Take a look!
You know that the Xbox Design Lab Australia is finally something, which allows Australian gamers the chance to design their own deluxe Xbox wireless controller, but you may not know what kind of customization options are available.
Fear not, readers, as Microsoft gave Steve Wright and Ben Salter of Stevivor a chance to design their own drivers before release. This is what the two of them raised.
Steve’s pride controller
It’s June, it’s Pride Month, and of course I went with a Pride controller. You can see it above and below.
I opted for a simple look, with lots of black and white accents to counteract the busy (intentional) design that Unified Pride flags can bring. If there was an option to enable it, I did, and that means things like custom engraving and rubber hoses at the same time as the Elite driver.
I’ve already gone and changed the white battery cover to a black one (thank you, one of the many other drivers I have), but I made sure the photos below represent the driver as it came out of the package.
Do you like my look? You can copy it below with the following options selected:
- Back: White Robot
- Body: Pride
- Bumper: White Robot
- Shooters: White Robot
- D-Pads: White Robot
- Thumbsticks: White Robot
- ABXY: black on white
- View, menu, share: white on black
- Grips: Black with rubber
- Back grips: Rubber back
- Engraving: STEVIVOR
My cheated pride driver subtotal was AUD $ 141.75 (of which Microsoft paid in full).
While Ben was able to use the same design lab, I had to choose options through a proxy server. However, it was still an easy service, although I’m sad about my capitalization after checking what he was able to do himself.
Ben’s driver
Steve did his best with colored and textured rubber grips for his driver, but with Stevivor’s second custom pad heading in, I was stuck between two designs.
I was very tempted to recreate the original, iconic, gray, and white design of the Xbox 360 with delicious colored buttons. It’s like a double denim and shorts: for a long time, we thought it was ugly and obsolete, opting instead for a refined black that matches the Xbox 360 Slim. But now he’s back!
While I will definitely be paying homage to the 360, I decided to be a little more personal and instead create a driver that matches my gamertag.
Almost nine years ago, when I set up my Xbox One, I selected a profile color without thinking. I decided I didn’t want to stick with the green Xbox, this doesn’t have a personal touch, but I was really looking forward to playing (or updating), so I didn’t venture too far and selected a green shade for my Xbox profile. . A generation later, my profile hasn’t changed and green is a clear Xbox color for me; it almost amazes me when I see the wrong green in Xbox promotions.
This may not apply to anyone else, but Teal, Xbox, and my gamertag go together. So I created a driver that matches my recorded gamertag.
- Bumper: White Robot
- Shooters: White Robot
- D-Pad: Storm Gray
- Thumbs: Charcoal black
- ABXY: white on black
- View, menu, share: black on white
- Body: mineral blue
- Back: Charcoal black
- Engraving: Gryllis (+ $ 12.95)
The total cost of the previous driver was AU $ 112.90 (also paid in full by Microsoft). The driver itself is priced the same as a regular AUD $ 99.95, which includes shipping. Engraving was my driver’s only optional accessory, while Steve’s included bells and whistles complete with rubber grips. They’re only available in black, and while I like my 20th birthday Xbox controller, I find the plastic texture just as comfortable.
Inside the virtual design lab
The online design lab is very easy to use. You’ll need to sign in to your Microsoft account and then make your selections in each of the categories described in our driver designs. As you choose, the virtual driver is created in 3D, allowing you to see how it joins from all angles.
I (St. Ben) tried a lot of different button settings, and will go full color for my Xbox 360 design, but eventually settled on white letters on black for face buttons and black symbols on white for menu buttons, which match. white bumpers and control sticks. Interestingly, Steve went the other way.
I could have spent hours reviewing all the combinations, but in the end I had to make a final choice. With that came the order and, 3-4 weeks later, my own Gamertag-inspired driver came to my door for the same price as going into a store and buying one from the shelf.
You can design your own driver here.
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