Game controllers have experimented with losing the cords for longer than you'd think, but early attempts didn't have much success.
It took a while for controllers to work as well as they do today without cables. If you've been a gamer for a while, you might know that wireless controllers have been used as far back as the 1980s. While wireless pads were tried in various iterations over the decades, they were only perfected within the last few console generations.
The first wireless gaming controller, the Cynex Game Mate 2, was released around 1982 for the Atari 2600. It used radio frequencies, giving gamers more freedom than lesser IR alternatives. Unlike the Acclaim Remote Controller for the NES in 1989, you didn't need to point it directly at your Atari 2600. The early RF tech reportedly boasted a range of up to 20 feet, though the controller was weighty, clunky, and drained 9V batteries quickly. Atari later rebranded it as the CX42 Remote Control Wireless Joystick.
The first mainstream wireless controller was the Nintendo Wave Bird, arriving in 2002 for the Game Cube. Using 2.4G frequency tech, it offered a range of around 20 feet and ran for up to 100 hours on AA batteries. To maximize battery life, it lacked rumble support. The freedom it provided paved the way for future gamepads from Sony, Microsoft, and others.
Source: Engadget · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing