Microsoft experimenting with tablet controller for next Xbox - Report

They are totally copying the Wii U. COME UP WITH YOUR OWN IDEAS MICROSOFT!

yea I am just going to play my 360 and PS3 for awhile when next gen comes out

Personally I'm highly interested in how companies will use touchscreens in gaming. TBH, I wish people would worry less about the price of the console, those 10 games you bought new probably cost you about the same not to mention that hard drive and wireless if you use it + the other million accessories that should of been included. It's would also be kind of nice to see what microsoft can make out of a console using new technology rather than worrying the price that the console sells for and removing near essential stuff to keep the price low. One of the reasons I prefer Sony, is they don't skimp on their consoles to lower the overall price.

lol Tablets are stupid for controllers..

They should make it as big as the ipad

I'm not against them making a tablet like peripheral for the next xbox. But I AM against them using it to jack up the price instead of having it be an entirely optional component ala the Kinect.

Microsoft replies, "We are the Borg. Lower your defenses and surrender your property. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile."

@Defender1978 Do you add a working D-pad? Because if so, I agree, the xbox dpad was garbage.

HAHAHA Eff that! xD

Keep it simple Microsoft! You don't need all this fancy garbage that increasing the price of the product with no real benefits. Just give us the same controller with high end graphics and we'll be good.

I hope they aren't really thinking of copying Nintendo like Sony did with the Move. it will be just another money sink that doesn't go anywhere with the xbox audience.

might be a good idea, but I don't like it... whats up with the rush for touch screen and portable games? touch screens are good when you don't want to carry extra luggage with your device and portable means that it fits in a pocket. I don't think they is much you can do to mix a comfortable console controller design with "portable" and "touch screen". Comparing good ol' console controllers (or mouse/keyboard) with touch screens is like comparing manual cars with automatic cars. One cannot replace the other even if it makes the job easier or more enjoyable in certain situations. Heh, on my side I'm sold on the PlayStation since I bought a ps3 after Nintendo died on me with the Wii and never even look up once to the Xbox since it looks so bland... (always seemed like a PC with rules)

Personally, I think this is a good idea. I also think it would be a good idea for Microsoft to extend the life of the 360 platform by turning it into a really kick arse Tablet/console hybrid. I salivate when I think about the lan parties that would spawn with such a device. It would be a video game experience like none other to have 7 or 8 of my friends in the same living room, on the same team, fragging it out against regional teams in competitions or leagues without having to set up 7 or 8 Xboxs, 7 or 8 internet connections, and 7 or 8 HD tv's. This would be an incredible motivating factor for purchasing the next round of systems.

Why?! I hate tablets so much as is, i goto my console to feel the awesomeness that is holding a controller! T.T

Bad idea. Stick with the same controller with a working d-pad.

"or a portable display when you want to take your game with you." It doubles as a console and a handheld...nice.

Look at THQ and their UDraw. Bad idea. I like a controller or a mouse and keyboard. I do not wish to game, by using the equivalent of an Ipad. I think companies need to realize that people will not spend the initial amount of money on a new console and the peripherals if they are too expensive. That is why the 3DS had to drop their price so soon in order to sell them at a loss. Point is the "Wii-U" will probably sell alright for those casual gamers. I will have a problem if the new Xbox or PS come out with these screens and it requires you to have one. Controllers have worked well for decades and mouse and keyboard longer. IMO its just something else that will most likely break and will cost just as much if not more to replace. I will say this, taking a dump while having the "portable tablet" to game on the "go" sounds pretty sweet. Whichever console doesn't have a tablet is the one I will buy. If they all have them...well then looks like it'll be a new shiny PC. But I digress...rumors, rumors.

The reason why two screens worked on the DS is because they are in such close proximity. The screens are about an inch and a half away so its easy to see both at the same time. Playing a console should not have this because at any given time you could be 2 or 10 feet away from your TV, making having to concentrate on both screens about as pleasing as spooning a lathe. Christ, sometimes when I am playing I have my controller under a blanket (my arms get cold a lot in my house especially during the winter) which means I can't even see the controller. So the only way to make this work is to make the screen barely used which in that case why have it. This is nothing but a gimmick, nothing more, and I will be going over to whatever console doesn't have it, whether that be the new Xbox or Playstation it doesn't really matter to me.

[This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

I'M NOT FOLLOWING XBOX NO MORE I WASTE MONEY & TIME FOR HALO & GOW3 I'M JUST SONY & NINTENDO THAT'S IT FROM NOW ON

Microsoft have a long history of copying the competition. Why would that stop now?

Tablet Hysteria is still on rampage.

I hope not. I'll believe it when MS releases a Press Conference stating this a fact.

Y U NO BE ORIGINAL MS?!

Please no..... the current controller is perfect (also I have like 4 of them...)

Take Nintendo's potentially good idea of a touch screen controller,Microsoft's penchant for powerful machines with connectivity to their other products and services,and Sony's bad idea of launching a console over $500 dollars,and what do you get? I actually don't have an answer.That's the trouble with rumors. I'll wait for official word from M$ themselves.

