Xbox One will support up to eight controllers (update: PS4 supports four)

We've already gotten an intimate look at the Xbox One controller on multiple occasions, but Microsoft's just snuck in some new tidbits about how the gamepad will work with its new console. Ballmer and Co. quietly disclosed on the gaming machine's official site that the gamepads have a 30-foot range, and that up to eight of them can simultaneously connect to a single One. Naturally, developers will have to account for the additional controllers before you can hop into a Halo match with seven friends on a single machine. We can't imagine that divvying up a display into eight parts will result in a terribly comfortable experience, but there are certainly other ways to include extra folks in multiplayer games.

Update: Shuhei Yoshida confirmed on Twitter that the PlayStation 4 will only support four controllers simultaneously -- so if you plan to game in person with more than a quartet per console, it looks like Xbox is the way to go.