Seamus Blackley, co-creator of the first Xbox, recently commented that the original controller of the console – today known as Duke – was “embarrassingly huge.” However, Microsoft did not mind and decided to launch the controller anyway.
In a series of tweets, the ex-developer confessed that the controller was not to his liking, but he could never do anything about it because of their lack of influence within the company. “They ignored focus tests,” he said. In accordance with Blackley, Microsoft hired an incompetent supplier to manufacture small electronic, and therefore had to design a large knob so that “it is possible to land a helicopter on it.”
He explained that at that time his main influence was the Dreamcast, something which had been already mentioned a few months ago – and that the Japanese were alarmed by the size of the first controller. Then he admitted that there are many people who like the large controllers, but also noted that the plastic necessary for their production “equivalent of a tank [gasoline] of premium”.
Finally, the creator said he regretted having spoken so much about the Duke, but said it was something necessary, because in his time he received “lots of sh**” for that.
The guy in charge of the controller picked a vendor that couldn’t make the electronics small, so they made the design huge to fit around it. https://t.co/vjEDKGNoEF
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) October 3, 2016
The Dreamcast was our favorite console at the time, and it had a big controller that docked a tomagachi. So that made it seem less insane! https://t.co/WwFQ8q6QRO
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) October 3, 2016
The Japanese were alarmed by the huge controller; the feedback was taken and the team did an amazing job shipping the smaller version https://t.co/vgY2mpreKP
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) October 3, 2016
Many people love the big controller; it’s also true that the amount of plastic needed to make it uses the equivalent of a tank of premium. https://t.co/Cobioob80R
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) October 3, 2016
Sorry to vent about Duke, it’s just that I took such a volume of shit about it back in the day, I need to let go! https://t.co/ilnHZCejPg
— Seamus Blackley (@SeamusBlackley) October 3, 2016
