Question about limited editon

[a Spec Of fluff]

Hi noticed thier was aother limited edition controller posted,
Is thier likely to be any more posted before the release date,
For example a COD Black OPS?
Thanks in advance

 

[odingalt]

Is microsoft selling a Black Ops special edition?

 

[PS3andCOD]

They had a MW2 one, but I think it was only in console bundles...

 

[odingalt]

We will definitely be releasing more custom painted controllers after we sell all of the Serpent shells, we'll take the money we earn from Serpent shell sales and put it back into custom painting about 70-80 more shells. Probably two different customer patterns will be sold at the same time next time. Possible candidates at the moment include digital camo, black flames or a snakeskin type pattern in b&w. These particular shells would have grey trim instead of black as these ones are based on the white shells. Whereas our Serpent shells are based on the stock black shells, which come with black sticks and black trim pieces.

Also, any microsoft controllers that come out on the market, we will try to get our hands on as soon as possible and offer on the website. Fable 3 is due 10/15/2010 I think, and that silver edition with the new d-pad is due (November?). So be sure to let us know if you see any other un-bundled special edition shells come out from Microsoft.

If there are any special edition shells that are only offered in a console bundle, we won't be selling those.

 

[obo]

We will definitely be releasing more custom painted controllers after we sell all of the Serpent shells, we'll take the money we earn from Serpent shell sales and put it back into custom painting about 70-80 more shells. Probably two different customer patterns will be sold at the same time next time. Possible candidates at the moment include digital camo, black flames or a snakeskin type pattern in b&w. These particular shells would have grey trim instead of black as these ones are based on the white shells. Whereas our Serpent shells are based on the stock black shells, which come with black sticks and black trim pieces.

Also, any microsoft controllers that come out on the market, we will try to get our hands on as soon as possible and offer on the website. Fable 3 is due 10/15/2010 I think, and that silver edition with the new d-pad is due (November?). So be sure to let us know if you see any other un-bundled special edition shells come out from Microsoft.

If there are any special edition shells that are only offered in a console bundle, we won't be selling those.

Will the limited edition painted shells in the future still be $200 like the serpent shells?

 

[PS3andCOD]

How are those shells done anyways? They aren't one of a kind like Fredrow's... They have to be mass produced somehow.

 

[odingalt]

Will the limited edition painted shells in the future still be $200 like the serpent shells?

I am unsure of the pricing on any future custom shells at this time. I think in order of cheapest to most expensive it will go stock white, stock black, special edition (ms halo, ms silver, ms fable 3), custom painted.

How are those shells done anyways? They aren't one of a kind like Fredrow's... They have to be mass produced somehow.

You are correct, these are not hand painted. They are sent to a factory down in Texas that specializes in custom graphics on objects of any shape and size. Their process includes a really nice professional clear coat finish that really makes the controller shine. We try to get these processed in about groups of +-50 to get the price down into the same cost ballkpark as third-party custom controller shells (xcm, evolution, etc.).

 

[LoveKillzSlowly]

So I was going to order a controller today but I don't know which one to get. Since I really like the serpent design but I am not that big on painted controllers. Will the serpent controllers chip at all? Is the whole controller painted or just the front? I don't want to hit it against something and then have the controller chip on me or rotate the analog sticks and have that area chip. Its either this or the black one.

 

[odingalt]

So I was going to order a controller today but I don't know which one to get. Since I really like the serpent design but I am not that big on painted controllers. Will the serpent controllers chip at all? Is the whole controller painted or just the front? I don't want to hit it against something and then have the controller chip on me or rotate the analog sticks and have that area chip. Its either this or the black one.

Good questions.

The paint on the Serpent controllers will NOT chip. The custom patterns are professionally applied, in the same way you might see custom motorcycle fuel tanks painted on TV, and with a clearcoat for protection and a nice shine. 'This ain't your buddy's spray paint can job'. The front and back halves of the shell are painted. The thumbsticks, the d-pad, the black piece at the bottom, and the black piece at the top (the piece that has the Sync button) are not painted.

The paint won't chip around the analog joystick areas from gameplay, but after heavy use (as with any stock controller), you will start to rub down the clearcoat and then the plastic around the analog sticks.

On a side note, some of our customers are big guys, we've actually had two customers who are so strong that they actually snapped thumbsticks clean off at the base of the stick post - there was a LOT of rubbing wear n' tear around the joystick 'hole' on these customers' controllers . My only regret? Not getting to see the gameplay footage - must've been one hell of a battle to snap a thumbstick off!

 

[Ben]

I wonder if there is a place that does this in the UK?

I had a customer send back their controller as they snapped their stick, how the hell they did it I have no idea :lol: probably just threw it at the wall

 

[odingalt]

I wonder if there is a place that does this in the UK?

I had a customer send back their controller as they snapped their stick, how the hell they did it I have no idea :lol: probably just threw it at the wall

Quite often, I get very angry playing Fifa 2010 (because I suck, I lose 95% of most games, and the few games I do win, the other guy quits at the 89th minute). I took a controller into the back porch and beat it against the concrete for a good five minutes straight (At the time I was 250 lbs., so you can imagine the controller took quite some abuse). I then threw it as hard as I could against our wooden slats of our backyard fence. Then I played some more Fifa (controller was still working fine, albeit the left stick click was a little weaker) and lost another couple of games with Fifa.

