2old2play contacted MyTego to style our Xbox 360 to our gaming desire. Check out how the process went.
In the last ten years we’ve seen many case modifications for PC’s. This inspiration was most likely a result of Apple Computers ability to make “beautiful” equipment. The revolution of PC styling has migrated to the console, hand-held, and the mobile device market. Some phone manufacturers have exchangeable face-plates for their phones, and third party companies create containers, and leather like suites for your mobile devices to snuggle up against.
Not wanting to be left out of this fantastic fad I’ve decided to “skin” my Xbox 360 faceplate. I have two Xbox 360’s (call it a “his and hers” pair) and one of my Xbox 360’s wields the “generic” white faceplate, while the other has a custom faceplate from BestBuy. The custom plate cost $19.99 and the selection is limited to three or four unique designs. However, some special deals for certain games include “bonus” faceplates to match the game theme. Some game theme faceplates have, also, been seen on the Internet as “possibilities,” however I’ve not seen a method to get them without winning a contest.
For $16.00 you can head over to www.mytego.com and obtain a fully customized faceplate “skin” for the Xbox 360 along with a host of many other devices. I could have opted to skin a GameCube, GameBoy (all versions), Nintendo DS, original Xbox, all PlayStations, my mobile phone, and even my laptop. However, today my taste was in skinning that generic white Xbox 360 faceplate.
“NO RISK! Our 100% satisfaction guarantee ensures that you get exactly what you want.”
A vinyl cover, in my mind, means less risk of “cheapness.” I was not looking for a sticker quality like that of my daughter’s Dora Sticker book. I wanted something of heavier weight, more similar to my daughters Dora color-forms. I wanted something strong, and well worth my money. Lastly, I wanted assurance that if the job was horribly done that I was not out $16.00. The mytego seemed to be just what I was looking for.
The trick to building a custom Xbox 360 image is having a handle on the art of design. The other option is to know a designer that has a few free hours to build you something real special. I opted for solution number two because I knew just the person to do it and since that person is also working on this magazine design it seemed like the right move. Luke Leidal (“BrokenDesign”) was slotted to work some magic and build me a Space Invaders theme for my Xbox 360 complete with the 2O2P logo.
Designing the skin is easiest if you have a template to work from, which MyTego is not able to supply due to some prior marketing projects with Microsoft. However, there are many areas on the Internet where you can obtain templates. The other option is to create a MyTego skin with no image and save it to disk so you have a base to work from. For those that simply want a generic design or something that does not require centered text or aligned images the template will not be necessary.
To get started on creating a skin, head over to www.mytego.com, click create new tego and select “Handheld Gaming Systems, Consoles, Laptops” to bring you to the console area. From the drop-down menu select Microsoft to fetch all the Microsoft skinnable hardware. Once there you can select “Xbox_360_front” to obtain the faceplate design toolbox. You will see that the “front” also includes the controller face. I was only interested in a console faceplate so I clicked the design button below the console image.
The interface is slick, easy to use, and worked with both Internet Explorer and FireFox. By clicking the upload button you will be presented with a dialog box that allows you to select an image on your local computer. I used my custom Space Invaders image that I had built for me and placed it on the outlined 360 template on the screen so that I could make final adjustments.
The Space Invaders photo appeared scaled down when it first loads, but you can use the scale and rotate options on the interface or simply drag the bottom right “handle” and hold down the SHIFT key to constrain proportions. I “bled” the edges over the template object on the screen so that I did not have any white space showing on the image.
Notice that position is important in my Space Invaders theme. I did not want the 2O2P logo to be part of the “ring of light” because I would lose most of the text, nor did I want my little invaders to be fully covered by the CDROM slot because they would be lost on the final skin. The Xbox 360 faceplate has a lot going on in terms of buttons and spaces so the goal was to lose as little art as possible. The memory slots and USB port cover would be preserved because they are folding doors that display the art when the doors are in the closed position.
