American Navy Upgrades Their Attacker-Submarines... With Xbox 360 Hand-Controllers

Many complained that they were too big and clumsy, but the old Xbox 360-hand controls apparently fits for some purpose. It is The Virginian Pilot that directed my attention to the American navy's recent upgrade for their Virginia-stamped attack submarines, and the mentioned upgrade comes in the form of using the old 360-controllers in the submarines.

But why would they do this? Well, the very technically advanced Virginia-submarines traditionally has been equipped with cameras and periscopes that have been controlled by very expensive joysticks. The optics rotate in full 360 degrees, and after consulting a bunch of crew members the American navy has made the choice that new recruits would have it considerably easier to learn how a Xbox-controller functions than the original controllers.

And besides from the fact of usability, they will also make big savings in this new effort. The joysticks that have been used until now cost upwards to 38,000 dollars. A Xbox 360-controller can be found for about 30 bucks in any retail store, just for comparison. The inspiration to this awesome gaming adaption comes from the military recent equipment tech-boom that have already adapted the controller - coming from tools like drones, laser-cannons and robots that can disarm bombs are already being used with the Xbox controller as means for navigation.