The control pad was released in North America exclusively with Play & Charge Kits on November 9, 2010, and was released in Europe during February 2011. Among small changes such as the shape of the analog stick tops and grey-colored face buttons, the new controller features an adjustable directional pad which can be changed between a disc type D-pad or a plus shaped D-pad. Major Nelson) revealed a new design of the Xbox 360 controller set to replace the Wireless controller bundled with the Play & Charge Kit.

On August 31, 2010, Microsoft's Larry Hryb (a.k.a. It also features a proprietary serial connector (which is split into 2 parts on either side of the headset connector) for use with additional accessories, such as the chatpad. The controller has a 2.5 mm TRS connector on the front, allowing users to connect a headset for voice communication.

The 'back' and 'start' buttons have been moved to a more central position on the face of the controller, and the 'white' and 'black' buttons have been removed and replaced with two new bumpers that are positioned over the analog triggers on the back of the controller. The Xbox 360 controller has the same basic familiar button layout as the Controller S except that a few of the auxiliary buttons have been moved.

The wired controllers may be connected to any of the USB ports on the console, or to an attached USB hub. The wireless controllers run on either AA batteries or a rechargeable battery pack. The wired and wireless versions are also compatible with Microsoft PC operating systems, such as Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. The Xbox controller is not compatible with the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 controller comes in both wired and wireless versions.

The Xbox 360 controller is the primary game controller for Microsoft's Xbox 360 home video game console that was introduced at E3 2005.

Xbox 360 driver