Any picture can be turned into a skin. Do you want to put an image of your kids on the console? Not a problem, just move the image around so that your children’s faces are not covering the remote sensor, CDROM, or “ring of light.” You can scale them up and down to fit to perfection. However, my kids fit best in a picture frame… Space Invaders is more my style.
Once I had it on the mark I clicked Buy and finished up the order as if I was purchasing anything else on the Internet.
The designer tools on the MyTego website were easy to use and allowed for many features I did not need in my design. I could have overlaid text, and set background colors on the console face. I felt my Space Invader theme said it all so I left it as such.
There was a slight sense of fear clicking the buy button. I was thinking “what if the preview isn’t really like the final product?” and “is the art going to look the quality of the original jpeg I used?” When the product arrived I was relieved. The site lived up to the interface preview.
The package arrived slightly bent even though the package clearly states “WARNING: Do Not Bend.” However the product was preserved without an issue. The product came with clear instructions on how to apply the new skin.
I had some difficulties getting the skin on the 360 faceplate due to the excessive spaces and the slight curve to the face. The process would definitely have been easier on a mobile phone, Sony PSP, or Nintendo GameCube, but that is not the fault of the skin itself.
The final product, skinned and ready to go, looked absolutely professional. No, it is not the wooden face-plate with that ugly red line through it… it is Space Invaders!
The cost of the product alone is only $4.00 less then the full faceplates you can buy at the store (add shipping costs and it’s about the same). The difference is the uniqueness factor and complete custom design. For home use you can show off your design creativity to others. For an established business you could design your box to fit the theme of your company or provide customers with designs that include your company logo so that they “remember” you when they’re gaming.
If you are looking to simply rid yourself of the generic white face-plate you can go to BestBuy to buy the same art as the guy next door, but if you want something to call your own head over to http://www.mytego.com.
If you want to design your own Space Invaders theme send an e-mail request to editor@2old2play.com and I will send you the image I used for my design.
In the last ten years we’ve seen many case modifications for PC’s. This inspiration was most likely a result of Apple Computers ability to make “beautiful” equipment. The revolution of PC styling has migrated to the console, hand-held, and the mobile device market. Some phone manufacturers have exchangeable face-plates for their phones, and third party companies create containers, and leather like suites for your mobile devices to snuggle up against.
Not wanting to be left out of this fantastic fad I’ve decided to “skin” my Xbox 360 faceplate. I have two Xbox 360’s (call it a “his and hers” pair) and one of my Xbox 360’s wields the “generic” white faceplate, while the other has a custom faceplate from BestBuy. The custom plate cost $19.99 and the selection is limited to three or four unique designs. However, some special deals for certain games include “bonus” faceplates to match the game theme. Some game theme faceplates have, also, been seen on the Internet as “possibilities,” however I’ve not seen a method to get them without winning a contest.
For $16.00 you can head over to www.mytego.com and obtain a fully customized faceplate “skin” for the Xbox 360 along with a host of many other devices. I could have opted to skin a GameCube, GameBoy (all versions), Nintendo DS, original Xbox, all PlayStations, my mobile phone, and even my laptop. However, today my taste was in skinning that generic white Xbox 360 faceplate.
The MyTego site boasted:
“Your TEGO is made of a superior quality, extremely durable vinyl material, yet thin enough that will allow it to conform to the shape of your device. It's waterproof and won't rip, tear, or crack.”“NO RISK! Our 100% satisfaction guarantee ensures that you get exactly what you want.”
A vinyl cover, in my mind, means less risk of “cheapness.” I was not looking for a sticker quality like that of my daughter’s Dora Sticker book. I wanted something of heavier weight, more similar to my daughters Dora color-forms. I wanted something strong, and well worth my money. Lastly, I wanted assurance that if the job was horribly done that I was not out $16.00. The mytego seemed to be just what I was looking for.