I was determined to destroy the controller. I actually had to go get a 10 lbs. sledgehammer from the garage to even crack the case. Finally the rumblepads and the bottom trim piece popped out the side. The controller still worked though, but it wasn't very comfortable with some of the guts sharply poking out the side. Rather than replacing the shell, I threw it away (after all I've got piles of controllers sitting here, I own a modded controller shop lol)

The moral of the story? I learned that day how hard it is to break a controller, and began to suspect that a lot of our customer returns were faulty/due to customers tampering or abusing the controllers. Our response? We put a tamper-proof sticker over the screw-hole in the battery pack area, which reduced our rate of controller 'warranty returns' by about 90%...

 

[Ben]

LOLs

I'm sure the new Viking Controller will increase your win rate

I got those warrenty stickers now too.. Have had them for 1-2 months now, had none returned with them on yet..

 

[odingalt]

We had about a 15% return rate when the new slim XBOX 360 console was released - it was bundled with that awesome new all-black controller with the shiney chrome guide button - well it seems every customer figured they would just go ahead and swap out their white thor's hammer viking with the new shell and save some dough. The chances of breaking your legacy Viking from opening it if you don't know what you are doing is about 98%. So needless to say we had a huge wave of returns from customers who had tampered with their controllers trying to swap shells, right around the same exact time as the release of the new slim console... :evil:

(It's very frustrating to deal with lying customers, because it makes it harder to focus our attentions on helping those customers who do have a legitimate gripe with our products.) We were probably stupid for not having used warranty tamper stickers the whole time. Could've saved thousands of dollars (I'm not exaggerating here) in false claims.

 

[Ben]

I did look into it when I first started selling them but couldn't find any the right size so just gave up looking :/

 

[Jonny]

I wonder if there is a place that does this in the UK?

I had a customer send back their controller as they snapped their stick, how the hell they did it I have no idea :lol: probably just threw it at the wall

Controller Graphs who you already have a link to on your site?

 

[Ben]

They do custom spray jobs, not too the industrial quality of the "Serpent" shells :/

 

[PS3andCOD]

So I was going to order a controller today but I don't know which one to get. Since I really like the serpent design but I am not that big on painted controllers. Will the serpent controllers chip at all? Is the whole controller painted or just the front? I don't want to hit it against something and then have the controller chip on me or rotate the analog sticks and have that area chip. Its either this or the black one.

Good questions.

The paint on the Serpent controllers will NOT chip. The custom patterns are professionally applied, in the same way you might see custom motorcycle fuel tanks painted on TV, and with a clearcoat for protection and a nice shine. 'This ain't your buddy's spray paint can job'. The front and back halves of the shell are painted. The thumbsticks, the d-pad, the black piece at the bottom, and the black piece at the top (the piece that has the Sync button) are not painted.

The paint won't chip around the analog joystick areas from gameplay, but after heavy use (as with any stock controller), you will start to rub down the clearcoat and then the plastic around the analog sticks.

On a side note, some of our customers are big guys, we've actually had two customers who are so strong that they actually snapped thumbsticks clean off at the base of the stick post - there was a LOT of rubbing wear n' tear around the joystick 'hole' on these customers' controllers . My only regret? Not getting to see the gameplay footage - must've been one hell of a battle to snap a thumbstick off!

I doubt it has anything to do with being big. I am 6'6", 250 pounds and I break shovels etc all the time when I am working with them... Lol I have 5 or 6 shovel heads in the barn between me and my dad. I have never broken a controller for any system... I steped on one of my PS3 controllers and it works fine... Those guys must just be really rough with their stuff.

 

[M1A1xVIKINGxFTW]

So I was going to order a controller today but I don't know which one to get. Since I really like the serpent design but I am not that big on painted controllers. Will the serpent controllers chip at all? Is the whole controller painted or just the front? I don't want to hit it against something and then have the controller chip on me or rotate the analog sticks and have that area chip. Its either this or the black one.

Good questions.

The paint on the Serpent controllers will NOT chip. The custom patterns are professionally applied, in the same way you might see custom motorcycle fuel tanks painted on TV, and with a clearcoat for protection and a nice shine. 'This ain't your buddy's spray paint can job'. The front and back halves of the shell are painted. The thumbsticks, the d-pad, the black piece at the bottom, and the black piece at the top (the piece that has the Sync button) are not painted.

The paint won't chip around the analog joystick areas from gameplay, but after heavy use (as with any stock controller), you will start to rub down the clearcoat and then the plastic around the analog sticks.

On a side note, some of our customers are big guys, we've actually had two customers who are so strong that they actually snapped thumbsticks clean off at the base of the stick post - there was a LOT of rubbing wear n' tear around the joystick 'hole' on these customers' controllers . My only regret? Not getting to see the gameplay footage - must've been one hell of a battle to snap a thumbstick off!

I doubt it has anything to do with being big. I am 6'6", 250 pounds and I break shovels etc all the time when I am working with them... Lol I have 5 or 6 shovel heads in the barn between me and my dad. I have never broken a controller for any system... I steped on one of my PS3 controllers and it works fine... Those guys must just be really rough with their stuff.

same.