360 front usb ports and wired controllers

[rapoon]

hey guys. I recently picked up a slim 360 and I've been using wired
controllers for the most part. A modified SF IV stick and a hori gamepad.

If I plug only one of the controllers in, regardless of which usb port, it always comes
up as player 1 (via the guide button).

however, if I turn on the xbox w/ both controllers plugged in, the controller
plugged into the left usb port lights up as player 2 and the controller plugged
into the right usb port lights up as player 1.

has anyone else noticed this w/ their xbox's? on the slim the front usb
orientation is horizontal. the older ones it's vertical (and if I owned an
older 360, I would expect the bottom usb port to be p1 and the top p2).

both of the usb ports seem to function perfectly. you can't reconfig
player assignment on wired controllers like you can w/ the wireless ones.

again, just curious if anyone else has noticed this on their xbox's when
they have 2 wired controllers plugged into the front. (on a shmups forum,
I know I'm not the only one )

thanks again.

[BPzeBanshee]

I noticed something off about controller assignment with Wired controllers on my old-model Elite, but I never really bothered to figure out what exactly was going on in preference assignments. I just plugged them both out, reset the Xbox and plugged in one after one.
I wouldve thought that on the old models the first priority assignment would go to the top port since its the top. It makes sense - when you're playing something like Call of Duty the first player will have their screen on top and second player on bottom.

[rapoon]

thanks BP

that's an interesting point about player priority in regards to the orientation of the ports (vertical on older 360s). If Microsoft used the
same usb controller and simply gave it a horizontal orientation - it makes sense. That's probably what they did to save $$.

I've been doing exactly what you did: turn the machine on w/ no controllers, then plug them in accordingly.
Like you said, it's a bit off how the xbox assigns the controllers if it's turned on w/ them already plugged in.

guess I should just be happy that it works. I was just curious if anyone else had noticed this "quirk."

[BPzeBanshee]

Well really the old ones had a horizontal orientation depending on how you stack your 360 anyway. I always have mine on its side so the USB ports are vertically oriented but for others it'd be horizontal.

Yeah, its a bit of an odd quirk but I'm sure the successor to the 360 (once Kinect dies and they evolve their hardware to modern standards) this issue wont exist. Compared to the PS3 and Wii the 360's methods of tech are actually quite archaic on some fronts, such as the method of wireless between console and controller.

The Wii has an oddity with the USB ports too, though the use of the back USB port is only really used for Homebrew or possibly some gimmick microphone thing (I think the Wii Speak might use the port, waste of money IMO). This isnt really relevant to the 360 though since MS shouldve done a better job with controller priority by software as opposed to hardware.