TIL in 2017 the US Navy replaced a $38,000 periscope control stick with an Xbox 360 controller

The innovation comes as the Navy’s response to feedback given by junior officers and sailors who said that the controls for the periscope were clunky and “real heavy.” In addition to being hard to manage, the handgrip and imaging control panel used previously also cost about $38,000, compared to the Xbox 360 controller’s cost of around $20. Training time for the Xbox controller also decreased to minutes, compared to the hours it took to learn the helicopter-style joystick.