Microsoft has moved on from the Xbox 360, which it introduced in 2005, but it'll live on for a generation of young sailors who grew up with the device.
The U.S. Navy plans to use the older gaming system's controllers to operate periscopes on its newer submarines, according to ABC News.
The $30 controllers are drastically cheaper than the clunky $38,000 joystick and imaging control panel that would otherwise be used.
“That joystick is by no means cheap, and it is only designed to fit on a Virginia-class submarine,” Senior Chief Mark Eichenlaub told The Virginian-Pilot. “I can go to any video game store and procure an Xbox controller anywhere in the world, so it makes a very easy replacement.”
Alongside being cheap, many young sailors have put in countless hours preparing for the task by playing Xbox as a kid.
Lockheed Martin officials told The Virginian-Pilot that sailors who tested the Xbox controller in its labs intuitively figured out how to use it on their own in just minutes, rather than the hours of specialized training required with the old joysticks.
