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US Navy hooking up Xbox controllers to new submarines

The familiar gamepads will control advanced periscope systems.

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
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No, multiplayer Halo tournaments are not coming to a submarine near you. But, the US Navy is working on integrating the familiar Xbox 360 controller (but not the newer Xbox One controller) with its newest Virginia-class submarines. According to the Virginian-Pilot newspaper, game controllers are being tested with modern periscope systems, which have long since replaced the traditional giant tube with a series of high-resolution cameras.

Sailors reported that the helicopter-style controls for the periscope cameras were unwieldy, so Navy officials and Lockheed Martin looked for ways to use simpler, off-the-shelf technology.

The first sub with the new Xbox controller is expected to be the USS Colorado, which will be commissioned in November. Xbox maker Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.