Razer to Design The Ultimate Arcade Stick for The XBOX 360 with The Community

[btarunr]

Razer, the world leader in high performance gaming hardware, just announced a program to co-develop the ultimate arcade stick for the Xbox 360 together with the arcade stick community. The arcade stick, developed with pro-gamer feedback, is currently at the prototype stage. For the finishing touches, up to 200+ specially selected top-seed Street Fighter IV pro-gamers, influential modders, and members of the arcade enthusiast community will each be given a Razer arcade stick to test and provide feedback to further improve it to perfection, whereupon the final design will then proceed to production.

Since the company’s beginnings in ’98, Razer has continually taken pro-gamer feedback and validation during the product development phase to ensure that the design for every gaming product shipped is the absolute best for the competitive edge in tournament-grade play. But in an unprecedented move in the gaming hardware space, Razer is now reaching out to the entire arcade stick community to help make this yet-to-be-named product the best arcade stick in the world. Their feedback will be a huge influencing factor in the design of the final product.



“Razer is for gamers, by gamers. We’ve been taking feedback from our professional players on products for years and now we want to open it up to the community. That’s why we want every arcade enthusiast and modder’s input in the development of this special arcade stick,” said Robert “RazerGuy” Krakoff, President, Razer USA. “In this way, it’s not just our arcade stick; it’s the community’s arcade stick. Together, we will create a weapon that delivers the best fighting performance for every gamer and allows modding to the individual’s exact specifications. We’re not just asking people for input on the paint job, we’re after serious hardware feedback.”

Members of the arcade community worldwide interested in participating in this beta program are encouraged to contribute ideas at www.razerzone.com/bredtofight, along with a short description as to why they should be selected for prototype testing. Registrants can also nominate other people to the program. Up to 200+ successful applicants worldwide will receive an arcade stick prototype delivered directly to their homes.

Razer will be launching this non-retail arcade stick closed beta community program at Tokyo Game Show, the heart of the professional console fighting scene. Select pro-gamers and key modders will also be approached very soon to begin beta testing the prototype.

For more information on the arcade stick or the community program and how to get involved, please visit this page.

Please note, the pictures depict a preliminary design, the actual product may differ from what's shown in the pictures.

[Yellow&Nerdy?]

Razer - Bringing the 80's into the 21st Century.

[MRCL]

Cool thing. Hopefully they use some quality materials (maybe even aluminum or *gasp* metal!). And make those things heavy so they don't slide around. Fighting games can get really intense, and the reason why I don't have an arcade stick is because I'm afraid I would break a 150 dollar piece of plastic instantly.

[AsRock]

Looks pretty plastic. I wounder if they actually tested this in the real world as it looks cheap as hell.

[KieranD]

Tournament Edition sticks are fantastic those used sanwa parts, i like the look of this stick a lot but the £100 price tag of TE sticks put me well off and im afraid this will be a similar price.
Another thing why pay £50 for a crap brawlstick which is just as good as a £25 stick but worse than a more expensive stick.

I cant tell if this looks plastic or metallic.

[MRCL]

Originally Posted by AsRock

Looks pretty plastic. I wounder if they actually tested this in the real world as it looks cheap as hell.

I'm more worried about the really glossy looking surface. Not because of fingerprints, but it can get very slippery. This is a common issue with game controllers anyways - why not make the surface textured? And analog sticks that actually hold your thumb in place?

[Major_A]

Originally Posted by MRCL

I'm more worried about the really glossy looking surface. Not because of fingerprints, but it can get very slippery. This is a common issue with game controllers anyways - why not make the surface textured? And analog sticks that actually hold your thumb in place?

I own the Razer Lycosa Mirror and it's slick. It took a few weeks to get comfortable with it. I wish I would've picked up the Lycosa standard, but hind sight is 20/20.

[MRCL]

Originally Posted by Major_A

I own the Razer Lycosa Mirror and it's slick. It took a few weeks to get comfortable with it. I wish I would've picked up the Lycosa standard, but hind sight is 20/20.

Uh, why do you mention a keyboard after quoting my concerns for the future of mankind?

[_JP_]

If the quality of the buttons and the stick are good enough and the price is right, this will sell like cup-cakes for Street Fighter X Tekken players.

