When the 360 was first revealed to the world, we were all shocked at how far away the design was from the original Xbox. It was sleek; even sexy some might say, but the main point was that it had style, and definitely wasn’t your normal gaming ‘box’ that we’d been used to in years gone past.

This premise of style has grown as we’ve got to know the Xbox 360 brand and features like customisation were announced. It was pretty obvious from the word go that this machine was designed to appeal to a much bigger market than the hardcore gamer. In a nutshell it’s a home media centre with style; one that would not look out of place in a family’s living room or an uptown bachelor’s pad.

“From the start we wanted to design a console that would be appealing worldwide and elevate the design aesthetic higher than has typically been seen in game console design,” explains Don Conver, director of the Xbox Platform Experience, Microsoft. “With this in mind we hired a variety of firms in Europe, Japan and the USA to do concept designs which we refined over many months to get to what is the final design. As part of that design exercise we hit upon the iconic look we have today and were immediately drawn to it.”

Good old Microsoft didn’t want to alienate its hardcore followers though, rather offer them added value with features they’d enjoy, features that would also appeal to a more mainstream market.

Neil Thompson, director of UK and Northern Europe Home Entertainment Group, Microsoft explains: “First and foremost Xbox 360 will always appeal to gamers, however what we have noticed is that because of all the additional features it is encouraging users who normally wouldn’t be such early adopters. Other users may have used the Xbox 360 to show off their photos to their family, and this interaction has then led to them trying some family games on Xbox Live arcade.”

With the colourings to match, the 360 launched itself as a product for the iPod generation; becoming more of an icon that a product, a lifestyle brand over a gaming one. But how successful has that concept been? Do all the cool people own one or want one? Has it climbed that brick wall separating the gamer from the fashionable type and then smashed it down with a hefty sledgehammer?

“Absolutely,” says Mark Stanley, senior vice president of marketing for peripherals manufacturer Intec. “All the hype that was given to this unit in the months leading to launch elevated it from a simple next-gen gaming machine to ‘urban idol’ status.”

Indeed the customisation concept has really taken off, as expected if you look at how in the last five years or so the mobile phone customisation market has grown from strength to strength. Just by checking out your local high street on a Saturday, you’ll be able to see that almost all ages and walks of life like the idea of customising their phones.

By tapping into this market, Microsoft has allowed the 360 and the gaming experience to become much more personalised. By promoting and encouraging individuality through Faceplates, Themes and Dashboard configurations, users are beginning to feel very much attached to their Xbox 360 and eager to share their experience with others. This constantly changing and organic gaming environment helps change the nature of the console itself, transcending a mere product and again helping to propel the 360 to iconic status.

But it doesn’t end there. Companies such as Joytech believe that Xbox Live will also help customisation grow in the future.

”The true growth will come through Xbox Live,” says Alex Verrey, pr and communications manager, Joytech Europe. “The nature of the console affords Microsoft the opportunity to update the system’s firmware at will with new features and improvements. When the Xbox 360 camera is introduced, gamers will be able to capture their own photo and use their image in Gamercards whilst using the camera to chat in real-time with other players. Dashboard enhancements and themes will continue to flourish I believe, so that within a few years the ability to change every nuance of the front end interface may make it entirely possible for your gaming experience to not only be tailored to your preferences, but appear near unrecognisable from your best mates system.”

New ways to jazz up your console are already appearing; and none of these came from the minds of a Microsoft designer. One trend that’s growing all the time is to ‘bling’ out your machine, with companies like Crystal Icing and Bling my Thing covering everything from mobile phones to consoles in crystals.

“The customisation market is huge! We receive so many requests for unique designs, whether they want their name put on an item, or their very own custom design. Showing off your personal piece of art is something people love and are proud to say they created, plus it makes boring devices something colourful and fancy,” says Gina Smith, president, Crystal Icing.

 “When we saw that the new Xbox 360 had those awesome removable plates, we figured, why not. We released our ‘White Heat’ faceplate right around the same time that the 360 was released and we had a huge response. We hope to keep customising them in the future, and continue to receive orders from all over the world.”

