Mad Catz now 'principal peripherals partner' for Rock Band franchise

by JC Fletcher on Apr 23rd 2010 2:37PM

"Mad Catz" isn't just the best name ever for a fictional group in Rock Band, it's also the new "principal peripherals partner" for the Rock Band franchise, including the upcoming Rock Band 3. The manufacturer now has worldwide rights to produce and distribute Rock Band peripherals. The company previously produced third-party peripherals for Rock Band and Rock Band 2. Mad Catz has confirmed to Joystiq that " As the official partner, accessories included in Rock Band bundles will indeed be produced by Mad Catz."

"We are excited to be expanding our relationship with Mad Catz to continue to bring their video game peripheral design and manufacturing expertise to the Rock Band platform," Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Harmonix, said in the announcement. "We look forward to partnering with Mad Catz to continue to innovate and lead the music game genre through the Rock Band franchise."

He has reason to be excited -- Viacom, owner of MTV Games and Harmonix, has already expressed its interest in getting away from the business of peripheral production, and now it's found a partner that has experience, and, recently, some clout in the creation of game controllers.

Source

Tags: harmonix, mad-catz, Microsoft, mtv-games, music, Nintendo, rock-band, rock-band-3, Wii, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (38)

MadCatz, if you wanna do good.. Change your logo, and possibly your name. Too many bad memories, man.

I agree they should update their logo. Maybe stay away from yellow.

Yeah, the yellow is so "late 90's".

The idea that a company that, when it came out, made some of the worst accessories on the planet becoming the main producer of a company's controllers is staggering.

No kidding - MadCatz is pure garbage. 1st party controllers only, please.

So basically if you want decent Rock Band peripherals, buy the older ones.

i think most people who'd be interested in future Rock Band titles already have them.
i know i do.

Yeah, because there were never issues with the older ones.

Actually, despite what both you & I think of in terms of quality when we think of Mad Catz hardware, I've generally heard really positive feedback about their Rock Band peripherals.

@Matt:

Exactly. On my RB1 drum set, the entire red pad fell off. On my RB2 set, the pad covering is warped and bubbling. Not to mention all the broken foot pedals before RB2 model. And I have no idea how many RB1 guitars I had replaced in that first year.

I can't see it things being much worse than that.

"On my RB1 drum set, the entire red pad fell off. On my RB2 set, the pad covering is warped and bubbling. Not to mention all the broken foot pedals before RB2 model. And I have no idea how many RB1 guitars I had replaced in that first year.

I can't see it things being much worse than that."

People have been complaining about the same types of things happening to them with MC gear for years. I don't see how this move is any better.

*goes back to his perfect-working-order RB1 Strat*

*cheers for anecdotal evidence*

So does this mean no iON drum kit for RB3?

It would be nice to have a modular drum set with a complete basic cymbal set.

Possible sign that rhythm games are at their end?

Mad Catz...?

Damn!!!
/facepalm/

I'm not going to give them shit.....

MadCatz is becoming much better at what they do. They've made good Rock Band peripherals and some great tournament sticks for Street Fighter.

(I'm not going to mention Modern Warfare controllers)

They along with Nyko could be some of the best third party manufacturers.....

But that's just my opinion of them.....

I agree the Street Fighter stuff was good, I hope it wasn't a fluke.

Yeah, and I love the bass guitar they made for RB2. Works great and is much easier for a buddy of mine who actually plays bass to use. He almost always gets the "Authentic Strummer" award at the end of songs.

Man speaks truth! Last year I bought Mad Catz portable Rock Band drums to replace the originals that came included with the game.They are freaking amazing, I just had to gut the insides off the old set and replace them with the Mad Catz ones. They also respond real well with the Rock Band drum silencers. Worth the $30 I spent, if you are lucky you might find them for $20 or less if on special.

Wasn't the previous Rock Band equipment crappy enough? The plastic under the drum pads crack, the bass pedal snaps in half, and the guitars shipped broken. Now they are just going to smash into pieces as soon as you touch them.

the Rock Band 2 drums are far superior.
that's the set i have.

Just ordered one of their SE fight sticks after hearing many good things about them. Obviously I'll be swapping out the parts for Sanwa, but my understanding is that the casing and overall design is excellent.

As long as my GH instruments continue to work with the RB franchise, I have no problem with MadCatz trying their hand at the music game scene.

Rock Band is by far the superior game, but Red Octane's peripherals have always been better imo. The GH3 Les Paul still hasn't been beat, and the WT/GH5 guitars were better than RB guitars too. As for drums, it's a close call, but the Band Hero drums are probably the best non-premium set out there.

To each his own, but I can't stand RB guitars. None of the buttons or the strum bar seem to feel as solid, and seem to stick more often. I much prefer GH's "clicky" strum bar to RB's squishy one.

And I've never been impressed with Mad Catz; they've had at least 15 years to prove themselves to me, and their peripherals have never been up to par.

Conversely, "clicky" guitars make me want to leap outta my 3rd floor apartment window. I love the RB2 wireless guitars.

As you said, to each their own!

"The GH3 Les Paul still hasn't been beat"

The GH1 and 2 SG and the GH2 Xplorer would like to have a word with you about the detachable neck stupidity on the Les Paul that lead to buttons not working

I haven't really used the Rock Band controllers, but I definitely prefer the Genericaster from WT over the Les Paul and Xplorer.

The Mad Catz Fender Bass is the only guitar peripheral with a split strum bar, and I've been very happy with it.

They got to make a flying V, make it a pointy one.. I think the strum bar is on it's way out on my RB1 strat..

I have an urge to vomit now.

Ewwww...

Good for them! They stopped making garbage a few years back and all of their RB stuff so far has been fantastic. The bass replicas were awesome to play on and the portable drumkit was pretty solid for what it was as well.

Let HMX focus on the game, MadCatz obviously has their act together enough to handle this now. Funny to think that a few years back I'd have had the exact opposite reaction.

I want a bass for the PS3!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

This isn't as bad as it sounds. The RB peripherals can't possibly get any worse anyway.

I don't give a SHIT what anyone says.
Madcatz makes great controllers.

I think some didn't use lately the Madcatz new product ranges after they acquired Saitek around two years and a half ago.

check their web site Madcatz or Cyborggaming or Saitek or eclipsetouch and the top wireless Wooden fender for Xbox 360 or P-Bass or the telecaster.

the top Controller in the world the Saitek X65F launched in Feb. followed by the Cyborg FLY 9 and Cyborg coming RAT mice range.

NO1 in Quality in certain segments.

Nah, the best name for a band is Anal Genocide.

My main problem with Mad Catz and RB was trying to get those cymbal add-ons to the drum kit. They were impossible to find for the longest time (even harder being in Canada).

Ended up getting a 2-pack then going again later and getting a single one when I found it. After unpacking the single one of the ones from the old double set broke. So re-packed that into the box I just bought and exchanged it. I think I ended up just hitting it too damn hard.

Not that any of that matters now as I use a Roland TD-9k.

So if they can get their distribution and timing down (ie. actual release dates) than I have no qualms with them, but I don't foresee myself needing any extra equipment now.

Mad Catz now 'principal peripherals partner' for Rock Band franchise

Reader Comments (38)

Posted: Apr 23rd 2010 2:38PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 23rd 2010 2:49PM MarkHawk said

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Posted: Apr 23rd 2010 2:46PM MarkHawk said

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Posted: Apr 23rd 2010 2:51PM MLC said

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