T'was over a hot cup of coffee on a cold February morning when I discovered an email in my inbox from Controller Chaos, drawing my attention to their range of colorful Xbox and PlayStation controllers.

Having never purchased a custom Xbox controller before, my interest was piqued, in part due to the awesome custom backplates Mozo Accessories built for the Lumia 950 range. After a brief discussion, it appeared that Controller Chaos already had a design in mind, but I figured if I were to review their process, I should give them something a little more challenging — particularly when you take my poor Photoshop skills into account. Here's how it went.

I'm a huge fan of Twin Peaks, an early 90s horror soap opera. Sure, it's a little obscure; Controller Chaos themselves hadn't heard of it, but the series has been massively influential on both TV, and video games. The recently-made Xbox backwards compatible Alan Wake is a huge homage to the show. Life is Strange also contains many Twin Peaks references, as does Silent Hill and even Mass Effect 2. Best VPN providers 2020: Learn about ExpressVPN, NordVPN & more There are dozens, maybe hundreds of Twin Peaks references in games and TV shows (if you know anymore, post them in the comments!), but I believe this could be the very first Twin Peaks Xbox controller in the world — awesome.

When it came to choosing a theme, I decided that I'd base it on Twin Peak's infamous Red Room scene, which features a stark zig-zag patterned floor and foreboding red drapes. I took the pattern and awkwardly splayed it on top of a picture of a Xbox One Elite Controller, and emailed it away. The results Controller Chaos delivered far exceeded my expectations (and my Photoshop skills). When you consider the Xbox One Elite Controller's collection of customizable parts there was plenty of room for error, particularly when I requested sharply contrasting colors and a precise pattern. Controller Chaos were able to spread the custom design right up to the edges of every port and every button, without interfering with the Elite controller's rubber grips or metal features. Controller Chaos went above and beyond, painting the Elite controller's optional back paddles and trigger lock switches, to ensure every aspect of the job matched the overall theme I'd requested.