Atop the controller is a small white sync button that, for the first time, allows your controller to communicate with a Xbox 360 console.

Taking their place are the left and right bumpers, which make their home on the top of the controller in front of the triggers. Removed from the older controller are the black and white buttons, which were awkwardly placed below the face buttons. The start and Back buttons have been moved to the center, flanking the new guide button, which can turn on the system remotely and allows access to your gamer card at any time. The left and right analog sticks and triggers, the control pad, and the face buttons are all in the same spots, constructed rather similarly. The Xbox 360 Wireless Controller borrows many design elements from the Controller S. The Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless controller may be the most expensive first-party controller ever, but it's easily the best, too.

The controller should last from 15 to 20 hours between recharging or replacing the battery. It's currently available in only one color, and it accepts two AA batteries or a more environmentally friendly Xbox 360 Rechargeable Battery Pack. The Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless controller retails for $50-that is, $10 more than the wired controller. Heralded as one of the best controllers ever created, Xbox fans wondered how Microsoft could improve upon its design as it set out to create the official wireless controller for the Xbox 360.

Roughly halfway through the console's run, the original controller was replaced with the Controller S, the smaller alternative created for the Japanese launch. The original Xbox controller was an oversize mess, with oddly shaped and placed buttons. Microsoft's first venture into the console business with the Xbox was a learning experience for the company, and there's no greater evidence than the evolution of the system's controller.

Xbox360 wireless