Microsoft, a staple of MNML Studio’s business, dropped an old-school prduct design program on the team in the Fall of 2007. The job? Take the Microsoft XBOX controller, well tested and documented by hardcore gamers and couch potatoes all over the world, and redesign it. Quickly. Microsoft was not planning to replace the controller. Rather they were interested in creating game type specific controllers that would be earned through the accumulation of gamer points on their popular XBOX Live aspect of their console. This first iteration of this concept would target first person shooter gamers. Bang. Bang.

The task for the team was to combine gun weaponry knowledge with controller placements and handling comfort for endurance gamers. The challenge being that the team was, let’s say, novices in the area of guns and shooting knowledge. The final concept, destined for launch in December of 2008, has it all—aluminum and glass-filled body housings, laser etched markings, hollowed trigger components, grip checkering, bolt action loading battery pack, black anodized controls and a glass-filled ABS Pelican carrying case.

Rendering and modeling: Jerry O'Leary