Microsoft's Prototype Xbox Controllers Are A Testament To The Time When SEGA Was On Top

Inspiration in technology often comes in various forms, ranging from awe-inspiring to downright bizarre. This is especially true with video game controllers, where you can get anything, ranging from Sony's DualShock controllers to all those that are rumored to make an appearance on the Nintendo NX.

For every controller that is mass-produced, there are plenty of others that don't make it past an initial drawing phase. This inability to go the distance can be attributed to any number of reasons, such as practicality or design flaws, but many of them share one thing in common: they all look downright weird.

A prime example of this can be seen with the Xbox's prototype controllers, whose designs were recently shared on Twitter by Seamus Blackley, one of the designers behind the original Xbox proposal in the late '90s through to the console's release in 2001.

As you can see from the illustrations, those prototypes are a far cry from the original Xbox controller that Microsoft actually released. The most notable aspect about these controllers (other than the shape) is that they all feature housing units for what appears to be a VMU, i.e. the memory card with its own LCD interface that SEGA used for its Dreamcast controllers.

At first glance, the decision to include those seems odd, but it is actually historically sound. Though many are likely to forget — or ignore — at the time when these designs were created, SEGA and the Dreamcast were at the top of the proverbial food chain within the gaming industry.

Even more importantly, SEGA and Microsoft already had close ties at the time due to the latter developing a special version of Windows CE for the Dreamcast, while the former repaid that debt by providing support for the original Xbox with the announcement of an 11-game deal for the console at the Tokyo Game Show in 2001.

Of course, even without SEGA's influence, Microsoft is no stranger to coming up with crazy concepts for its controllers in the name innovation. In fact, it wasn't all too long ago that Microsoft developed controllers for the Xbox One that included smell and projector devices. Sony and Nintendo are no different, with the former at one point having a boomerang-shaped controller to accompany the PS3 and the latter having a star-shaped controller that preceded the launch of the Wii in 2006.

Then, of course, there were all of these.