Xbox’ pizza-scented TMNT controller may not have been the last
Microsoft recently made some waves online by announcing that it would give away a bunch of Xbox Wireless Controllers themed after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and smelling like pizza – yes, that’s a real thing. Each of the controllers, which fans can win in an exclusive giveaway, comes with a scent dispenser that gives off a decidedly delicious pizza smell in honor of the turtle brothers’ love for the dish. What an idea, eh?
After the overwhelming love people showed for this experiment, Microsoft is open for more, Josh Stein, Xbox Social Media and Chief TMNT In-House Expert – he might have lied about the latter part of the title, but it’s honestly too cool to leave it out – told GLHF in an interview conducted via email: “The reception is beyond our expectations – we knew Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fans would be on board, but we’ve seen a great interest beyond the typical gamer given the quirkiness of these controllers.”
The oozing green controllers smell a lot better than their look suggests.
Xbox
“The smell may not be everyone’s favorite, but people are enjoying the innovation and way this brings Xbox and the iconic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles together,” he continued. Asked if the company would consider similar experimental controllers themed around scent in the future, Stein said: “Considering the positive sentiment from fans – maybe we will in the future! We love to push the boundaries and fans are excited to have Xbox products that play into their passions so never say never.” If Stein himself were to decide on the next controller’s scent, he’d go with “the smell of a fresh bowl of Ramen” and I can definitely support that.
Stein told us that the biggest challenge in making the whole idea a reality was finding a way to deliver the scent: “This resulted in the pizza diffuser that attaches to the controller, which we love as another visual element to the controller.” The team had more of a leeway due to the devices being strictly a promotional product and not something that would be available in retail.
He also said that fans were “responsible for where they take that adventure from there, including how much actual pizza they devour” when we asked if Xbox would take responsibility for the increasing pizza costs of sweepstake winners. Suspiciously, Stein did not want to share with us what the highest pizza-related bill for the Xbox team looked like during the development process of this product – we’d wager it was quite the tally, though.
We also asked Stein what would happen once the sweepstake winners run out of pizza scent – will there be a way to get a refill? “Like when you eat a pizza, once it’s gone, it’s gone.”
That’s life, eh?
You can still enter the giveaway for the pizza-scented TMNT Xbox controller until August 13, 2023, by following Xbox Game Pass on Twitter and retweeting the giveaway tweet.
