Apparently because the batteries are shipped with no charge, the “smart” charging unit labels them as damaged. Until there is power in the batteries, the charging unit refuses to charge them. The solution is to use the cable from either the Microsoft Play and Charge Kit or the NYKO Power Kit to give the batteries a little “jump start” then use the charge station to juice them the rest of the way. How this problem got by quality control at NYKO is beyond me. Still, the fact that you must own either of the aforementioned products adds an additional 15 to 20 dollars onto the total cost of the Charge Station 360, greatly downgrading its value. Add to this the fact that most people would not discover this issue until they got the product home, and you can see why Nyko's Charge Station 360 has not been well thought-out.

That said, once I got the batteries charged, I had no further problems with the unit and it performed as expected. The batteries actually charged a little faster than advertised, but did not power the controller for the 25 hours NYKO claims. Still, the battery life increased after several charge/discharge cycles, and the batteries adequately powered the controllers for quite some time.

Conclusion

So, the question is: Is the Charge Station 360 worth buying? I think that the answer is dependent on whether or not you already own a charging cable. If you DO own said cable, then you get a better value with the Charge Station 360 than you do with the Microsoft Xbox 360 Quick Charge Kit in that you get two batteries with the less expensive NYKO product and only one with the slightly costlier Microsoft one. If you do not own a charging cable, then you must figure that cost into the overall price of the Charge Station 360, rendering it a much less attractive option.