Mad Catz talks supply, demand issues of SFIV FightStick

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jan 14th 2009 at 4:57PM }

Speaking with Eurogamer earlier today, peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz revealed a struggle to meet UK demand for the Street Fighter IV FightStick: Tournament Edition (pictured). Considering the UK is "over there" and we're, well, over here, we wanted to see the situation report for North America.

We spoke with the company's PR head, Alex Verrey, who was surprisingly candid about the situation. The issue is that the initial production run of the $150 Tournament stick consisted of 3,000 units. The company's pre-order count is now "many, many, times that amount," which Verrey admits caught the manufacturer by surprise. The sticks are currently going back into production, but it will take a little time for turnaround. Naturally, more units were allotted for North America than Europe, but he couldn't get into numbers. Although many who order now may not get the stick day and date with SF IV's release, we were informed the company intends to make sure that pre-order demand is met.

As for the other official Street Fighter IV controllers, Verrey believes that there should be adequate supply. Another topic we discussed at length was the quality of Mad Catz products, and he asked that consumers don't think of this Mad Catz as the same one they remember. He emphasized the new Mad Catz has evolved and is focusing more on quality. He reiterated that its wares come with a two-year warranty and they are committed to better products. We've placed pricing details for the SF IV controllers after the break.

Gallery: Mad Catz Street Fighter IV controllers

Mad Catz Street Fighter IV Controller prices:

Tournament Stick - wired: $150
Standard (white) Stick - wired: $70 on PS3, $80 on Xbox 360
Fight Pad - only wireless on PS3: $40

Tags: capcom, fightstick, mad-catz, sfiv, street-fighter-4, street-fighter-iv

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Someone Sneaky @ Jan 14th 2009 5:05PM

I have a strange sinking feeling like I won't be able to get a tournament stick.

overheadobject @ Jan 15th 2009 11:06AM

This isnt your typical Madcatz arcade stick. Inside it is arcade parts straight from Sanwa (who provide the same exact parts you would find in the SFIV cabinet)

for 150 bucks, it is a steal with the quality of the parts within. Other arcade sticks with the same quality go for over 200 bucks easy.

Definitely a must for people who know sticks. Otherwise it is useless for those who dont know the difference.

overheadobject @ Jan 15th 2009 11:35AM

my bad meant to add on to the topic, replied to your post by accident

rruss79 @ Jan 14th 2009 5:07PM

I haven't checked, is the 150 dollar stick wireless or not.

Bruce @ Jan 14th 2009 5:38PM

You don't want wireless with this thing. If you're willing to shell out $150 for an arcade stick you're most likely a serious player that doesn't want input lag. Also, syncing up wireless controllers at a tournament is a mess.

aaron @ Jan 14th 2009 5:40PM

i would.... i wont buy a stick until i can be sure it will be wireless.

BruceMacD @ Jan 14th 2009 5:09PM

Why would you make something that could be as popular as the Tournament FightStick and limit it to only 3000 units?

(The Award-Winning) dark_inchworm @ Jan 14th 2009 5:20PM

Why would anyone want anything from Mad Catz?

chispito @ Jan 14th 2009 6:34PM

Because $150 is 75% of the cost of an 360 arcade system, and only covers one player?

(The Award-Winning) dark_inchworm @ Jan 15th 2009 12:48AM

Ok... they can claim to be focusing on quality, and you fine folks can downvote me all you like, but I have no reason thus far to believe Mad Catz controllers are anything but crap.

Point me in the direction of something they've released that's awesome, and maybe I'll check it out.

Rocketboy @ Jan 15th 2009 9:03AM

Inch.. Ok, my PS2 Authorized Mad Catz memory cards. Yes, they did exist.

WiNG LifeInAGame.com @ Jan 14th 2009 5:10PM

Anyone know if the MC stick makes that clicking noise when you enter directional inputs? The Hori stick is pretty loud, and something a little less noisy would be welcome.

