As the latest wave of gaming consoles have offered more powerful hardware and more sophisticated online experiences, PC gaming has seemed on the defensive. The first-person shooter, once the exclusive denizen of the PC, is already firmly entrenched on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, while role-playing games and even real-time strategy titles are popping up on consoles as well. But Microsoft is hoping to breathe new life into PC gaming. The company's Vista operating system and a new Games for Windows drive is a one-two punch aimed at making the free-for-all of PC gaming a more standardized plug-and-play experience--in other words, a lot more like playing games on a console. The Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows ($20 list) is the latest salvo in that campaign. It's a tiny peripheral that lets you use your any of your wireless Xbox 360 accessories on your Windows XP or Vista PC. The biggest thing about the Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows is its mouthful of a name.
The device itself is a sliver of white plastic that's smaller than the tiniest of cell phones. It's featureless except for a single green LED and a button, and connects to your PC with a 6-foot long USB cable (once again, going 'wireless' always seems to require wires). As such, the Gaming Receiver is not much different from a dongle that might have come with your wireless mouse or keyboard, except that it's designed to communicate with any and all Xbox 360 wireless peripherals.
To date, that's a pretty exclusive list: the standard, the, and a for racing games. If and when additional 360 wireless peripherals are released, however, they should also be compatible. The Wireless Gaming Receiver is a tiny USB dongle. The idea is great: being able to use peripherals interchangeably between the PC and the 360 means you don't have to buy PC-specific controllers.
The Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver lets you use wireless Xbox 360 peripherals with your Windows PC, but it won't be a must-have PC gaming peripheral until more compatible games are available. Feb 12, 2018 Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Receiver Driver is licensed as freeware for Windows 32 bit and 64 bit operating system without restrictions. It is in drivers hardware category and is available to all software users as a free download.
And as more PC games adopt the 360 control schemes (most games with the Games for Windows label on the box should work), developers and players get a standardized game environment. Ideally, that means you won't have to spend the first 15 minutes after your game's installation customizing a litany of mouse and keyboard commands.