Then of course there’s the modding community. These guys are loving the 360, and proudly show off their own designs all over the Web. Microsoft doesn’t condone this, and modding your 360 voids your warranty too, so what’s the appeal of opening up a console worth £300 and messing around with its insides?

“Why? Because it's all about individuality and possessing something different,” explains Tom Nile, chief moderator on the Max Console website. “There will be 10 million 360's that all look similar soon. We all want to be unique and console modding is turning into a hobby just like people pimping out their cars.”

Scot Maki, who calls himself the ‘head llamma’ at modding site Llamma.com continues; “We all strive to be unique and distinguish ourselves in some way. Some do this in the clothes they wear, the car they drive, or the way their hair is cut. When all consoles are identical, console modding is an attractive platform for some customisation. If gaming is important to you, you may decide that some time spent making your gaming machine unique is time well spent.”

Designs differ wildly from original paint jobs to adding led lights and even windows. Daniel Whitehouse, a full-time modder, created a water-cooled 360; which he believes is currently the only one in the world.

“With my latest 360, I’ve created the world’s first and only all internal water-cooled 360. Various forums debated whether this would be possible due to lack of space within the 360, so I decided to pull off the impossible and everything turned out great. Not only did I succeed, but I added a window, lighting, and a very fancy paint job. My reasons behind doing this were because I wanted to make something unique like all modders, but also because I’d heard about the 360’s overheating issues and decided water-cooling would be a good idea and keep my console alive for a lot longer,” he explains.

Sure, customisation and modding are going to appeal to a wider audience, however it’s still quite a specific ‘demographic’ and its obvious that Microsoft wanted to throw the net even wider. Well this they did; through very ‘fashion’-orientated marketing and also by creating partnerships with other iconic companies in different markets.

The 360’s hardware and logo designs were aimed to create a fashionable, lifestyle brand that would appeal to all and its advertising and sponsorship decisions mirror that. Working with companies like Adidas and Epic Records and sponsoring the World Cup, and also sporting teams like that of the American Le Mans race is something Microsoft is doing to help get the brand better known to new audiences.

Around launch time, stylish products began to appear with 360 logos on, and Microsoft even brought out a clothing range. Although this has been more of a success in the corporate field than the consumer, the company still focused on new and fashionable designs for their clothes, in order to appeal to fashion fans rather than gamers.

“We have access to thousands of vendors all the time, so we see the newest and coolest things that come out in our industry,” explains Jackie Vanraaphorst, programs manager at Sunrise Identity; the vendor that runs Microsoft’s Xboxgearstore website. “Xbox really wanted to try to capitalise on some of the newer and more unique apparel. We have a really great team here with a lot of experience in this industry, so they know what’s cool and what’s not cool.”

This isn’t an easy job however, as Chris Birch, creative director of fashion label Joystick Junkies can confirm.

“Doing a merchandise range like that is always really difficult,” he says. “People have to walk into a fashion store that aren’t gamers and go wow, that’s a great t-shirt. The main market is people who want a really nice t-shirt, and that’s the quality of the garment and the design; it’s got to stand up to all the major cool lifestyle brands that people are buying around the world.”

Birch doesn’t think its going to create a huge buzz in the fashion world, but as brand extensions go, he thinks Microsoft has made a good attempt.

“I think as a brand extension it’s doing a nice job. I think its good that Microsoft is doing something different rather than just corporate clothing, and they’re helping to make (gaming) much more acceptable,” he says.

Of course, Microsoft’s whole range of 360 branded products was supported with suitable ‘lifestyle’ orientated advertising that showed people from all walks of life laughing together, wearing the branded clothes and posing in a ‘hip and funky’ manner. From what buzz was heard about this campaign, the range does have its appeal, but it hasn’t made a big splash…yet at least.

So as Microsoft continues to make the most of its 12 month lead on the competition, offer new customisation options and push the 360 as a ‘lifestyle’ brand, what can we expect looking forward?

