler button styles, like the Super Nintendo's firmly embedded and more directionally predictable d-pad. Fighting games in particular benefit from deterministic controls, allowing players to gauge, practice, and then depend on subtle thumb twists and jabs that oscillate between perpendicular and diagonal movements or involve stringing together complex sequences of d-pad slides and taps.
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