Turning Handheld Buttons Into Precision Hardware

There’s something weirdly satisfying to me about taking a piece of gaming hardware I really love and making it a little better. Sometimes that means a new shell or a screen upgrade, while other times it can be something as small as replacing the buttons. GetBetterButtons sits firmly in that latter category, but creator Vincent Lee has taken the idea much further than simply making replacement parts.Vincent designs his buttons from the ground up, looking at everything from ergonomics and movement to tolerances, materials and the way a handheld feels in your hands. His work ranges from practical improvements designed to solve specific problems through to the aluminium “Endgame” range, where the button itself becomes a piece of precision-made hardware. That approach makes GetBetterButtons a fascinating fit for the third entry in my Artist Spotlight series, which looks at the people making physical things for the gaming community.Before GetBetterButtons, Vincent worked at Bose, where he…