I love my Xbox 360 and the wireless controller is one of the best things of all time. You'd think a simple cord connecting a controller to the console would be no biggie, but when you finally get rid of it, you realize just how much a blessing it is for it to be missing. However, I could do without all the constant battery replacing, which the controller is sadly a victim of. But what if you don't have any batteries and suddenly you can't play anymore? Perhaps the Nyko Powerkit 360 is for you…or perhaps not.

The Nyko Powerkit 360 comes with two separate items, a rechargeable battery pack that goes where your normal battery pack goes in your Xbox 360 controller, and a cable that plugs into one of the USB ports on your Xbox 360 and plugs into the top of the controller where a memory card would usually go.

The system is fundamentally simple at its core, as you use the controller wirelessly when the battery pack is fully charged and good, and then you plug it in when it is dead. While you are playing with the controller plugged, it is charging the battery, so that once it is fully charged you can unplug the cord and then VOILA you are wireless again. Does it work exactly like that? Yes, it does that exactly. However, though the fundamentals are there, the execution is sorely lacking.

The battery light system of the charger is fairly self-explanatory, with red being about dead, yellow a bit more charged, and then finally green for fully charged. Well, green doesn't mean fully charged, because fully charged is actually no lights at all.

After charging it initially to the green for the first time, I realized the battery didn't stay charged for very long at all. I figured I needed to prime the battery first, which is what I indeed had to do. The problem comes that though it held its charge longer the next time around, it still didn't hold it anywhere near as long as the 25 hours of play charge the box states. Instead, the battery held a charge for what seemed more like 6-8 hours, because though I didn't keep exact numbers, it was most definitely not 25 hours because it was much shorter than I'd usually get with the normal battery pack that came with the 360's controller filled with the two batteries.

Another problem I had is that the Xbox 360 system itself didn't read the full power of the battery (and actually that could be why I didn't get 25 hours, because the system didn't read it as that). Usually, when you push the guide button on the controller, you'll get a page to come up that shows your battery power on there. Signaled by four bars that deplete as you lose power, I noticed that the reading changed on one play from three (where was four to start with?) to one, and then on two plays later it was back up to three. However, while it was still on three, the guide button started its rotating green flashes, which mean the battery is about dead. Why the inability to read it properly? Not really sure, but it is there.

If you don't mind a short charge and then the time spent plugged in, then you won't have a problem with the Nyko Powerkit 360. However, if you want what the system was originally meant to actually work as, then you'll be disappointed. If you don't want to worry about battery costs, this will get you by, but it fails to do what it says exactly, so we have no choice but to bring the score down. Good idea, but bad execution.

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