40 Days #23: Sweet talk more peripheral makers into using battery packs

Microsoft has a pretty nice model in place to get people to spend a lot of money on all their power accessories. From multiple play & charge kits, to the standalone quick charge unit, and a plethora of different colored batteries, I have it all. Sure, I could just use nice rechargeable AA batteries that fit into the empty battery pack shells, but the proprietary batteries aren't all that expensive if you shop around, and I like the convenience of quickly swapping them between controllers and the charger.

Microsoft even uses these battery packs in their wireless racing wheel, however that is where the battery reusability ends. For example I was very disappointed that the Guitar Hero III wireless guitar - actually a unique licensed wireless controller from a third party - has just a regular slot for two AA batteries or their own proprietary battery kit (which I have sadly also bought). I bet the upcoming wireless guitar for Rock Band will have a proprietary non-Microsoft power solution as well.

I understand that these companies make generally the same guitar designs for multiple platforms so retooling one of them to accommodate somebody else's batteries might not be cost effective, but does Microsoft even suggest it when they license the wireless protocol for controllers (which isn't very often to begin with, thus leading to my disappointment that the GH III guitar was less special than I had hoped for)?

Even worse, Microsoft's own first-party Big Button Controllers that come bundled with Scene It also put you at the mercy of regular batteries, with no rechargeable solution in sight. Is it because of the specific shape of the battery packs? Controller designers can't come up with some way to integrate it into other products? Perhaps cover it inside a compartment with a door over it? The racing wheel folks somehow managed to make it work, so why hasn't anybody else?

As a consumer who has bought into Microsoft's power solutions in a big way, I would really feel a lot better about my investment knowing that future controllers can use the batteries I already have. Will Microsoft's eventual motion-sensitive wand make me buy some more regular batteries too?