Xbox One Elite Bundle: Microsoft launches new console with fast hard drive and new controller

New controller is customisable, including back-paddles and sticks that can be removed

Microsoft has released a new “Elite Bundle”, with a faster hard drive and a re-designed controller.

The new console comes with a matte finish and a special hard drive that runs much faster than the previous one. And the controller is customisable and features extra functions intended to appeal to hardcore gamers.

The new hard drive is described by Microsoft as a “Solid State Hybrid Drive”. That means that it “stores frequently-accessed files on a solid state partition” — putting the rest on a traditional spinning platter drive — to make it up to 20 per cent faster.

The controller, which Microsoft describes as “performance-class”, is designed for use on Windows 10 PCs as well as the Xbox. It includes special paddles on the back, can be customised through an app, and is built more ruggedly than the normal controller.

The new bundle will be released worldwide in November, and will cost $499 in the US.

Alongside the new console, Microsoft announced the “Xbox One Special Edition Lunar White Wireless Controller” — a standard Xbox controller, but in a bright white and gold colour.