If you've been looking for a less expensive choice, Xbox's new Elite controller may be the one for you. A new "Core Edition" of the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 is being released; it has a sleek white finish as opposed to the original's solid black. And unlike the launch edition, the new controller is available for purchase alone, devoid of all of the extras that come included with the black Elite Series 2. So long as you don't care about the extras, it's a far less expensive option. 

Although a release date hasn't been specified just yet, the item costs $129.99, £114.99, or AU$137.44. If you want to beat the crowds, you can pre-order the white Core Edition Elite Controller from the official Microsoft store. 

When compared to the $179.99 / £159.99 / AU$249.95 price tag of the original Series 2 pad, that is a saving of $50 / £45 / AU$113. However, the price is almost the same when you include all of the optional accessories, such as the carry case and extra back paddles and thumbsticks, which are now packaged individually in the Complete Component Pack(opens in new tab). The pack costs an additional $59.99 (£54.99) (£54.99) (AU$79.95), which brings the total price back up to about the same as the black Elite Series 2, which already includes all of that as standard. 

For the masses, elite? 

You're out of luck if you don't care about the extras in the component pack and want to save money on the black Elite Wireless Controller. Microsoft has verified that, for the time being at least, the only Elite Series 2 model that will be offered as a standalone Core edition is the white model. But a Microsoft representative assured us that they would have "more information soon" on this. Therefore, in the future, the Core edition branding may be applied to additional Elite pads. Not shortly after it and its packaging were discovered in the wild, the white Elite Series 2 controller received an official announcement. 

Aside from the colour scheme, there aren't any significant differences from the original Elite Series 2. But it's a wise decision to sell the pad separately at a lower price. The superb Elite controller can be tried out by gamers on a tighter budget, and they have the option to purchase the accessories separately if they so want. 

The Microsoft's Elite controllers, both are already on the market and those that will be in the future, will eventually sport the new Core edition branding. Not simply for financial reasons, but also because there may be additional colour options. Microsoft announced the white Elite Series 2 quite shortly after the DualSense Edge was first shown. Sony's pro pad has not yet been given a price or a release date. However, I'm interested to see how its personalization possibilities and general feel will contrast with Xbox's Elite pad.