Why would you even bother plugging it in to charge? You can go to the store and buy rechargeable AA's with a charger cheaper and then just swap them out as they die. They also work with the Wiimotes. No plugging them in and having a wired controller if the batteries die. Of course the fact that you have to actually buy a charging cable in the first place sucks. Ditto for the Wii. Agreed. I use one of those dual chargers(with the xbox battery pack instead of AAs, but it's the same concept). I just switch them out when one dies. Real easy. But yes, having to buy it in the first place blows. But, I've had them since i got the 360 a few years ago. It's paid for itself several times over, IMO.