Mad Box controller is an absolute unit; features paddles and more

We now have our first look at the concept designs for the Mad Box controller and there’s quite a lot going on. The pictures that Ian Bell, Slightly Mad’s CEO, released show designs with rear paddles on the handle of one controller along with a fairly dominant touch screen on the face of the controller. We’re still not sure when the Mad Box console is aiming for a release date, with all screenshots shown so far being concept designs, but the controller has certainly piqued our interest.

Well, it seems the Mad Box train is slowly chugging into gear after the studio’s CEO released new screenshots of concept designs for the console’s controller. Along with the “precision triggers” that design offers, which take after the PS4 trigger buttons rather than the Xbox One version, the Mad Box controller also offers a pair of rear paddles. We’re not entirely sure whether these paddles will feature on either side of the controller, with the design only showing the paddles on the right side of the controller.

And the rest of the controller looks fairly hefty; featuring a fully lit touchscreen on the controller’s face, the concept design shows this being used in a few different ways. An educated guess would be that the default screen on the controller tells you which player’s controller it is, while other screens show a full keyboard interface on the controller, and how the touchscreen will be incorporated into games, showing a “boost” option for when you’re getting a cheeky race in before bed.

In the same thread that Bell tweeted these concept designs, he also helpfully answered a few queries people had. When asked whether users would be able to switch the LED lights of the console and controller off for when you’re playing a horror game. Bell explained that the console is being designed to “have a kick function. When it becomes too annoying, kick it hard, it will switch off.” While another user queried whether the game would run on its own battery like the PS4 or if it would need separate batteries, Bell cleared this up, confirming that the controller’s power is sourced from “a mix of flour and water.” Funny stuff from Bell but it does stress that these designs are still very much works in progress and are likely to change drastically over time.

As for when we’ll actually see the Mad Box’s final design let alone a release, we’re not sure. We’ve previously reported that Slightly Mad is in talks with Nvidia about hardware and with several companies concerning third-party games though we’re still no closer to knowing when the console will be out in the wild.