Popfrogs @ Jan 14th 2009 10:57PM

If they're made with the proper hardware, they SHOULD click. Under the joystick, there are 4 "Cherry" switches, one for each major direction. When 2 are activated at once you get diagonals.

http://www.xgaming.com/newstuff/4-8_Selector.JPG

Those switches, if they're high quality, will click for each direction.

igotalottastuff @ Jan 14th 2009 5:24PM

Shoot. This'll be the fourth arcade stick in my house. Since I have 2 $150 green Hori Sticks for the ps2, and 1 crappy ps3 soul calibur stick. Darn you radioshack, for your endless lines of crappy ps2-ps3 converters!!!

blindfromthesun @ Jan 14th 2009 5:24PM

I can understand a wireless controller being more... Microsoft has proprietary wireless tech...however why is the wired joystick more? $10 more for a the stardard stick is outrageous! (sarcasm) Same reason Guitar Hero was more expensive on 360 originally right? Correct me if I'm wrong. Regardless, you shouldn't make 360 owners (me included) pay for a joystick you know we are going to need. Definitely, more than PS3 owners which have a semi decent d-pad. I demand a price switch!

The Espiritu (Somebody get me a tie! And it sure as hell better be red!) @ Jan 14th 2009 5:26PM

I think this is the only cool and most useful peripheral that Mad Catz has ever made.

j.howlett @ Jan 14th 2009 5:26PM

people are funny about controllers, i remember a few friends who would only play fighting games with a stick, i was comfortable with the snes pad and only really feel right standing up at a machine using a stick

samfish @ Jan 14th 2009 5:33PM

I'll probably plunk down on this instead-
http://www.amazon.com/Xbox-360-Real-Arcade-Pro-EX/dp/B001GDONZS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1231972126&sr=8-3

There are enough good fighters on the 360 or coming to it for me to justify that price finally.

Llama_egg @ Jan 14th 2009 5:51PM

Might want to try the X-Arcade Solo, I've heard nothing but good things about it, and it's only $99.95.

capt_carl @ Jan 14th 2009 5:51PM

That is quite hot.

Norm @ Jan 14th 2009 5:56PM

to the guy who recommended the X-Arcade.

Nobody I know would recommend the X-Arcade to a 360 user. I used to do product testing for them. Those things are decent for MAME, but there are some major issues here.

--You'll have to hack your own to use it with Xbox 360, it isn't compatable.
--Input lag. No workaround, it's there. And bad.
--Parts are generic Chinese knockoff parts.
--Cost. Much more than the sticks are worth.

Just an FYI.

chispito @ Jan 14th 2009 6:40PM

Do they make arcade sticks that you can switch to only allow 4-way or even 2-way movement on? Seems like that would be ideal for games like Ms. Pacman and Galaga.

Also, the controller should be large enough to set your drink and a stack of quarters on.

Norm @ Jan 14th 2009 5:52PM

I preordered mine the day it was available, but I'm still worried about not getting it. This sucks.

capt_carl @ Jan 14th 2009 5:53PM

I want one of the controllers since it resembles the six-button Genesis controller so much. The Mad Catz brand does have me a little worries, but we'll see.

ryan @ Jan 14th 2009 8:33PM

I heard it's modeled after the Sega Saturn design, complete with the same d-pad and 'mouse-clicky' top triggers. So it should be better than what madcatz usually puts out.

FSK405K @ Jan 14th 2009 6:22PM

Doesn't anyone manufacture a decent Xbox 360 controller that has a decent D-Pad, like on a SNES controller?

Seishino @ Jan 14th 2009 9:04PM

Hori's Horipad Ex Turbo has a really good D-pad on it. So far it is the only one that I've found that shouldn't be immediately chucked out a window. The sticks on it are pretty bad, so I'd recommend returning to the default Xbox controller for analog games.

Sadly, they're hard to come by these days. Good luck.

Andrew @ Jan 14th 2009 7:05PM

Someone should ask Madkatz about Canada. So far, they've been ignoring questions about our TE stick allocation on the boards.

If anyone knows anything, please inform.

KobeBryunt @ Jan 14th 2009 7:22PM

Glad I preordered my stick early :)

Farseer (GDI) @ Jan 14th 2009 7:26PM

Wow, if Mad Catz peripherals are suddenly in high demand, the world must be coming to an end...

Popfrogs @ Jan 14th 2009 11:21PM

Yeah they must have one hell of a magic rag to polish that turd all of a sudden.

I guess they don't even have confidence in themselves anymore, with a 3,000 run predicted before the preorders went nuts.

Diskoboy7 @ Jan 14th 2009 7:52PM

Hori isn't making a stick?? I'm shocked!

I guess I'll stick to my DOA 4 stick, even though I hate the sticks "clickyness", it's still a great arcade style controller.

Alex Verrey @ Jan 14th 2009 10:29PM

Hi there, the Street Fighter IV products will indeed be coming to Canada. If anyone has any questions on the range not answered here, please feel free to contact me, we have nothing to hide and really want to be as open as possible here. Give us a chance and we'll change your mind about the Mad Catz brand!

