When the Xbox 360 game console was originally released back in 2005, most people thought of it as merely an upgrade to Microsoft’s widely popular Xbox. The device did go on to become one of the best-selling gaming consoles of its time, but that wasn’t the only thing it did. The Xbox 360 controller went on to have a life of its own, thanks to its generally comfortable ease of use. In 2006, Microsoft released software that made the controller work with its Windows operating system, which powered most of the world’s PCs. This move effectively opened up support for a whole other world of gamers, who could now use the controller by simply plugging it into their computer.
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Over time, Xbox controller and its software became so widely used that tinkerers started imagining how to use them in unconventional ways. After all, if you stop thinking of the controller as a gaming device, it’s really a comfortable, set of joysticks and buttons that can do all sorts of things. Here are some of the most interesting ideas people have come up with.
