Nintendo Was Making A Universal Controller That Also Worked On PlayStation And Xbox

Nintendo was working on a universal controller that would work across Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms, former executive Reggie Fils-Aime has revealed.

He told Inverse that Nintendo was making this controller in 2019 after Xbox came out with its own Xbox Adaptive Controller. Fils-Aime said Nintendo thought of the Xbox Adaptive Controller as a “jumping-off point to create something that would be platform-agnostic and adaptable by any consumer.”

Fils-Aime said, “Imagine an adaptive controller that you could play with your latest Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo platform. That’s what we were working on three years ago.”

The Xbox Adaptive Controller was designed for people with limited mobility that takes into consideration the needs of gamers who may not be able to hold a controller for a long time or reach all the triggers and buttons.

File-Aime left Nintendo in 2019 and doesn’t know if this project is still in the works, but he hopes it is.

“I’m not sure if it has or has not,” Fils-Aime said. “But also, my hope is that controller–and the ability for that controller to connect with all of the various systems–is launched and shared with consumers as quickly as possible.”

Also in the Inverse interview, Fils-Aime said he is a “believer in blockchain technology” and thinks “NFTs can be very interesting.” His book, Disrupting the Game, was released earlier this year.

Fils-Aime was a board member at GameStop but left the company when management didn’t listen to his advice. He now serves on the boards of boat company Brunswick and the toy company Spin Master.