Rjay @ Jan 16th 2009 2:34PM

I went to my local EB Games and the sku for the TOURNAMENT EDITION stick for PS3 is a "D" status for discontinued! How can that be on a product that's not released? The 360 TE stick is status A for available! I had the employee look up preorder numbers for the sku and there were none. My question is, "Will EB Games Canada be getting units of the Tournament Edition stick?" If so approx how many?

shakeera @ Jan 16th 2009 3:37PM

Alex! Whatever magic you personally are working at Mad Catz, keep it up! Things are purring at the Cat since you arrived. Great job on the SFIV sticks, they look great.

Alex Verrey @ Jan 17th 2009 2:31PM

Ah, thank you for the kind comments Sahkeera! EB games should be stocking the Touremant Edition Stick but probably not on the day of release. We would like to apologise to all our Canadian customers, we have been totally overwhelmed by demand and are facing similar problems all over the world. Right now, we are doing all we can to ensure that anyone who wants a Stick WILL be able to get one, we just ask for a little patience as we ramp up production. Please bare with us and resist paying silly money on eBay, we'll get there in the end and promise it will be worth the wait! Apologies again but that you for your support and custom, we're all humbled and very thankful for your support. Alex.

10MP @ Jan 15th 2009 12:28AM

which stores in canada will be getting sf4 sticks and pads? amazon.ca and maby ebgames seem likly but what about walmart and such?

LunarAura @ Jan 15th 2009 3:56AM

Any other day I'd have said "No thanks, MadScatz" because their Dreamcast controller crapped out on me after two weeks. But ever since this stick was announced they have been extremely open and forthcoming to fighting game fans. MadCatz has been attentive through many enthusiast forums to hype what may well be the best fighting game stick ever made.

If this stick lives up to expectations, it wouldn't be suprising because they really did their homework. If you're to buy one MadCatz product, this would be it.

Scott @ Jan 15th 2009 7:04AM

fuck i hope i can get one....please make more!!!!

JeffyP00 @ Jan 15th 2009 10:02AM

What are the differences between the "vanilla" and "tournament edition" fightsticks. Also, will the 360 versions of these sticks, work on the PC (via USB)?

rikki @ Jan 15th 2009 10:34AM

http://forums.shoryuken.com/showthread.php?t=162653 should answer any of the questions you've got. You'll have to scroll past all the obnoxious pictures to get to the FAQ.

But since your last question is easy and quick, YES. Both will work with PC.

acefondu @ Jan 15th 2009 8:54AM

I still don't understand how people use these things. Button input with my hands propped down like a keyboard is simply awkward and cramp-inducing. But, the best players in the world use them, for reasons beyond my understanding.

Swamp Donkey @ Jan 15th 2009 9:27AM

Well I'm glad I canceled my pre-order and got my $50 back. I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten the stick until they make more anyway, and I might as well hold onto my cash until I'm sure I can get one.

They will no doubt produce as many of these as they can sell.

hadoken @ Jan 15th 2009 12:34PM

just get a x-arcade stick i got one and it works great http://www.xgaming.com/products.shtml

if your playing it on xbox360 you have to wait for an adapter

great for playing on ps3

overheadobject @ Jan 15th 2009 11:34AM

oops didn't mean to reply to your post, just meant to add on to this topic.

kent @ Jan 15th 2009 11:47AM

Ok, I have a question. Why do developers of arcade sticks insist on using the "big ball" design for the sticks, like what was used on old pac-man cabinets? When fighting games hit the scene, didn't arcade sticks evolve and developers begin to use a slender, narrower design? Those are SO much easier to perform special moves and more advanced combos, in large part because you don't have a big gum-ball to move around.

Nael M. @ Jan 15th 2009 4:21PM

Ball tops are are standard on Japanese arcade parts, which are the type of parts being used on these sticks. The hardcore fighter fans for the most part prefer Japanese parts, so that's what MadCatz is going with.

You can buy a bat top for the stick to make feel like an American-style stick, though.

hadoken @ Jan 15th 2009 12:27PM

if you're going to play SF4 on PS3 or PC just get the x-arcade stick
http://www.xgaming.com/products.shtml

true arcade stick it works on pc, dreamcast, xbox, gamecube, ps2 ps3

Whats that deal Microsoft just give x-arcade the rights to create an adapter for the x360