The Xbox controller is in its third iteration, and in the 15 years since the launch of the first Xbox, the controller has gone through major redesigns. Xbox co-creator Seamus Blackley shared a few images of controller designs from 1999 for the original Xbox, highlighting several interesting design choices that his team was working on.
The images show that the initial designs were inspired by the Sega Dreamcast, with the Xbox team mulling a VMU-style handheld device to go with the controller. There's even a design that is influenced by the X-wing starfighter from the Star Wars franchise.
Blackley also talked about how the Xbox name was derived from Microsoft's graphics API DirectX:
Our name for it was "Direct X box," a device that was designed just to run graphics and sound. It stuck, nearly. https://t.co/s0ECxkilMDOur name for it was "Direct X box," a device that was designed just to run graphics and sound. It stuck, nearly. https://t.co/s0ECxkilMD— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) June 26, 2016June 26, 2016
What do you guys think of the design concepts for the original Xbox controller?
