The type of gamepad is important. It was a cheap third party Xbox controller. i.e. it's the spare controller you made your friend use when he came over to play

The type of gamepad is important. It was a cheap third party Xbox controller. i.e. it's the spare controller you made your friend use when he came over to play Halo 2 that one time. Nobody thought the gamepad was the actual cause of failure. They thought the gamepad was funny in the context of Stockton Rush cutting corners.