Evil Controllers
Private | |
Industry | Modification, Gaming, Controllers |
Founded | 2007 |
Headquarters | Tempe, Arizona |
Website | http://www.evilcontrollers.com/ |
Evil Controllers is a Tempe, Arizona-based company operated by brothers Adam and Jonah Coe that modifies Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 controllers. Notable for their rapid fire, fast reload, evil sticks, and accessible gaming modifications, Evil Controllers sells a variety of different customization options. Evil Controllers has been featured on majoring gaming sites such as IGN, Kotaku and Game Informer for their Controller Creator that allows shoppers to make fully custom controllers. The Controller Creator features photorealistic images on every part selected to give buyers an exact idea of what their controller will look.
At the moment buyers can add their game identities such as gamertags to their controller as well as specific icons to make a controller that is one-of-a-kind.
Company History
Evil Controllers began in president Adam Coe’s dorm room at the University of Arizona. Coe began by modifying controllers for his own use, and when the demand from friends for modified controllers rose, he realized a potentially great business venture could begin. Beginning with capital of only $500, Coe sold controllers on eBay. Evil Controllers, as a company, later moved to California, and subsequently to Tempe, Arizona, the location of their current office since August 2009. The first company in the industry, Evil Controllers has attended multiple events, including the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2009.
Gaming Innovations
In September 2008, Evil Controllers began offering and manufacturing their own line of professional thumbsticks, aptly named Evil Sticks. Since 2008, Evil Controllers has continued to innovate on Microsoft’s original Xbox 360 Controller OEM design by addressing some of the issues that the controller, love it or hate it, was infamous for.
Evil Sticks
(Released in 2008) Evil Sticks are professional-grade thumbsticks designed to fuse the best elements of the Xbox 360 controller thumbsticks with those found on the PS3 controller. Evil Sticks feature a shorter height than the default OEM Thumbsticks and are convex instead of concave. This offers gamers greater force feedback which reverts the thumbsticks to the neutral position with greater ease.
History: Originally available only in Black, Colored Evil Sticks were released due to popular demand in late April 2013.
Evil D-Pad
(October 2010) The Evil D-Pad resolves arguably the largest issue on the original Xbox 360 Controller. The original disc shaped D-Pad makes it difficult for precise directional inputs. The Evil D-Pad eliminates this issue by creating 4 individual buttons assigned to each individual button. Diagonals are still registered by holding two directional buttons at once.
(Example: Up and Right to register the input Diagonal up and right)
History: The Evil D-Pad was originally conceived as a solution for accessible gaming. By repositioning the A,B,X and Y buttons on the Xbox 360 controller from the right side of the controller to the left side, where the original Xbox Controller D-Pad rests, Evil Controllers could design controllers for use with only one hand. A major step for allowing accessible controllers to be easily available for one handed gamers. These controllers are currently available at Evil Controllers today.
Adroit
(September 2011) The Adroit is an accessible controller requiring external 3.5 mm switches to operate. The Adroit allows gamers to remap any button, trigger, or thumb sticks from the Xbox 360 controller to a 3.5 mm switch of their choice, in doing so gamers can place functions from their controller to a switch that's easier for them to use. The switches used on the Adroit Switchblade can be buttons that are more suited for a specific gamers range of motion. For example the switches may be connected to buttons that are more sensitive to touch or replaced with switches that are considered ‘pressed’ by a player's breath rather than physical touch.
History: The Adroit ‘Switchblade’ was designed collaboratively with The AbleGamers Foundation.
Controller Creator
(August 2012) Controller Creator was the modded controller industry’s first foray to a personalized photo realistic controller maker. Evil Controllers added Controller Creator to their website in August 2012 and enabled gamers to fully see the vision of the creations before they ordered them. Until this point, the custom controller and modded controller industry provided customers with tabs that listed their options in text. Evil Controllers was the first company to not only offer their customers a visual representation of their choices, but to give their customers real photos of each individual part.
Evil Controllers continues to update their now infamous controller creator on a weekly basis. Over a billion custom controller options are currently available on their website.
Vision Backplate
(April 2013) The Vision Backplate upgrades the standard Xbox 360 controller by giving it a more ergonomic design and the ability to charge its power through a mini USB cable. The Vision Backplate is the only rechargeable Xbox 360 controller, and holds a charge for over 60 hours. The Vision Backplate is available on brand new controllers from Evil Controllers, but also through DIY Kits. The installation is simple and only requires a T8 Security Torx Tool.
If you are looking for a replacement battery for the Vision Backplate, Evil Controllers does not sell them. However, the Vision Backplate uses the Amazon Kindle First Generation's battery, so you can buy a replacement from Amazon.
Specs: 3.6V, 1530mAh, 5Wh, Li-ion Rayovac Battery ID: HHD10003
History: Evil’s Vision Backplate originally debuted to the public on a Kickstarter launched on October 23 of 2012. Successfully funded by November 2, Evil Controllers surpassed its target goal of $15,000 and raised a total of $24,624.
Evil ID
(August 2013) Evil iD is an option available through Evil’s Controller Creator. Evil iD allows gamers to insert their personal names, slogans or gamer identification tags such as Gamertags or PSN IDs onto the shell of their custom Xbox 360 controller.
Future
Evil Controllers is currently in development on next generation controller designs, showcasing both custom Xbox One controllers and custom PS4 controllers on their YouTube channel and social media accounts.
Accessible / Able Gaming
The Accessible / Able Gaming division was established by Adam Coe with the sole purpose to bring the joy of gaming to people who otherwise are not able to use standard gaming controllers.
Current Operations made today by Evil Controllers
- Manufacturing their own brand of performance sticks.
- Manufacturing their own unique directional pads.
- Assembly and modification of controller input/output.
- Soldering their own controllers for customization purposes.
- Creating and design of customized imaging.
- Public / Community relations with other organizations such as AbleGamers, Optic Gaming, BHL, and Tempe 12.
References
- Spohn, Steve (April 5, 2010). "Evil Controllers Making Accessible Gaming Eviler Part 1". AbleGamers.com. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
- Spohn, Steve (April 5, 2010). "Evil Controllers Making Accessible Gaming Eviler Part 2". Able Gamers. Retrieved 2010-04-05.
- Fletcher, JC (October 26, 2010). "Evil Controllers summons the Evil D-Pad for Xbox 360". joystiq.com.
- "The AbleGamers Foundation and Evil Controllers Partner to Bring More Disabled Gamers into Console Gaming". AbleGamers.org.
- Kwan, Michael (September 20, 2009). "Evil Controllers' Modded Xbox 360 Gamepads Reviewed". FutureLooks.com.
- "Interview with Evil Controllers CEO Adam Coe". Dead Pixel Live.com. October 22, 2010.
- McNamara, Jonathan (October 26, 2010). "Modified Video Game Controllers: An Unfair Advantage or Do I Just Suck?". Phoenix New Times Blogs. Retrieved 2010-10-26.
- Plunkett, Luke. "Duct Tape And A Bag Of Rice Helps Disabled Man Get In The Game". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved 2010-06-08.