Mad Catz purrchases Saitek, Joystiq shoots headline author

by Ludwig Kietzmann on Nov 14th 2007 7:25PM

And good riddance to that guy. We would have gone with a quip about angry Jazz musicians, but the headline's already gone down the RSS tube.

Mad Catz, a name you'll frequently see on third-party console peripherals or sentences ending in "buyer's remorse," has announced its $30 million acquisition of fellow controller constructor, Saitek. The move is seen as part of a "strategic diversification," with Mad Catz gaining access to Saitek's expertise in designing PC peripherals (such as flight sim sticks) as well as a wider distribution network, especially within Europe. It's also expected to open the doors for the purchasing company's foray into PC mice, keyboards, speakers and "electronic chess."

It seems Mad Catz is on a bit of a spending spree this year, having previously checkmated Joytech in September. The pessimists among us are already envisioning a monopoly on third-party peripherals (with construction quality on par with Monopoly's board pieces).

Source

Tags: accessories, controllers, mad-catz, madcatz, saitek

Reader Comments (56)

I really don't undestand why people buy third party accesories... they have bad quality, ugly designs and cost just a little less than a first party product.

I somewhat agree with the above comment.

When I was in college, one of my roommates always wanted to play virtua tennis with us on the Dreamcast. I went ahead and bought a nice big pink third party controller for him. Cheap, uncomfortable, and emasculating. If he wanted to play, he had to ride the pink pony. So third party does, sometimes, serve a very specific purpose.

There are a few good 3rd-party peripherals companies like Logitech.

Not all of them are bad....just most of them.

Well... Logitech is the expection, but I see Logitech more like a second party accesories... I have two Logitech wireless controllers for my PS2, the wireless controllers for my Xbox (secon version of controllers).

And for my gamcube, I have four Wavebirds.

The only time I went for the 3rd party controller was on my brother's original Xbox. The Duke used to cramp my hands to hell and back so I went for the smaller, lighter (and crap) 3rd party thing he bought.

I've actually known parents who have bought 3rd party controllers for their children because they believed that it was cheaper for exactly the same thing (+ with some promoted bonus features)

Wow, I used to think Saitek made decent stuff back 99 - 00, but haven't seen'em around since. Mad Catz is Mad Crapz plain and simple.

Saitek makes the excellent Eclipse keyboards. Let's hope they are not adversely affected by this acquisition.

Saitek makes what many people consider to be the best normal priced keyboard(

Have you seen the crazy Saitek flight sim controls at Best Buy? This is a big win for Mad Catz in improving their image.

Personally, I think Nyko and Pelican make better 3rd party stuff.

"purrchases"
I'm sure glad you guys shot him

Best.Headline.Ever.

I don't play alot of Monopoly, was the a insult or a complement-
OOOOOOHHHHHHHH, I see what you did there.

I love MadCatz.

They provide just the right amount of incentive to not be the loser in a four way Halo deathmatch.

(loser gets the b* controller)

i know what you mean.
used to happen all the time with an old nyko controller i had for the original xbox.

same still this happens these days, only that i've learned my lesson and only go first party, but still managed to beat the hell out of those 360 controllers from over-use. Now i have 2 controllers on which one of the sticks slighty moves in 1 direction without touching them.
Loser Plays bitch!

I remember buying my first and last Mad Catz controller for my Nintendo 64. My brother and I used to call it "Razor" because of how sharp the analog stick was and how using it would cause immediate blistering.

Oh how I would laugh when an unsuspecting fool would be forced to use ol' Razor after not realizing why everyone else was scrambling for the good controllers for GoldenEye.

Oh man, I think we've all had a controller like that. You had me laughing pretty hard at that one. Ah, memories.

"with construction quality on par with Monopoly's board pieces"

What? You mean they'll be made of metal? Or is it time I updated my monopoly board game?

You know what I don't understand? Instead of making shoddy knockoffs, why don't 3rd party manufacturers try to make *better* controllers than the official ones? There's plenty of potential for that, and with the ridiculous controller prices this generation, they could probably still sell them for cheaper.

Example: redesign the goddamn Sony controller into something people with all 10 fingers can actually hold comfortably. Give it decent build quality, and sell it for $10 less than the Sony brand.

Honestly though, I've had nothing but good experiences with 3rd party controllers. I'd buy Mad Katz again, and probably will.

Logitech tried something like that, they had a huge wireless PS2 controller that was awesome, but for some reason the button action and analog sticks were not as good.

Because Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft hold patents for their controllers that makes them better than what third-parties can make. Probably including ones that are better than what they already are.

True. At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, the only controller this gen without issues is the 360 pad. Bar the battery pack being in the way a little and the d-pad being crap on toast, the thing is pretty much spot on. If they were to make something like the 360 pad for the PS3 and the "classic" Wii controller, and made it good, they should rake in the cash.

I hate it when 3rd party manufacturers try to clone the official controller. The whole point to going 3rd party (other than being cheap, which isn't really that cheap), is to get something DIFFERENT. Every 3rd party PS2 controller looks like a DualShock that has been given the Silly Putty treatment.

People keep asking for a PS2 controller with the analog stick and D-pad locations switched. So... why not do that?! Are they afraid people will confuse them for 360 controllers and walk right by? Just put really big "PS2" letters on it, or give it blue stripes. If it ain't green, nobody will be confused.

