Founder and co-host of Cast of Thrones. Say hello on twitter. 
I got to get some personal time with the new X-Box One Elite controller and I have to say, I was impressed. If you haven’t heard about this new controller, let me break it down for you. This is a new official controller from Microsoft, that is designed for the hardcore gamers market. Everything has been redesigned with that in mind.
This thing is solid, no like really solid. It feels like a quality piece of hardware in every way. It has a real heft to it, and all the buttons feel like they could take years of punishment. The triggers don’t squeak or flex in ways they aren’t supposed to. The shell of the controller doesn’t bend at the seems like my launch day X-Box One controller. It feels premium, and it should at $149.99.
Then there is the addition of the paddle buttons on the bottom of the controller. These paddles allow you to assign duplicates of the face buttons, allowing you to hit them without taking your fingers of the joysticks. All of these are removable and adjustable. The paddles, the d-pad, and even the joysticks all come with multiple variants allowing you to customize the feel of the controller.
I had read all about these features online, but the one thing I hadn’t read, was that the shoulder buttons have been redesigned as well. Honestly, this is what convinced me that I need to get one of these. The bumpers on the Elite have been reworked and you can now press them from the top of the button. The original controller required you to hit them on the edge. The elite is more like the original 360 controller, and if you have larger hands like me, this is wonderful news.