Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas are among my favourite games of all time, and with the Fallout TV show about to launch on Prime Video, it feels like the brand is about to reach a whole new audience, which is no doubt why Xbox has dropped a faceplate onto Xbox Design Lab to be able to build you own Fallout controller.
Now, if you’re not across it, Xbox Design Lab is one of my favourite things that has hit the gaming scene in the last 4-5 years. Basically, you can custom design literally every single component of an Xbox controller down from colour of the front and back, to triggers, to analogue sticks to even the colours of the face buttons, but it feels like Xbox has been really experimenting lately, first by adding in the Xbox Elite Controller and now by adding in custom bases such as the Fallout one.
This faceplate is quite simple, but that’s why it’s so beautiful in my opinion. They’ve kept the base of it a very light grey, focusing on the many different perks that are portrayed through Vault Boy which are unique around the whole controller. The only colours are around the Xbox logo with the signature blue and yellow swirls, and obviously the rest depends on what you customise. There’s also Vault Boy featuring holding the iconic Xbox logo which is a nice touch.
I’ve made some crazy Xbox designs over the years, often trying to push the boundaries as much as possible but for this one, I wanted to keep it traditional, opting to go with blue and yellow throughout the whole controller and choosing metallic options where possible for parts such as the D-Pad and triggers.
Normally, I’ll always go for grips on the back and it’s still a little disappointing that they’re only available in black, it works in this instance. I decided to only do the back portion with grips, and not the sides of the back as that would have taken up space from the Vault Boy pattern, and I wanted as much of that as possible when looking at the controller laying down.
I love that all of these companies are allowing for customisation of their consoles and accessories without having to spend $800 on a new console, and even though using Xbox Design Lab is a little bit pricier than just buying a stock controller, at least it’s something you can be proud of designing. You can design your own controller HERE.