Good/quality design cuts into profit margins.
Any place i've ever gone goes straight for an official controller when someone asks for a controller for X system.

My guess is these companies just couldn't survive without an insane mark-up on their cheap plastic crap.

umm i really like my wired madcatz 360 controller

i would rather use it than my first party wireless

it's just the face buttonss are flat and it's a little but wider giving me a little bit of a grip

I love my Mad Catz wired 360 controller, too, and I got it on clearance for $10! Best deal ever. The analog sticks on the official 360 controller are too tall, and the triggers are stubby. This 3rd party controller is awesome -- including the D-pad.

Of course, that's the only Mad Catz product I own.

I got mine for like 20 canadian

it's cheap and it doesnt run out of betteries

i little inconvenice offests the cost of batteries/plug and play kit

and yes that is a sweet d-pad

it's like madcatz decided they were going to make something worth buying

This is bad bad news for flight simulation fans. I guess I should kiss any new decent hands on throttle and stick from Saitek goodbye.

Damn... I liked Saitek, too. =(

I'd be thrilled of a 3rd party would make a PS3 controller with L2&R2 buttons that didn't bulge outwards. Tha t is the most uncomfortable thing in the world to use.

Oh man, I feel your pain. My fingers constantly slip off of them. WTF were they thinking when they did that? I'm not trying to flame, but does anybody actually like how the L2 and R2 are set up?

You know, people give the PS3 controller a lot of crap, but last I checked, L2 and R2 were about the least used buttons on the controller. What the hell are you people playing that uses those so much that it matters that the buttons aren't concave?

Motorstorm uses them for something, it's been so long since I played it though I can't remember, mostly because of how uncomfortable those damn buttons make it to play.

@ ColossalHat

I don't have a PS3, but my friend does and I remember this from using his. I don't remember the game, but I think it was RFOM that drove me crazy. It doesn't matter how much the buttons are used. This is still a design flaw that shouldn't have been overlooked and wouldn't have cost anything extra to fix. The 360 has the same problem with the D-Pad. Seriously, how do these things make it past design? Why doesn't the Nunchuk on the Wii let you push the analog stick in? All of the systems have issues with the controllers, the PS3 included. I'm not picking on the PS3, but you cannot deny that Synner is right about this.

@ Prof Chaos

I agree that the design does leave a lot to be desired, (I have problems when I'm at my computer and set down the controller on my leg, it pushes the L2 & R2 buttons often) but I was mostly curious as to what games actually use them enough for it to be a major complaint/problem.

I guess I don't play enough games that use those two buttons to really care about it.

A couple of third-party controllers I liked:

1) Mako Pad 64. It was similar to the Shark Pad, but clear instead! One was shipped by InterAct, and the other was by Performance (but I think Performance was once by InterAct, hence why the two were so similar). The nice thing about these two controllers was that they granded access to all buttons in a two-handle configuration. Though, I think the Mako Pad was also officially licensed.

2) Hori Digital Controller for GameCube. An officially licensed accessory, it looks just like a Super NES controller, but purple or black and had the GameCube face buttons. Perfect for Game Boy Player, and worked well with a few GameCube games, too (SoulCalibur II, for example).

Other than that... They're all pretty much junk.

Interact made some badass gamepads back in the day. The Hammerhead FX is one of the best console style controllers for PC to this day IMO. Its very sturdy as well. Mine still works fine after braining those two intruders a few years back.

I had that clear performance pad.
It was the only solid built 3rd party controller i've ever owned.

NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Mad Catz used to rule. The Panther XL was a joystick/speedball combo--and was the best controller ever for FPS games.

Dammit, Saitek made some amazing stuff, I hope it don't go to crap with this Mad Crapz.

LOL @ I can has Saitek ! Great pun Ludwig with the "mad CATZ" and all. I laughed so hard. BUT i believe the true LOL-cat spelling should be "haz".

No, he's referring to the original LOLcat, the I can has cheezburger/NEDM cat.

Ugh, Mad Catz makes some really crappy peripherals. Although with the high quality of 360 and Wii first party controllers (I don't own a PS3 so I can't speak to that), I haven't considered a 3rd party alternative for quite a while anyway.

Let me put this as simple as possible:

Mad Catz products suck balls.

Much save data was lost to MadCatz PSX Memory Cards in my youth. They seemed to commit suicide after six months of ownership without fail.

Eventually I bought this "Super Memory Card 8000" that had the equivalent of eight memory cards (120 save blocks) built in and you could cycle through them--I still have it today.

Never used a madcatz controller of anything but both my keyboard and mouse are by Saitek and I have to say they really are the best out right now. The new 70 dollar keyboard is one of the best I've ever used. Of course I don't spend that kind of money on things that are the sme in general but the 40 dollar one I picked up form Circuit city lights u blue, has and expansion board for quick buttons or macros in games and is very easy and comfortable on my hands. Some of the best products are made by third party companies.

Saitek makes the best flight sim sticks around. Without them, we wouldnt have flight sims. Ironically, there is a massive shortage of space and flight sims.

Hmmm, am I the only one in here that thinks MadCatz stuff is fine for what it costs?

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Mad Catz purrchases Saitek, Joystiq shoots headline author

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