Our recharging station of choice

The one thing both Sony and Microsoft have over Nintendo for their controllers are first party rechargeable batteries. Microsoft has the lead here as well, because even though their batteries don’t last as long per charge as Sony’s, They are easy to use and remove, and using standard AA-batteries is acceptable as well.

The charging method for Xbox 360 controllers is, however, questionable. The only way to charge it is using a specialized cable, which comes standard with the battery, to plug into a USB port, presumably on the 360, though any USB wielding device will generally do as well. This effectively leaves the user to plug in their controllers when the battery dies out, meaning pausing the game, finding the cable, plugging in the cable, then leaving it overnight to charge the battery.

Thus making it a wired controller for the rest of the day.

Microsoft also had a less popular and more expensive recharging station, the Quick Charge Kit, which recharged batteries by placing one or two batteries in the charge kit. No wires involved, but you still have to remove the battery to do so. Because of its price at the time, it didn’t sell remarkably well, so most 360 owners (as you may well know) own the Play & Charge Kit instead.

Nyko understands that while yes, gamers may be a lazy bunch at times, it isn’t just about promoting laziness. Their 360 Charge Base follows 2 simple principles: they are wireless controllers at all times, and removing the battery should not be standard practice. Which is what Sony did right, to some respect. Dealing with the PS3 controllers is not difficult when the user has less options…it just means they have less options to consider.

So what Nyko did was take the best of both worlds. The 360 Charge Base is designed to carry 360 controllers when not in use. They recharge the batteries like the Wii Charge Base did, by special batteries with charging nodes on the back. The kit itself is made so that two controllers can sit in it and charge simultaneously.

All of this begs the question: why bother with this, when Microsoft, the creator of the Xbox 360 and the majority of hardware for the console, has a similar product? It’s in the stuff of the Charge Base, and the timing.

The Charge Base comes with two rechargeable batteries instead of the Quick Charge Kit’s one. It comes with a large base to house two controllers, not just the batteries. It’s thin, so it’s easy to store either at your gaming center or anywhere else, though obviously using it where you usually store your controllers is optimal. It also has two lights that glow red when recharging, and green when they’ve completed. However, in an effort to go green, the light only stays green for a short period before shutting off, so no more power is being forced into the batteries or is being used by the Charge Base, saving on your already high electricity bill.

In terms of timing, it may be around this time that you notice your standard 360 controllers aren’t keeping their charge so long anymore. I recently noticed that just a month ago my main controller keeps a charge for about five hours, instead of the typical twenty. It meant I was playing with a wired controller for awhile, until the Charge Base came in. While most people may not be in a similar position to myself, because I spend lots of time on the 360 reviewing games on top of playing for enjoyment, if it happened to me, it’ll happen to everyone else soon enough.

The other upside is that it’s two additional rechargeable batteries, meaning even if you currently use Microsoft’s and have no issues with it, it’s a spare battery to use anytime. Unfortunately, they can only be charged while sitting in the cradle while plugged into the controller, and they cannot be charged by the Play & Charge Kit’s cable.

In my testing, I found that the batteries run for approximately 20 hours of gameplay, matching the standard rechargeables time-wise. They feel identical from the grip, though they are a little more difficult to remove and plug into the controller. Then again, they’re made intentionally so you don’t have to swap them. The base itself charges fairly quickly, charging two controllers in around 5-6 hours, though once again it isn’t a speed test here. The base is made to carry your controller as well as charge it, and the batteries won’t get worn out by overcharging because the power gets cut off after they have a full charge.

My only concern is that the Wii Charge Base had difficulty keeping a charge after only a few months of heavy use. While at E3, I was told that they hadn’t heard of any such issue, but did say some of the earlier models were problematic, which is probably what I had. However, I’ll be closely monitoring the stability of these batteries to make sure they last a good, long time.

Realistically, it shouldn’t even matter. They’re made so you charge when you stop playing, so unless a gaming marathon is underway, even five hours should suffice, so long as players actually use the Charge Base as intended. The convenient price of $29.99, matching the Quick Charge Kit and still adding an extra battery clearly makes it an excellent accessory to any 360 owner.