Looking for some personal touch when playing video games? Why not use 3D printing to customize your video game controller? Here are two great alternatives to controller uniformity.

If you’re into gaming and are looking for something special, you’ve probably considered the option of buying a customized controller. There’s a ton of commercial offers out there – like the ones from Controller Chaos in the US or The Controller Shop in the UK.

The drawback of these custom made controllers: They will set you back around $120 to $150. 3D printing your custom controller will be a lot cheaper. You can also choose from a variety of materials.

Maker 3D Prints Wood Faceplate for Xbox One Controller

Maker “BobsYurUncle” posted some images of his custom made Xbox One controller on Imgur. He used a “$350 Monoprice Maker Select 3D printer (fully modded) in Hatchbox Wood PLA”. This filament consists of about 70% wood fibers and 30% PLA. 

The design file came from Thingiverse.

After the printing, it was rough sanded and then stained, “because if you sand it completely smooth, it’s doesn’t take the stain as well. I also wanted it to look more hand carved.”

You could also not only the faceplate, but the whole controller. Here are the design files for Xbox One on Thingiverse:

1. Xbox One Controller Backplate
2. Xbox One Controller Side Panels
3. Xbox One Controller Battery Cover

Here’s a second version made by BobsYurUncle (more information here) – already polished and ready to mount on the controller.

And if you want to know more about exotic filament, please read this article.  Now go and play “Splinter Cell”.

Valve Lets You 3D Print Your Own Steam Controller

Many gamers are looking forward to buying a Steam console. Valve just released the CAD files of their Steam controller under a Creative Commons license. This means you build and 3D print our own Steam controllers for personal use. If you want to sell the controllers, you’ll have to get in touch with Valve first.

The archive contains several eDrawings viewer files: from Creo Express and native modeling, to neutral exchange and 3D print files – for compatibility with a wide variety of your design tools.

You can download the ZIP archive here. There’s an alternate version with the ZIP archive with STL of separate parts. 

To kick off the sharing of alternate designs, Valve released variants of the Battery Door that allow you to carry your USB wireless receiver with you (see below).