My Xbox Isn’t An Xbox

Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming Future Is *Almost* Real

When I found out that the new Xbox Cloud Gaming app for Quest VR headsets supported non-Microsoft controllers, I had to test it out immediately — if only for the novelty of playing Xbox games without any actual Microsoft-branded hardware.

In the past I’ve tested out the app with the standard controller that came with my Series S, but that’s never been my favorite control method. The Xbox controller design has sat miserable and largely unchanged for the last couple of decades, with only some meager attempts at sculpting the design and the addition of forgotten haptics into the triggers.

For those that don’t have one of Microsoft’s consoles inhabiting their living space and no desire to buy a new controller, Xbox Cloud Gaming will work on Quest with either Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers or Sony DualSense pads. Using them is as simple as going through the bluetooth pairing process with your VR headset. Then, inside the app, you’ll be asked by a slightly downtrodden dialog box to confirm that you’d like to use your dirty non-Xbox pad instead of accessing the “superior experience” you’d get with a “real” controller.

Microsoft will gently scold you for using a non-Xbox controller, but you don’t have to listen to them!

I went not with either official first party pad, but with a third party pad that I’ve come to love over the last nine months: The GuliKit…