Many fond memories of the Xbox when it first released back in 2001 but one of those fond memories was not how clunky the original controller was. Because of the massive size, it was dubbed “The Duke” and has been referred to that ever since. Whether you loved it, or hated it – it was a staple in Xbox’s history and now it is officially coming back into the newest generations.
Hyperkin announced a few months ago that they were planning on bringing back The Duke in all of its glory. Immediately fans thought it was not only hilarious, but a perfect idea: the perfect cycle of Xbox evolution. Apparently it wasn’t just Xbox fans that were down with the idea, but the team behind the platform themselves; Microsoft. As of the end of March, you can now pre-order The Duke yourself because it is officially coming to gamers everywhere through Hyperkin!
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We’ve previously reported the standard black edition was on its way, but now we have a new video showing off the Duke in a familiar green color and that glorious OG start up animation! You can check out the video below talking a little more about and the process of bringing this bad boy back!
Our beautiful beefy boy is back. #TheDuke #InsideXbox pic.twitter.com/YsVuA4BQkG
โ Xbox (@Xbox) March 10, 2018
The Duke itself will be available by the end of March courtesy of Xboss Phil Spencer and Hyperkin! We aren’t the only ones excited either! Here are a few of our favourite reactions from other old school gamers just like us:
โ Thaddeus Love (@tlovetech) March 10, 2018
Iโm definitely gonna get that
โ SaggyPig4321 (@daltonmf2004) March 10, 2018
โ SoopaKoopa4494 (@KoopaTroopa4494) March 10, 2018
Even though Nintendo has my heart but that controller ๐
โ ๐ฎ Hylian Dude ๐ฎ (@RufusHewitt99) March 10, 2018
There are reports that it is possible that the green version will only be available for Microsoft employees, but we haven’t been able to track down any tangible proof of that. Microsoft shared this video to kick off their new Xbox Inside video segment and nothing included stated exclusivity so we are taking that for a good sign! I did reach out to Microsoft and will update this story appropriately, so stay tuned!
UPDATE:
Ah OK. I don’t believe the green Duke is limited to Microsoft employees (I was kindly sent one and I work for @IGN, and the controller isn’t made by Microsoft anyway), but I’m 99% sure that @Hyperkin only made 15 of them and they’re not for sale. I believe only the black ones are
โ Ryan McCaffrey (@DMC_Ryan) March 10, 2018