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Exploring the limits of good taste with Xbox Design Lab
A gamepad is the part of a game console people have the most intimate relationship with. You're holding it in your hands for hours on end, and you know it so well you can control its every function without even looking at it. When the action gets intense, your hands start to sweat from twiddling the thumbsticks. For plenty of people, it's the first thing that comes to mind when they want to throw something out of rage over a cheap death. Microsoft wants to make that connection even deeper by handing you the keys to the factory with its aptly named Xbox Design Lab.
Evil Controllers goes next-gen with PS4 and Xbox One gamepads, custom controllers en route
If you still have money to burn after buying a PlayStation 4, an Xbox One (or both!) and games for each, Evil Controllers wants to help with that. The company's been churning out user-customized Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 controllers for awhile, but now it's added the DualShock 4 and the Xbox One controller to the mix. For now, the outfit is offering a handful of pre-made designs, but an updated version of its controller creator webapp will be live soon. Aside from some cosmetic flair, the jazzed up products use all original hardware, ensuring you get the factory-made experience. What's more, the controllers' arresting designs should help them stand out from your couch cushions. If you thought the vanilla gamepads were pricey at $60, however, you might want to avert your eyes -- these start at $85.
Evil Controllers' Vision line adds customization and lengthy battery life, we go hands-on
We're clearly shameless, otherwise we wouldn't be here writing this piece starring a modded Xbox 360 gamepad with Engadget logos all over it. At least that's what we imagine you saying, dear reader, while ogling the logo-laden controller above. Despite appearances, however, there's more to Evil Controller's Vision line than flashy blue and white logos that make us feel loved -- the rear plate of the standard Xbox 360 gamepad gets replaced with a custom one featuring Evil's custom LED lights, a micro USB charging port (in addition to the proprietary one), and a much, much more serious battery. A lithium ion nestles into the backplate (significantly more comfortably than two AAs or Microsoft's own rechargeable battery solution), which offers a supposed 60-hour battery life. That's a dramatic difference compared to Microsoft's batteries, which last (at most) around 15 hours in our experience. The hardware out front retains the quality we've come to expect from 360 gamepads, and that's because it's mostly the stock 360 gamepad you'd buy from Microsoft; the only replacement hardware on the front is the analog sticks, which swap concave for convex. This is essentially the only poor decision on the controller, but one we're willing to overlook for that tripled battery life.%Gallery-186096%
Switchblade Adroit controller for gamers with disabilities
The Razer-sharp "Switchblade" was first pulled on us at CES, and since then we've been prodded by a new product under the same sharp name from Evil Controllers and AbleGamers. Released as part of the "Adroit" line for gamers with disabilities, the 19-port controller comes standard with two joysticks and allows for personal positioning of sticks, buttons and rumble packs dependent on individual need. Originally designed for Xbox 360, it can be adapted for playing on PCs and PS3s, as well. Although there's no official launch date or price, Thrifty Nerd says the device will set you back "a few hundred dollars" -- probably a value compared to calling Hack-King Ben Heck.
