Highlights
- Nintendo fan creates custom Red Dead Redemption-themed Switch Joy-Cons inspired by the game's recent Switch port.
- Custom Joy-Cons feature a matte shade of red and designs taken from the game's box cover art.
- The customization process involves digitally finalizing the design and using a flatbed printer to apply it to regular Joy-Con shells, likely costing around $50.
One immensely talented Nintendo fan recently went through the effort of creating a pair of custom Switch Joy-Cons themed after Red Dead Redemption. Their impressive achievement surfaced online shortly after Rockstar ported Red Dead Redemption to the Switch and PS4, and was likely inspired by that rerelease.
Joy-Con customization has been a popular pastime among crafty Switch owners for as long as Nintendo's hit hybrid console has been available for purchase. Many such projects that were completed over the years used iconic franchises like The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon as inspiration for their custom Switch Joy-Con designs.
The latest example of that trend comes from Reddit user GameTraderZero_Mods, who recently went through the effort of customizing a pair of Switch Joy-Cons in the style of Red Dead Redemption. Their efforts yielded two distinctive controllers in a matte shade of red that's just a touch darker than the classic Neon Red color used by Nintendo for its classic right Joy-Cons.
The left Joy-Con features a simple dirt-like pattern combined with several U.S. flag star shapes that's been taken directly from the Red Dead Redemption box cover art. The same artwork inspired the look of the right Switch controller, which boasts a cleaner design with silhouettes of horse riders surrounding its analog stick. The same two figures can be seen in the upper-right corner of the game's original box cover. Elaborating on the technique that produced this impressive pair of controllers, GameTraderZero_Mods revealed that they first finalized the design digitally before applying it to regular Joy-Con shells with a flatbed printer.
Flatbed—or UV—printers are specialized machines that use ultraviolet light to cure or polymerize level surfaces. They hence offer an effective method of printing on a wide variety of materials, including paper, plastic, wood, ceramic, and metal. The author of this original pair of Red Dead Redemption-themed Joy-Cons did not reveal how much this design set them back, though it is plausible that the project was in the $50 ballpark. Namely, replacement Switch controller shells can be purchased for around $20 a pair all over the world, and the price of UV-printing two plastic objects the size of a Joy-Con is about the same.
This impressive customization project was presumably inspired by the Switch port of Red Dead Redemption, which launched on August 17. The game received a polarizing reception from the fans, many of whom were hoping for a remaster instead of a mere rerelease. Between that and Rockstar's decision to charge $49.99 for its 13-year-old action adventure, the Red Dead Redemption ports ultimately stirred enough pushback to even get review-bombed.
