Refresh your old game controllers with a new shell

Game console controllers rarely outlast the consoles they came with, at least not if you're an avid gamer. No matter if you intentionally throw them against the wall after a bad round of CoD or if you just mash the buttons to pieces, these controllers tend to look rather beat up after a couple of years. Then there's dirt, which loves to take up permanent resident in every nook an cranny.

When I sold my 360 years ago, I had two such controllers left over. Dirty as heck with worn down analog sticks and taped together outer shells I found it best to not sell them with the console as they would give an inaccurate impression of how the console itself had been treated. Before Christmas I found these controllers again and decided to give them some plastic surgery.

Replacement housings can easily be found for most controllers on various Chinese sites such as Dealextreme. I picked up two black kits for 360 controllers at $6.40 each with free shipping. You can also find housings for other controllers, the consoles themselves, handheld consoles etc. I've previously done this to a GBA SP I bought used for close to nothing, and while the original casings are always better, the replacements aren't bad either.

For the 360 controllers in particular, you also need a screwdriver, specifically a security torx T8H (i.e. with a hole in the middle). Keep track of these screws, as you need all of them to make the casing keep together properly. There's a hidden one underneath the smallest sticker in the battery compartment, so don't forget that one.

Once disassembled, there's a lot of loose pieces to keep track of. Put the analog sticks on the PCB first to get those out of the way, then assemble the two pieces (inner/outer) of the D-pad. put each button in where it belongs and use the rubber membrane from the original, as this particular kit doesn't come with those (nor spare screws, which is odd). The lower shoulder buttons can be annoying to switch out as they're on plastic mechanical contraption. I didn't bother switching out the framework, only the shoulders themselves. Remember that little button that connects the controller when you assemble the top shoulder button piece, and then put everything back together. It's pretty self explanatory where everything goes, you just have to be patient, careful, and remember which way gravity goes. make sure to snap the PCB securely in place, which is when the D-pad is as springy as it should be.

It took me about 45 minutes to do the first controller, having to deal with figuring everything out and also some screws that were slightly damaged. The other one went way faster, so it's just about figuring out how the internals work.

The end result is nice. The plastic is a bit more roughly cut than the original, but the difference to the broken down, dirty controllers is still massive and positive. All the buttons work nicely and you couldn't really tell the fixed controllers from originals.

For $6.40 it's a pretty nice deal with new controllers going for $30+.