The trick to building a custom Xbox 360 image is having a handle on the art of design. The other option is to know a designer that has a few free hours to build you something real special. I opted for solution number two because I knew just the person to do it and since that person is also working on this magazine design it seemed like the right move. Luke Leidal (“BrokenDesign”) was slotted to work some magic and build me a Space Invaders theme for my Xbox 360 complete with the 2O2P logo.
Designing the skin is easiest if you have a template to work from, which MyTego is not able to supply due to some prior marketing projects with Microsoft. However, there are many areas on the Internet where you can obtain templates. The other option is to create a MyTego skin with no image and save it to disk so you have a base to work from. For those that simply want a generic design or something that does not require centered text or aligned images the template will not be necessary.
To get started on creating a skin, head over to www.mytego.com, click create new tego and select “Handheld Gaming Systems, Consoles, Laptops” to bring you to the console area. From the drop-down menu select Microsoft to fetch all the Microsoft skinnable hardware. Once there you can select “Xbox_360_front” to obtain the faceplate design toolbox. You will see that the “front” also includes the controller face. I was only interested in a console faceplate so I clicked the design button below the console image.
The interface is slick, easy to use, and worked with both Internet Explorer and FireFox. By clicking the upload button you will be presented with a dialog box that allows you to select an image on your local computer. I used my custom Space Invaders image that I had built for me and placed it on the outlined 360 template on the screen so that I could make final adjustments.
The Space Invaders photo appeared scaled down when it first loads, but you can use the scale and rotate options on the interface or simply drag the bottom right “handle” and hold down the SHIFT key to constrain proportions. I “bled” the edges over the template object on the screen so that I did not have any white space showing on the image.
Notice that position is important in my Space Invaders theme. I did not want the 2O2P logo to be part of the “ring of light” because I would lose most of the text, nor did I want my little invaders to be fully covered by the CDROM slot because they would be lost on the final skin. The Xbox 360 faceplate has a lot going on in terms of buttons and spaces so the goal was to lose as little art as possible. The memory slots and USB port cover would be preserved because they are folding doors that display the art when the doors are in the closed position.
Once I had it on the mark I clicked Buy and finished up the order as if I was purchasing anything else on the Internet.
The Process
The process of customizing the skin was easy. The most difficult part was getting the design I wanted because I can be picky. If I’m going to spend money on a custom design I want to feel a sense of perfection and completeness with the art and layout.The designer tools on the MyTego website were easy to use and allowed for many features I did not need in my design. I could have overlaid text, and set background colors on the console face. I felt my Space Invader theme said it all so I left it as such.
There was a slight sense of fear clicking the buy button. I was thinking “what if the preview isn’t really like the final product?” and “is the art going to look the quality of the original jpeg I used?” When the product arrived I was relieved. The site lived up to the interface preview.
The package arrived slightly bent even though the package clearly states “WARNING: Do Not Bend.” However the product was preserved without an issue. The product came with clear instructions on how to apply the new skin.
The final product, skinned and ready to go, looked absolutely professional. No, it is not the wooden face-plate with that ugly red line through it… it is Space Invaders!
Prices
Designing the Xbox 360 faceplate and controller designs each cost $16.00, however if you design two controllers and the faceplate it will run you $30.00. Designing the entire theme is a cheaper solution and gives you a completely custom look and feel.The cost of the product alone is only $4.00 less then the full faceplates you can buy at the store (add shipping costs and it’s about the same). The difference is the uniqueness factor and complete custom design. For home use you can show off your design creativity to others. For an established business you could design your box to fit the theme of your company or provide customers with designs that include your company logo so that they “remember” you when they’re gaming.
If you are looking to simply rid yourself of the generic white face-plate you can go to BestBuy to buy the same art as the guy next door, but if you want something to call your own head over to http://www.mytego.com.
If you want to design your own Space Invaders theme send an e-mail request to editor@2old2play.com and I will send you the image I used for my design.
