Last week, Microsoft garnered a lot of favour with Xbox fans by bringing Xbox Design Lab back for Xbox Series S/X consoles. It’s a place where you can go to build your own Xbox Wireless Controller at a price that could end up being double what you’d pay for a basic one. However, this is the only way to get a truly customised controller that reflects you as a person as much as possible. There’s a but though, and it’s a big one. This service isn’t up to par, and I think that it’s a huge let down.
The big issue with Xbox Design Lab as it is right now is that you can’t upload custom images. I understand that there would be a lot of issues with people uploading images that aren’t good enough, but Microsoft could work around this by having a tonne of patterns to choose from for your design that you can change the colours of. By doing so, you could create your own pride controller, and feel like the controller truly represents you. It would even be possible to use the colours of every flag within the LGBTQ+ community. Microsoft hasn’t allowed for that though, so what’s the point?
I remember Microsoft offering all sorts of quirky designs on controllers. You could make them look like paint was dripping from them, and really make a go of it to build something that was truly unique. As the service stands though, it’s a pitiful representation of what third-party companies have been doing for years. I would recommend staying away from Xbox Design Lab right now, because it’s just a waste of money. Wait until Microsoft allows you to make much more personal controllers with patterns, flags, and whatever else you can possibly think of. Otherwise, you’re just creating a new “edition” of the base controller that the company will steal the design of and sell later anyway.
What stings most here is that Microsoft made a pride controller but just won’t sell it. There’s no reason for them to hold onto it and keep it from us, it would sell incredibly well, so let’s have it on the market please.