It seems that Microsoft has been paying attention to all of those millennial nostalgia-bait posts about translucent iMacs and PlayStation DualShock controllers that go viral on social media, as it’s rising to the moment with its own lineup of see-through Xbox controllers. It is 100 percent working.
The company announced its new Cipher Series for the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 from its Xbox Design Lab today and the results look really good. The new translucent shells come in five colors: green, pink, red, purple, teal, as well as a completely clear one. The controllers have black handles that make the colors pop, and new Chroma D-pads and back paddles that add a nice finishing touch.
Because the Cipher series is part of the design lab, Xbox owners can mix-and-match their favorite translucent shell with their preferred color scheme for the rest of the buttons and triggers. The Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 starts at $150, which isn’t too bad for one of the best controllers out there, even if it still doesn’t come with all of the bells and whistles like drift-resistant hall-effect joysticks.
In addition to the new Elite variants, players looking for a cheaper option have something new to choose from as well. The Ghost Cipher Special Edition controller is only $70 and makes the entire body of the controller see-through with white and grey pieces inside and golden accents on the D-pad and triggers. It’s a companion piece to the previously announced Sky Cipher controller which is transparent blue.
At this point, I’d love to see them do that with the full set of the Elite’s colors, but for the base controllers. Especially that old-school Xbox green. And remember, you don’t need an Xbox Series X/S to make use of the new controllers. They work on PC, android, and iOS as well. Also the Nintendo Switch if you’re willing to jump through some extra hoops.
