The new Xbox One Afterglow Prismatic Controller by PDP offers more than just bells and whistles — it might just give Microsoft’s official option a run for its money.
At first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking that PDP’s Afterglow Prismatic Controller for the Xbox One might be more of a novelty item than a serious peripheral. Compared to the flat black aesthetic of Microsoft’s standard controller, it’s an undoubtedly gaudy piece of kit.
The new Xbox One Afterglow Prismatic Controller by PDP offers more than just bells and whistles — it might just give Microsoft’s official option a run for its money. I recently bought the Afterglow ax.1 xbox 360 controller to use on my PC but when I plug it in it won't download the drivers. I've seen support questions about this but my case seems a little different.
Afterglow Xbox One Controller Driver Download Windows 10
Indeed, the first thing that came to mind when I saw its unusual outward appearance were the dreaded ‘spare controllers’ I encountered at friends houses when I would head round to play video games. Many of these non-official controllers seemed to use an arresting visual design to make up for their other failings.
The Official Xbox One controller is a tremendous piece of hardware, as most owners of the system would agree. To me, any third-party replacement that used colorful lights as a selling point was probably going to fall short of the high bar set by Microsoft — but I’m pleased to say that my initial doubts were soon put to rest.
While the Afterglow Prismatic Controller falls short of outdoing its official counterpart in terms of hand-feel and playability, it’s only by a whisker. Its sticks, its buttons and its triggers are all comparably responsive and comfortable, and at no point while using the controller have I longed for Microsoft’s proprietary alternative.
In fact, the biggest downside to PDP’s effort is the fact that it’s wired — which is obviously a necessary part of its colorful capabilities. Still, wired controllers don’t tend to have the reassuring weight of their wireless brothers and sisters, and my personal preference lies with a heavier pad.
That being said, the detachable USB cable supplied with the Afterglow Prismatic Controller does give it one distinct advantage over the official wireless option: my PC recognized the peripheral immediately when I plugged it in. There was no messing with drivers or configuration options, I just opened up Shovel Knight and everything worked perfectly.
The pad also outdoes the stock controller by way of the multi-function wheels present on its reverse. These inputs are a little fiddly to use — not quite as agreeable as the paddles on the back of Microsoft’s Elite Controller — but can certainly be put to good use.
There’s a free app for the Xbox One that makes it easy to edit the way these wheels are configured, and set up different profiles for different games. This utility also offers up tools to tweak how the controller looks while its lights are activated.
It’s quick and easy to set up, and the results are quite pleasant to look at — if a little distracting. Not everyone is going to be enthused about the idea of a lambent pad, but anyone that’s looking for that functionality in a controller will be well-served by PDP‘s offering.
This amalgamation of seven different photos demonstrates the range of different colors the pad can output.
While the lights might not line up with my personal tastes, I did really appreciate the effect of the controller’s clear casing. Seeing the way that the pad’s motors deliver its vibration effect and the complex array of components on its reverse impressed me more than the glow — even though the setting where the pad cycles through its color palette is neat.
All in all, PDP has made a great controller. Anyone who’s looking for an ostentatious pad will be satisfied by its cosmetic options, but those features don’t come at the cost of its practical purpose — this is a robust peripheral that feels almost as precise and responsive as Microsoft’s official version.
The Afterglow Prismatic Controller for Xbox One is available now.
After months of promises, Microsoft finally released Windows drivers for its Xbox One controller, allowing it to pull double duty as wired controller for PC gaming.
Unlike the Xbox 360 wireless controller, which required a separate dongle for PC use, all you need to use the Xbox One controller on PC is a standard Micro-USB cable. The wired connection provides the power, so you don’t even need batteries. Unfortunately, you can’t use the Xbox One controller wirelessly on a PC at this time.
Driver Installation
To set up the controller, head to Major Nelson’s blog and download the drivers for either a 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) machine. (If you’re unsure which file to grab, open Control Panel, type About in the search bar and click System. Then, look under 'System Type.')
Open the file you just downloaded. Amusingly enough, Windows will show an 'unknown publisher' warning, even though the drivers are coming from Microsoft. Click Run in the box that pops up. You don’t have to plug in the controller to install the drivers.
A setup wizard should appear. Read and accept the license agreement, wait for the installation to finish, then click Finish.
Now, plug in your Xbox One controller. It may vibrate briefly, and you should see a 'driver software installed successfully' message on the System Tray.
At this point, you should be ready to play. Games that support Microsoft’s Xbox 360 controller should automatically recognize the Xbox One controller without any additional setup (with some exceptions described below).
Potential issues
The biggest problem is that several of the games I tested would not recognize the controller, including Dark Souls II, Transistor and Eldritch. The controller did recognize several other games, including Dishonored, Super Meat Boy and Trials Evolution. Uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers did not help, so hopefully this is just a temporary issue that Microsoft and game developers can resolve through updates.
Also, the first time I installed the driver, Windows 7 showed a 'Runtime Error' after plugging in the controller, followed by an 'XboxStat.exe has stopped working' error. The controller still worked, but the message was a nuisance. These messages went away after reinstalling the driver.
Finally, keep in mind that plugging the controller into a PC will break its wireless connection to the Xbox One. You’ll have to plug the controller back into the console via USB to pair them again.