Microsoft Patent Suggests Splittable Xbox Controller For Tablets

As far as dedicated gaming tablets are concerned, there aren’t too many at the moment. NVIDIA recently unveiled their new SHIELD gaming tablet and its accompanying wireless controller, but if you did not know better, you would not have thought it was a gaming tablet. Well according to a patent from Microsoft discovered by Patently Apple, it seems that Microsoft could have plans for a new style of controller that could help enhance Surface tablet gameplay.

As you can see in the image above, it shows off a regular-looking Xbox controller. However in the accompanying image below, it shows that the controller can actually be split into half and attached to both sides of the tablet, thus simulating a portable console experience like the PS Vita and the Nintendo 3DS.

According to the patent, one of the modules will offer an input button while the other module could communicate with the tablet wirelessly without the need for a USB connector. It is an interesting idea and if you’re wondering why that configuration looks so familiar, it is because Razer has something similar called the Razer Edge, where it is basically a tablet with a pair of controllers on either side.

Of course it remains to be seen if Microsoft will actually launch such a controller, but like we said it is definitely intriguing, but what do you guys think? Would you be interested in gaming with a Surface tablet with this kind of setup?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Gaming
Tags: Microsoft, Patent, Xbox