September 11th 2012 1:09 pm PT

A look at the Xbox 360 Essentials Pack and the Halo 4 LE Controller

in this video I’ll show you the Xbox 360 Essentials Pack and the Halo 4 Limited Edition Controller

I’ll be giving these away on a future podcast

Xbox 360 By Larry Hryb, Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson

permalink: http://majornelson.com/2012/09/11/a-look-at-the-xbox-360-essentials-pack-and-the-halo-4-le-controller/

  • Drjft

    The blue LED on the controller is sick, but it looks way too glossy. Is it the same surface as the Gears of War 3 controller?

    • http://www.majornelson.com Major Nelson

      I’ll have to go find my Gears controller and see if it is the same.

      • Lee Rayson

        Major- they still aint fixed Sonic Adventure cover art for uk gamers(when it is in My games) just wanted to mention it again as it gets closer to SA2

  • http://twitter.com/DIABOL1QUE13 DIABOL1QUE13™

    I’ll be looking forward to the LE Halo 4 Xbox 360 Bundle unboxing =p

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-Coburn/1291126502 Steven Coburn

    I WANT YOUR JOB! ;)

  • Lee Rayson

    oooooooo Shiny, the Halo controller looks really good

    But won’t a glossy controller slip out your hands after about 3 to 4 hours and hardcore play

  • ElektroDragon

    The new remote control is no longer backlit. Terrible mistake there. People watch movies in the dark!

    • Lee Rayson

      Buttons are painted white, my cable remote is the same and i have no promblems changing channels in the dark
      besides it bad to watch movies in the dark, it how you loose your eye sight!!! :P

      • ElektroDragon

        Newsflash: movie theaters play their movies in the dark. No one has gone blind from that.

        • Lee Rayson

          But in a living room you are not a safe distance from your TV, it use to be 26 inch tv you had to be atleast 3 meters away while viewing, but some of use have 52 inch tvs in our living room.
          but back to your first comment i really don’t see there no back light on the remote a big problem the symbols are in white and no one uses there remote at arms length anymore back when remotes had to be directly pointed at the tv

          • ElektroDragon

            I thought the whole “safe distance” thing with TVs dated back to when we were all using CRTs and we didn’t want our eyes bodies irradiated.

          • Alex_Atkin_UK

            So far as eradiating your eyeballs then yes it was. There isn’t so much a safe distance with modern TVs so much as a distance that causes the least eye strain.

            Watching a bright screen in a dark room causes eye strain which in turn results in headaches and can generally cause you eyesight problems. The theory I believe is that in a lit room you wont be quite as focused on the TV so will sometimes glance around the room which prevents eye strain by re-focusing your eyes. This is also why its advised to take breaks every hour when gaming, to give your eyes time to relax and refocus.

            The cinema is never really that dark either because they have to allow for people being able to see to enter/leave during the movie, or get sued if someone tripped up if it was pitch black.

    • Russell Gorall

      *waits for twenty people to tell you there are no reasons to have useful features

  • http://twitter.com/GreenMistt Miller

    Looks pretty sick, but I don’t like those D-pads. Not to mention they’re known to break easy when playing kof/sf.

  • Lee Rayson

    hardcore gaming bud, only someone with there mind in the gutter would think that

  • DHX

    Hmm, maybe I’m just silly, but this seems like something that should also include a headset. Even in place of the HDMI cable..

    • registradus

      who doesn’t own a HDMI cable? or several?

      • Russell Gorall

        I think that is what he is saying.

        • registradus

          I know. I’m agreeing.

    • Alex_Atkin_UK

      I just think its crazy to think that a remote is “essential” on a games console but a headset is not? It really shows the skewed view Microsoft have on Xbox now.

      I don’t use my Xbox to play video, because the Netflix app works better, has a better picture and seems to have more content on PS3. The only advantage Xbox has there is voice control, but that has been known to pickup voices from the movie I am watching and pause itself.

      Then there is DLNA which the Xbox only really works well if you only use Windows and its limited formats. My TV and/or Bluray player work far better and support more video formats than PS3 or Xbox for playing back off my DLNA server.

      So why is a remote “essential” again?

      • DHX

        While, upon further thought, I fully agree with you that the remote control would be much better replaced with a headset rather than the HDMI cable being replaced, given that the Xbox now has sufficient media control options including Kinect and voice, the forthcoming SmartGlass technology, and just the plain ‘ol controller (so who even needs a remote??), what I question is this mentality that you or other gamers feel somehow jilted by Microsoft’s ‘skewed’, as it were, view on Xbox now. (how’s that for a long sentence?)

        How are you, as a gamer, suffering because of MS’s focus on increasing the entertainment value of the console? Seriously, how exactly?? Can you not still play the same and forthcoming games with the same controller and have the same exciting HD gaming experience you bought your console for?? Are there any less games available to play because of this? I know it’s been a slow dry summer for gaming, but that affects everyone. And yet we still have games like Minecraft, one of the most popular games ever. We got that! Exclusively! Sony dont!

        I, for one, applaud Microsoft’s efforts (and Sony is no slouch here either, even Nintendo! I don’t know why you’re singling out MS) to expand the entertainment offerings available on my console. Yay, sure your TV may do DLNA better, etc., but I don’t have that kind of fancy TV. I dont even have a TV, I have a projector! So it’s nice that I can get gaming, video streaming and other entertainemt offerings out of one box as opposed to connecting up my PC to it as well!

        Microsoft’s focus on adding entertainment options to my console is not skewed, but rather well placed! It’s not hurting me or you as gamers, yet it’s enhancing the entire Xbox experience! So what’s your beef with it then?

        …But yeah, agreed, who needs a freakin remote these days, like it’s 1956 or something??

  • http://twitter.com/TrashMKX Trash

    media remote? for what? I thought everyone used their PS3′s for all the good movie stuff. ppl still watch DVDs?

    • Lee Rayson

      DvDs sell more than Blu Ray

    • registradus

      Video on demand?

    • aStrangeDisease

      People still use physical media? Netflix and On Demand are all you need now. I just watched Battleship in HD on my Xbox.

  • eXoTaylor

    cant wait to add the UNSC controller to my collection (that’ll make lucky #13)

  • http://www.facebook.com/GunkIlLa8.5 Michael Fischer

    Great Job Major:) Thx For sharing.

  • registradus

    I’d like one of those transparent Halo 4 controllers. Except without the Halo part.

  • sam

    that contoller looks cool

  • Russell Gorall

    I guess this is a way to get people to listen to your podcast who don’t work for Microsoft.

    How is $80 for that stuff on a seven year old console “essential”? HDMI cables are five bucks. The controller doesn’t even look like the newer edition. You get a three month sub for a service that is usually forty bucks online for a year, or less. And a remote, not sure why? Jeesh.

  • http://www.facebook.com/Motordom Dominic Tresize

    Larry, the Essentials pack has been for sale in Australia for around a month now, if not longer? Is it supposed to be on sale yet?

  • http://www.facebook.com/laszlo.szabo.108889 László Szabó

    I hope the Halo controllers will appear in Hungary

  • SangestheLurker

    Why in the world do they keep making the “premium” controllers with SMOOTH analog sticks? I picked up two Gears of War controllers soley for the opposite reason. Who doesn’t love directional precision nubs!?!

  • http://twitter.com/toohats toohats

    That looks really nice. I want three so I can give a friend one.

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