Microsoft looking to split controller design for mobile gaming

Ever since our portables gained touchscreens and ditched physical buttons gamers have done nothing but complain – and rightly so, I think. It appears, however, Microsoft can hear our cries.

Patently Apple, of all people, has dug up some diagrams filed by Microsoft with the US patent office that show plans an Xbox-style controller that splits in half, and straps to either side of a tablet.

Split controllers are nothing new, and Microsoft’s idea is far less extreme than the one proposed by Mad Genius.

Third party cradles for mobile devices which split the controller as seen in the picture above have been available for years, but it would make Microsoft the first device maker to endorse an “official” design.

Amazon and Google have both recently unveiled games controllers of their own, but these were both geared towards use at home with the Fire TV and Android TV set-top-boxes, and not on mobile devices. Naturally, NVIDIA has a wireless controller for its latest SHIELD tablet device, whilst the original incarnation was pretty much a controller with a screen attached.

If Microsoft goes ahead with this move to mobile then this could possibly provide a consistent standard for games developers to build their games too and thus increasing compatibility across the board. It would be nice to see a slicker solution though.

What do you reckon?