- A new gamepad for the Xbox One showed up in a leaked promotional image on Twitter this week.
- It looks nothing like the default Xbox One gamepad (or any other gamepad we've ever seen).
- The new gamepad is said to be aimed at accessibility for players who aren't able to use default Xbox One gamepads.
- Microsoft has yet to officially unveil the new controller, nor has the company commented.
The Xbox One is getting an insane-looking new gamepad.
Despite its rectangular shape, the new controller isn't an attempted throwback to the simplistic design days of the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Instead, it's a controller aimed at accessibility, according to a report in Windows Central; the image was posted by Twitter user "h0x0d."
The two massive black circles are actually buttons, which Windows Central speculates could be programmable - the Xbox One allows button reassignment on a system level, so this is likely. The idea behind the design seems to be touch-based accessibility, for players who rely on touch over sight.
To this point, the top of the gamepad is strewn with various functions.
Twitter user 'h0x0d'/Microsoft
Left: The new Xbox One controller. Right: The default Xbox One gamepad.
In addition to the two large buttons on the front of the gamepad, there's a traditional d-pad and the standard Xbox One menu, view, and home buttons. A fourth button, just above the d-pad, looks to be a way for users to switch between one of three different user profiles on-the-fly.
An auxiliary audio jack sits on the left side, next to what could be a USB port - if accessibility is the goal here, it would make sense for the controller to have a USB port, despite that being non-standard.
The controller has yet to be announced by Microsoft, and the company didn't respond to a request for comment. With just a few weeks until the big annual video game trade show, E3 2018, it's likely we'll hear more about this new gamepad in the near future.
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