Crocs, the shoes made famous by Idiocracy before the trend of wearing them really took off, has a brand new partnership incoming. Microsoft has paired up with the world’s most hideous (but inexplicably comfortable) shoe in the past, releasing a Windows XP edition of the plastic footwear. Next up? An Xbox-branded set.
There is a catch if you’re a South African gamer looking to adorn your feet with plastic game controller replicas. The shoes are only available (for now) on the official Crocs website. You’ll have to join a waitlist to order them, too.
What a lot of Crocs
The footwear looks the part, replicated in disturbing detail the current generation of Xbox controllers, with one half of the gamepad split onto each Croc. With enough Vitamin Green and a large enough bag of Cheas Naks, you could probably convince that one herbal overachiever that they’re a brand new split controller for Microsoft’s ‘upcoming’ VR hardware. It’d be the ‘my uncle works at Nintendo’ gag for the 2020s.
The price of entry for the lore-accurate Xbox Crocs isn’t small, if you’re South African. The shoes retail for R1,400 ($80) per pair, with a set of themed Charms available for an extra R350. The Doom logo, Halo‘s Master Chief, that pirate game that’s totally worth checking out, and the Fallout PipBoy mascot are among the additions. But having a D-pad, thumbsticks, and face buttons on your precious feet will probably be enough for most folks.
According to Microsoft, “this controller-meets-clog design […] reimagines the iconic Xbox controller with fixed buttons and joysticks into the perfect shoe for couch co-op and kicking back – complete with cushioned footbeds adorned with Player Left and Player Right, which give expert-level comfort to support your next session.” See? No mention of Crocs at all.
Still, it could be worse. They could be Croc Martens.
