How to Make Your Own Scuf Gaming Controller (Xbox 360)

Intro: How to Make Your Own Scuf Gaming Controller (Xbox 360)

I'm sorry for the black edges, I tried YouTubes "Shaky Cam" fix. It was a mistake. :/

Welcome to DIY gamer. The show that I teach you how to make your own professional grade gaming equipment. Today's video is about scuff gaming controllers. A part and tools list is below. Please Rate,comment, and subscribe!

Parts:
Tact Switch, 9.5mm High x2  (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3014504&filterName=Price&filterValue=under+%243.99)$3.99
Tact Switch with Ground x2 (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3020763&filterName=Price&filterValue=under+%243.99) $3.99
BIC Mark-it! Pens x2 (http://www.amazon.com/BIC-Mark-It-Permanent-Markers-GPMP51-Blk/dp/B000UWUXRI/ref=sr_1_7?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1354082453&sr=1-7&keywords=bic+mark+it) $5
Smallest Gauge wire you can find
Several small screws
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Tools:
Torx T8 Security (Only for Wireless)
Soldering Iron
Solder
Hotglue Gun
Power Drill
Small Philips Driver
Masking Tape
Ruler
Wire Stripper
Wire Cutter
Sharipe
Xacto Knife
3/16 Drill Bit
5/64 Drill Bit

Comments

[nicholasd2]

sharpie not sharipe

[nycxbox]

So Scuf is trying to claim that their new patent gives them protections from us dilling holes in our controllers adding a few off the shelf screws and selling them.

A friend of mine drilled holes in 20 controller triggers and put 4-40 bolts. Then drilled a hole in the top of the Microsoft shell and added 4-40 screws to push the trigger down and scuf called him and said to stop selling time that what he was doing violated their patent.

I read their patent.

http://www.google.com/patents/US8480491

The way I read their patent is they were granted the patent for a GAME CONTROLLER.

Modifying an existing game controller should not violate their patent correct?

My buddy has been modifying game controllers for gamers in both looks and functionality for about 3 years now. I do it too. I have been adding trigger stops and adjusters to controllers I sell as well but I don't hae a huge website like him.

To drill a hole in the trigger of the Microsoft controller (a first party product) and add a screw to prevent the trigger from going all the way down, Then to drill a hole in the top of the shell of the Microsoft controller and put another screw that when screwed down pushes the trigger in the controller down.
That way a gamer can adjust the trigger between OPEN and CLOSED to function quicker than a full press..
I don't see how they can patent that?

Scuf called my buddy and claims that his modifying of an excising Microsoft controller with these two simple screws violates their patent. I call hog wash.

First off their patent does not specificy that they are modifying an existing product, their patent reads as if they created a whole new product which they did not. They do not sell their own manufactured controllers.
They buy and modify Microsoft controllers with screws off the shelf and brand it their own. Now if they made their own controller with these mechanisms on it, like madcatz or plellican does I can see the patent being valid if someone else tried to make a controller from scratch the same way.

The fact that anyone is doing the same thing with a Microsoft controller and screws from home depot, does this in fact violate their patent or are they trying to stretch the validly of their patent?

I would think that if they manufactured their own trigger that replaced the trigger that came on the Microsoft controller with the stop manufactured into it would be valid for the stop mechanism. I don’t see how they can claim that anyone putting a screw into the trigger of a Microsoft controller is the same thing?

Can one take a product from Microsoft and add things to it without replacing the parts on it and patent that?
I am no lawyer and hence why I am writing to you all here, but the way I understand patents is you cannot patent something that uses the product of another company that is already patented.
Every part of the Microsoft controller has a patent on it. The triggers, buttons, Top shell, bottom shell, the rumble motors, the PCB circuit board, the bumpers the bottom trim the microphone port. Every part of that controller is owned and patented by Microsoft. I am free to drill any holes I want in it, add whatever I want to it (Screws, tact switches ect...) and sell it to someone else.

Can modifying any part of that controller with one or two screws allow a company to patent that, that is not Microsoft themself?

Are we all now in violation of their patent? Or are they stretching the validly of a game controller with their mechanisms that this patent shows and claiming that a simple modification are a violation of their patent?

What would Microsoft have to say about someone trying to patent modifications to their patented product?

Also I thought of it this way. What if I drilled the holes in the triggers and the shell and then sold the controller with the holes in the shell and a little bag with 4 screws in it? I don't see how they can stop me from modifying my own controller and selling it and or selling off the shelf screws as well.

Thoughts?

[JasonJ6]

So my two cents is really if Microsoft wanted to I'm sure they could sue SCUF over certain things as well. They designed the controller and made it. I bought the controller from Microsoft, I own it and can do whatever I want to it. As long as I don't start producing these and selling them to make a profit, there's nothing SCUF can do to an individual. That's about like the your suppose to pay royalties every time you sing Happy Birthday. Really, come on who does that?

Just look at Apple and the jailbreaking of the Iphone. A 14 year old tore it up reversed engineer and hacked it. Apple tried to Sue him. The court sided with the kid he paid for the Iphone and is he wanted to tear it apart and jailbreak it he could.

So there you go. I hate when compaines get greedy. Do it just don't try to start selling them and I don't see that they can do anything.

[nycxbox]

Going to disagree...

I have been selling modded controllers for 10 years now. Well before scuf came along. I have been putting duplicated buttons and rapid fire chips in controllers since the original Xbox and selling them on my own store and on eBay and amazon.

First off Happy birthday is not protected, there has been a court case that proves the melody and song is in the public domain and all the royalties WB charged all those years was nothing more than a nice scam. There is currently a case against them (civil case) to recover all these millions in royalties from them over Happy birthday.

Second, Microsoft cannot sue, modding a controller and reselling with extra functionality is not illegal. Sure on a individual bases no one is going to come after you, but from a corporate standpoint many companies buy products and enhance them and resell them. From swarovski bedazzling everything he can get his hands on and reselling it. To custom car shops buying cars and selling custom versions of them, (like FOOSE). I have every right to modifty an xbox controller as I see fit and reselling it.

Third, jail-breaking has been ruled legal, so that argument is out the window.

It all comes down to corporate bullying. Using money to get people to back off selling a clone or another choice of what you sell becuase you afffraid of competition.

[johnk24a]

My thought: Don't seek legal advice from a forum.

You are free to do whatever you want to a controller if you don't then turn around and sell it. If you incorporate someone's patented idea into your device by making it yourself, then congratulations, well done. Show me how you did that.

However, if you try to SELL a product incorporating someone's patented idea without compensating the patent holder, then you're trying to profit from someone else's work.

If you're serious about selling modified controllers, then find a patent attorney and talk to them. The couple of hundred dollars you may spend will be a drop in the bucket compared with future legal expenses if you are found to be violating a patent.

[jrn00498]

Great project, but I have one question since I do not have a scuf controller. With this mod, what does the A button do? I know that you hit the tact switch instead of the A button, but does this now perform a jump shot? I ask because, prior to seeing your video, I attempted to make a controller like this but I scratched out both carbon fillers for the A pad, and soldered directly to where both of the carbon spots were, to the tact switch. End result= nothing happens. I can't use my A button, therefore, I can't even start COD Ghosts with said controller. I'm interested in building a drop shot/jump shot controller, any help would be awesome. God I hope you still reply to these posts/questions.