[Mistral]

Unless this thing has a round gate, bigger distance between the stick and the buttons (which according to the image is not the case) or an attractive price-tag, I don't see a reason for anyone to pick it over the quite excellent TEs...

[1Kurgan1]

I like it, should be nice for fighters, but really depends if the game requires use of a second analog stick, if so this will suck pretty bad.

Originally Posted by AsRock

Looks pretty plastic. I wounder if they actually tested this in the real world as it looks cheap as hell.

Really? I thought the exact opposite, they sure didn't need to take the time to make it open, but they did and they have a pushrod in there that looks like it will auto open it, thats pretty fancy.

[BumbleBee]

I want the Dreamstick

[DrPepper]

Razer spends a lot of time making some random ass shit.

[AsRock]

Originally Posted by MRCL

I'm more worried about the really glossy looking surface. Not because of fingerprints, but it can get very slippery. This is a common issue with game controllers anyways - why not make the surface textured? And analog sticks that actually hold your thumb in place?

Yes that too which is some thing i hate about their keyboards.

Originally Posted by 1Kurgan1

I like it, should be nice for fighters, but really depends if the game requires use of a second analog stick, if so this will suck pretty bad.



Really? I thought the exact opposite, they sure didn't need to take the time to make it open, but they did and they have a pushrod in there that looks like it will auto open it, thats pretty fancy.

Yes that plastic clip part looks really strong, once one of those start going you wont be able to clip it back on. Just cheaply made

[bbmarley]

like others say i do hope this is made really good because i use to mash the hell out of these on arcade machines

[Katanai]

How about this user feedback without touching it: I hope it's wireless because Razer braided cables suck so much... I had to shorten the cable on my Imperator because it shorted out. Now it does it again. It only works when it wants to. What I am to do? Because I'm seriously thinking about getting a Logitech cable for this mouse if I can make it work...

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Hopefully given what I am certain will be a $200 price tag it will buck razer tradition and last through more than 3 months of use.

[micropage7]

like when i was in junior high school when i played street fighter

[1Kurgan1]

Originally Posted by AsRock

Yes that plastic clip part looks really strong, once one of those start going you wont be able to clip it back on. Just cheaply made

You must have eyes that lighting images? Because I see the button, but I can only vaguely make out the top hook that will latch into the bottom, not nearly well enough to judge it by thats for sure. How do you even know what that hook is made out of. Or what does it even matter, how many controllers out there can you even open up? You plan on just opening and shutting it like a child playing with a car door?

[Rowsol]

xbox 360 just needs to die already.

[MRCL]

Originally Posted by Rowsol

xbox 360 just needs to die already.

Why? I own both a PS3 and a 360 (among eight other consoles lol), and the 360 is good competition to the PS3. You wouldn't want just one console taking all the cake, right? (I'm leaving out the Wii intentionally - yes I own it, too, but I do not consider it in the same league as the PS3 or 360). In fact, I like being able to chose for which system I want to buy a game. Some look better on the 360 and vice versa. I see no reason why it should die.

And don't you dare start a flamewar, stay reasonable.

[Rowsol]

No I mean they need to die for a new console. The parts in it are old.

This is off topic. Sorry.

[trickson]

Talk about retro ! This is turning your PC into an 80's arcade machine !

[[H]@RD5TUFF]

Originally Posted by Rowsol

No I mean they need to die for a new console. The parts in it are old.

Consoles need to die in general, their graphics are crap and they have ruined and dumbed down many a genre.

[MRCL]

Originally Posted by Rowsol

No I mean they need to die for a new console. The parts in it are old.

This is off topic. Sorry.

Not much sense in a new generation if just the graphics and that stuff get polished. We need leaps like the NES, N64, PS1 etc delivered.

Originally Posted by [H]@RD5TUFF

Consoles need to die in general, their graphics are crap and they have ruined and dumbed down many a genre.

You make little MRCL sad Graphics is not everything. Sadly everybody seems to think otherwise nowadays. Also, you can't play SSX on a PC now can you. Or God of War.

But yeah off topic. Any word on this being released to PS3, too? Or is it going to be 360 exclusive?