Sounds like a Fallout 1st subscriber
So they fix problems they them selves created, charge over THREE times the standard amount and its "exactly what you want".
I honestly don't get it. I'd happily pay for a premium controller but anything over double is too much (and that's alot).
Its not about if you can afford it, it's about the value of money and what they offer for it.
If you never want to challenge exorbinate pricing than fair enough, companies will love you but for the rest of us we vote with with our wallets.
If your fortunate enough to have alot of money then absolutely buy this, its technically the best controller... but it's not 3 times better (I'd imagine) in most peoples reasonable estimation.
You're not wrong in your thinking, but this controller isn't a conventional accessory. Like you said yourself, it boils down to an individual's own opinion of what it's worth.
For me the justification of the pricing is the same as the argument many people use with cars which can be viewed as irrational at times.
I can buy a Dodge Charger for $30K, or I can buy a Hellcat for $70K+. They are the same platform, share more than 50% of their parts, and perform the same basic function. The Hellcat has a waiting list, the Charger can be found lingering on lots for months and is often sold at a discount. Why? Enough people have decided the extra features are worth more than 100% over the car's base price. The Hellcat is lower production and the unique parts included on the car drive it's manufacturing cost through the roof.
The Elite V2 performs the same basic function as the standard controller, but shares less than 5% of it's parts with the S controller. The Elite will be limited in production as there is a smaller market for a specialty controller. The price tag is daunting to any casual gamer, and only small percentage of gamers will even consider dropping the price. It's a limited peripheral that shares almost no parts with the standard controller, literally everything had to be engineered, then have new molds made for them which is extremely expensive.
For me, this controller is a lot easier to rationalize over an S controller than the Hellcat over a normal Charger, and I'm a car nut.
I can't buy the same quality controller from any other source, and if a third party made the same controller with the same quality, they would charge the same or more. Microsoft has more capacity to produce something like this in the first place which is why it's priced as low as it is (I almost laughed typing that past part). I'm sure there isn't $120 of extra materials in the controller over the S controller, but the cost of building it is probably a lot higher than people might think.
Is it a good deal? Absolutely no, fuck no. While it offers features that some people demand of a specialized controller, it's really pricey.
Is it priced fairly in the market it occupies? Yes. While it's really pricey, it's priced lower than comparable devices despite being better in terms of quality and assembly.