Asus is entering the Xbox controller market in 2023 with a visually interesting piece of hardware. The Republic of Gamers Raikiri Pro–or lightning blade if you recognize that word from the Naruto anime–has all the inputs that you’d expect from an Xbox controller, but what makes this particular offering from Asus stand out is the 1.3-inch OLED display that has evicted the Xbox home button from its usual location.
Situated right above your thumbs, the 128 x 40 mini-display can be used for custom animations, informative updates such as your microphone status, or letting you know which controller profile you have active. You can even run animated wallpapers through it, and it will also be compatible with PC. It’s worth mentioning that Asus only mentions connectivity via USB-C for Xbox Series X|S consoles, so the bulk of the Raikiri Pro’s features will likely be reserved for PC gamers.
Gallery
For that platform, there will be a healthy amount of customization on offer. Buttons can be remapped, trigger dead zones can be fine-tuned, and the Asus Armory app can be used for more tweaking. The controller also includes trigger locks, a circular D-pad, and four programmable rear buttons.
Asus also noted that the Raikiri Pro is the first Xbox-licensed controller with tri-mode connectivity, which is a combo of Bluetooth, a low-latency 2.4GHz RF mode, and wired USB-C connectivity.
There’s no concrete release date or pricing yet, but Asus is aiming for a Q1 release.
The products discussed here were independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site.
