Image: Twitter (Seamus Blackley)
I’m not entirely sure who out there was lobbying for a return of the original Xbox Duke controller, but hey, you got your wish.
Here’s something you might have missed from around E3. Amidst the hustle and bustle of the Xbox One X, Ubisoft teaming up with Nintendo and everything else was the quiet announcement that the Xbox Duke controller was getting remade.
It’s being produced by third-party manufacturer Hyperkin, with the assistance of Seamus Blackley. Blackley was the one responsible for writing the original proposal for the Xbox, as well as pitching the project internally and assembling the team that would go on to develop the console.
#NewDuke has gone to tooling and is approved by @Xbox THIS IS HAPPENING! pic.twitter.com/zSVA4TFh08
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) September 20, 2017
In follow-up questions, Blackley said that the new iteration would have “many improvements” but “the same old feel”.
The only hard details about the controller right now is that it’ll have left and right bumpers, a detachable cable just under 3 metres long, and a logo display screen. Oh, and the fact that Microsoft has officially approved the return of the face-sized controller.
The Elite will still be my go-to, but hey, more choice never hurts. When there’s details on availability, as well as a release date, I’ll let you know.
Update: As a counter-point of sorts to those (myself included) wondering why the Duke is making a comeback, Seamus Blackley offered an explainer on Twitter. It’s a fairly long thread, but it begins with the tweet below.
THREAD: Why is there a re-release of the OG Xbox controller when “everybody hates it?” https://t.co/eDHFKnOPUx
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) September 25, 2017
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