There’s no doubt that Sony’s and Microsoft’s new consoles are impressive, powerful machines. And there’s even less doubt that they were incredibly expensive to develop and build. But just how expensive may shock a few people.
According to a report, Microsoft has spent over $100 million in an effort to redesign its highly acclaimed Xbox controller. After initial reluctance to tinker with an already successful product, Redmond engineers tried to rethink the controller and add some future-facing technology to the mix.
Some of the more daring, and hardly believable prototypes included pico-projectors that displayed similar graphics to Illumiroom, and some even included a cartridge that would release smells in certain situations.
Eventually all of these advanced “features” were dropped due to concerns over battery life and little appeal from Microsoft’s core audience, and we ended up with the current Xbox One controller, which is a refinement on the previous 360 model.
We’re happy with how things turned out, but take a minute and imagine how different things would be had some of those radically altered controllers made it to the market.
Source: Venturebeat | Image via Microsoft
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