40 Days #8: Resurrect the lost art of the faceplate

Way back when - before the launch of the Xbox 360 - Microsoft made a big deal of the fact that gamers will be able to pimp out their new consoles with a new (for consoles) type of hardware accessory: faceplates. Even now there is a feature page on Xbox.com about personalizing your console with the trifecta of purchasable items: gamer pictures, themes, and faceplates. The first two slowly grew into a massive source of income for publishers, and brought a ton of crappy content into the Marketplace. Yay for microtransactions that let you buy a set of four ugly images.

Faceplates initially seemed off to a promising start as well. A number of games offered them as pre-order bonuses. Microsoft launched a number of simple first-party faceplates, and later even a trio of premium ones that included downloadable dashboard themes. Artists like Pavel Dolgov adopted the curvy slivers of plastic as a canvas for their paintings. However, over time, while gamer pictures and themes exploded all over the Marketplace and people's gamercards, faceplates started fading into obscurity.

Part of the problem seems to be that Microsoft hasn't really been promoting this feature much, despite the fact that the Xbox 360 is currently the only console that is capable of cheap and easy off-the-shelf hardware customization. Sure, game enthusiasts do some interesting things with Wii and PS3 consoles all the time, but that involves a lot more work that just paying a small fee and easily swapping a part. Microsoft also hasn't been releasing first-party faceplates lately. Their Halo faceplate came out long before Halo 3, and there were no new ones when the game launched (how come there weren't at least two to match the limited edition Halo 3 controllers?!). There was no Mass Effect faceplate, nothing for BioShock. Third-parties haven't been any more active - COD4 was huge, but no faceplate. Same thing for the Orange Box, which could have easily spawned a number of designs.

Another issue was the quality and price of the third-party options. One faceplate I got for pre-ordering COD2 didn't cleanly pass IR signals through to the console. And many game-related faceplates - like those for Assassin's Creed or Gears of War - come bundled with those console skin stickers, which raises the price to around $30. Even the special edition Microsoft ones were a little expensive at $20, although they at least included a downloadable theme.

Ideally, faceplates should be around $10-$15, with the "premium" ones including exclusive Marketplace downloads of themes and gamer pictures. Microsoft ought to at least put out faceplates to mirror their major game releases (why no Lost Odyssey faceplate, for instance?). This might encourage third-party publishers to push for their own.

Also, the feature needs to be promoted as one differentiating the 360 from its competition. Use it in accessory marketing again. Perhaps create a nice website to showcase the best faceplates. Design it literally like an online art gallery, showcasing the cream of the crop, including first-party, third-party, and even fan-made faceplates. Hold a contest once or twice a year, asking fans to send in their best faceplate work. The winner could even have their design produced on a limited basis, with artist credits on the packaging.

And since faceplates are the "bling" of the Xbox 360, rope in some celebrities. Have them design a few faceplates every year and auction them off for charity. Even go as far as commissioning design houses like Coach or Burberry to create signature models for Microsoft. After all, they already make accessories for iPods, and people buy those types of cases by the truckload. With Valentine's Day tomorrow, why wasn't there a nice attractive (PRODUCT) RED faceplate with some hearts? It just seems that there are dozens of ways to bring glamour and style back to the console, and emphasize that the Xbox 360 is the only console that gamers can personalize this way. Microsoft, you've got some designing to do!