Introducing Xbox Controller S, a smaller Xbox game controller with a new button layout that allows you greater flexibility for your gaming experience. As with the Xbox Controller, Xbox Controller S is another high-quality accessory that gives you the option of choosing what works for you. Xbox Controller S is built for comfort, pinpoint accuracy, and total control. The choice is yours.

The original American design of the Xbox controller was deemed to be too large for the Japanese market, so Microsoft hired a design firm to create a smaller version of the Xbox controller specifically for the Japanese launch of the Xbox.

The functionality of the controller is identical, but some of the buttons had to be relocated to make the controller smaller. The new button locations were even less intuitive than the original locations, but it turned out that those buttons were rarely used in-game - perhaps as a result of their inconvenient placement. The directional pad and analog sticks were also improved in this redesign.

In what has perhaps become an industry first, the original Xbox controller has largely been abandoned in favor of the Controller S, which has now been adopted as the controller of choice.