I'm not quite sold on the validity of this rumor. The XBOX controller was good and the XBOX 360 controller is even better. I can hardly imagine playing for hours holding something like a tablet in my hands. And the smaller buttons of a PSP / Vita are only acceptable because it is a portable device. Besides, after watching what happened to Sony when they tried to sell people a $500-$600 console, why would Microsoft ever want to go down that road? So a touch-screen as an add-on peripheral? Maybe. As the primary controller for gaming? Nah, I'll stick with my standard controller.

This seems interesting and I will wait to see some hard proof rather than just rumors and speculation.

Tablets, mobile gaming, kinect, touch screens they are not the future of games or anything else. They are gimmicks and niche markets not something to force the whole industry into just because nintendo made a new kind of motion controller. They are lemmings.

I remember paying 500$ for my 360 back in 05 so it wasn't a whole lot cheaper back then. I think a touch-screen on the remote would be nice if it could replace the hud on the tv, it would also be cool to be able access your inventory on it. Anyway it's nothing but rumors...

A $500 "Controller". Nothing more. LMAo..Can't wait for that $2000 dollar Xbox to come out along with that 150 dollar XBOX LIVE Fee. o.0

touch-screen controller over $500 ill wait 3years after its out then ty

I have the insider news on this. The controller on the next gen xbox (loop) will be more like the they way an Ipod is. They might even bring it out next year for 360. It's more like away to browes for things and if lets say you have netflix, you can type into the screen the name of the movie and it will play on the TV. The controller will be about the say. The big Green X in the center of the controller will be pulled and that is where the screen will be placed. The controller will be a little bigger but not anything like the wii-uThis of it like putting a ipod on the controller.. Thats about it.

Don't take me wrong, I love my X360 and I think MS did a great job this generation but these "supposedly cool" new features are ridiculous and I really hope they won't be implemented: "It could be a remote control when you're watching TV" On screen controls are simple and intuitive enough (assuming we are streaming TV from the xbox here) "a browser when you're on the Internet" what's the TV screen for then? "extra buttons and information when you're playing a game" don't we have enough buttons already and motion controls show people want less buttons? Hell, we even have Kinect with no buttons!! "a portable display when you want to take your game with you" hmmm... replacing Zune then? ;)

This is getting ridiculous. They're adding all these features when all people want is a game console. A touch tablet is completely unnecessary and just another reason to jack up prices. People are insane if they think I'm gonna shell out $500 for an Xbox I can get an insane graphics card and processor for that amount for a computer three times as good as whatever the Xbox will have.

@randomsmash - Sega did it in 1998 (see Dreamcast).

Too bad Apple already did it 3 years ago

Ehh doesn't matter what they add, when the 720 will crap out anyways like every other microsoft product and I'll have to buy a new one.

My concern: $499 Xbox 720 and $99 controllers. Any price point above that would be totally insane.

I am sick to death of this motionsensingtouchscreenmicrotabletportabledancepad garbage. Give me a classic controller and some new games any day of the week so I can sit on my ass on a Saturday and blast alien threats into the sun.

If you want improvement in the consoles, than expect the prices to be high. I am poor my self and understand this logic. If you think you can afford a powerful PC for 600Bux with no dead ends go nuts!!.

First of all, if you guys think that the new systems will keep their price range to $350 your crazier than i am. If any console system wants to progress, and improve on so many different aspects from here on. Pricing on consoles will be $500.00 And that is being the lowest they will go. Asking for lower is asking the companies to keep same chip sets in their new systems and calling them Quad!!

Microsoft rips off of sony's Idea of ripping off nintendo's Ideas. I love it (if this turns out to be true) in all honesty, the controller is the only thing that I really prefer with the 360, I say they should pull a sony and use the same controller for 2 more gens then release optional controllers, ala kinect (but not kinect, that thing is trash).

Yeah, but how true is this? We've been hearing nothing but rumor and speculation and it wouldn't surprise me that this is some troll doing it for the lulz after the wii announcement.

sorry but if they do any thing like the wii i will not buy another xbox, I like the way it is already.

@iverson89 Awesome idea, talking about the touch screen phone feature being able to be used on the next consoles as a controller, the only thing is then they won't get to make any $$ off of the extra accessories. Something we know they aren't gonna be willing to do.

Come on microsoft, just fix up that D-pad and you're fine, no need to do this.

And so it begins.

I think if they plan to design a tablet controller, it should resemble the PS Vita design rather than the Wii U controller. And btw. think about it. The Xbox360 controller is the logical evolution of the Gamecube controller while the PS3 controller is the logical evolution of a NES controller. I had no issues switching from GC to Xbox360. One last thing. You guys seem to forget very soon. New consoles have ALWAYS cost around $400-600. If you want great hardware, there is no way around it. I find it funny that people "can't afford" a console for $500 but a $2000 two year contract for an iPhone? No problem.... -.-