Lots of people; especially within the modding community have some great ideas, but Microsoft, of course, is keeping its cards close to its chest. There are some concepts however, that could lead to a widening appeal of the machine. With PGR3 there was Gotham TV where people could watch races without having to pick up a pad and ‘become’ a gamer, and similarly with Viva Piñata later this year, non-gamers will be part of the 360’s brand extension by watching the TV show or buying the toys and other merchandise which is bound to appear in stores.

Furthermore, with the release of the HD-DVD drive; which even if bought alongside a premium 360 looks set to be much cheaper than the PS3 option, the 360 is going to appeal to film fans just as much as gamers.

With the 360, Microsoft is looking at new areas to spread its reach. Sure, it might not have a sudden overnight boom of non-gamers rushing into stores, but this move towards fashion and lifestyle is helping more and more people be aware of the 360. Perhaps they might pick one up and check out its features and over time become more comfortable exploring everything it offers, but either way, the 360 is definitely making itself known as lots of things other than a videogames console.

BOX OUT 1

When it came to the idea of brand extension for the 360, Microsoft didn’t just give the thumbs up to a clothing range. Sunrise Identity, the company that runs the Xboxgearstore site for the big MS, will make almost anything 360 branded if a customer requests it.

“There’s nothing we can’t do,” states Jackie Vanraaphorst, the company’s programs manager. “We’ve been known to do things like skateboards and surfboards, but we mainly get calls for products for corporate events, so most of our orders are for straightforward 360 branded products like stickers, memory cards, journals…”

“We don’t get that many odd requests really,” she continues. ”Gamers are more interested in gaming merchandise rather than hardware. We also run the Bungie merchandising site and that’s where we get them. That’s a really hardcore audience and they want to get their hands on anything Halo related.”

Even so, how many of you want to play Frisbee with an Xbox 360 branded ‘flying disk’, carry round your Xbox 360 water bottle or take your Xbox 360 paper shopping bag to your local Asda? Oh and what’s the point in a retractable badge pull? Anyone..?

BOX OUT 2

The design for the Xbox 360 as we know it didn’t pop out of thin air, it came from an amalgamation of differently styled models. Roughly seven designs made it to the prototype stage, all coming from different firms across Europe, Japan and the States, and from there the final design was whittled away.

Microsoft wanted to move away from the original Xbox design, instead creating a console that would look good in any entertainment centre of any room in any type of home. It had to look stylish, ageless and appeal to the mass market of home entertainment consumers, not just us gaming types.

“We looked at a selection of radically different design approaches and once we found a general direction we liked, we worked to refine it over many months,” explains Don Conver, director of the Xbox Platform Experience, Microsoft. “Our goal was not really minimalist but rather something simple and iconic that would be a suitable design aesthetic for many years.”

“Our Xbox 360 design is a much more distilled expression than Xbox one, but it’s also more expressive - which runs counter to the spirit of modernism. Our fundamental geometry, the console’s ‘inhale’ gesture, is also much more complex than it looks. Within this, the details are very pure, which gives the design its contemporary, ‘neo-modernist’, feel,” he adds.

BOX OUT 3

It’s not just Joe Public that got on the customisation bandwagon; even the big hitters have gotten involved. Two modded kits currently winding their way around the wonderful world of the interweb were commissioned by Rockstar Games and Eidos.

Firstly, well-known modding site Llamma.com has been so successful with past modded consoles, that Rockstar commissioned the company to make one of a kind Rockstar-branded Xbox 360 mod. With the logo on one side and a window on the other, this console was handmade by the team and then painted in silver and Rockstar’s well-known bright orange. Although Rockstar wasn’t able to confirm anything, rumour has it this snazzy piece of kit was being shown off behind closed doors at E3 this year…

Eidos took things a step further recently, when to promote the launch of the latest Tomb Raider game, the German office contacted Berlin-based Bling my Thing and commissioned some Swarovski crystal-covered consoles. Both a PS2 and a 360 were ‘blinged’ to the max; one with the logo and one with Lara’s face on it.

The 360 took two weeks to make, and is now worth around 3,500 Euros and after a tour of European industry events, they now both have made a home for themselves in the company’s Hamburg office.