wow, that final art design is so … I think that green PCB design of the betas was way way cooler than this final art, but perhaps it will give extra motivation to mod it right away if only Razer would sell it with 4 extra black “spare” buttons 
inside the compartment
I agree on the Beta art being cooler than the release art. That said this is probably the easiest stick to break down both with regards to art and button swapping but also with regards to getting at the PCB for the dual modding.
Beta art was A LOT better!
Uhm, not add any fuel to the fire…but Madcat’z current ECT5 sale gives you absolutely NO reason to buy the Razor stick.
The Atrox just isn’t competitively priced.
.
Yes, Razer shouldn’t have added the easy open top, the gas strut, the top panel plexi, the extra bat top and the honeycomb floor, stuff that no MadCatz stick has so that they can lower the price.
You’d be crazy to choose 1 Atrox > 2 Tekken TE S+ sticks (100$ for 1 right now).
You need a plexi? Easy, go to tek-innovations/focusattack for 15-20$. Bat top (god knows why anyone would want one)? 3$. (Can’t argue with shipping prices. If you live far, your Atrox’s shipping will cost more too)
So it’s really a matter of, for 75$(ish), is the ease of modding worth it? Arcade sticks are durable as hell, you really only need to go in there 2-4 times in its lifetime. 5 min of screwing for 75$? The honeycomb floor is neat though. I’ll give it that. That’ll save you about 5-10$ in mounting supplies. (I actually like the floor a lot. Which is why I think the stick would be better priced at the 170$ range)
As for the compartments? Hmm. It’s usefulness is subjective. The Atrox would be perfect for the Phreakmod’s Link, but otherwise, what else are you going to put in there?
Now, for 200$, you could also go for Etokki’s Omni stick. It’s dual-modded, has a plexi, AND IS SUPER easy to mod. It does all the things the Razer does and then some.
What’s strange is that on page 18 of this thread, you actually agreed to these sentiments Dev…
^you don’t get it. you’re paying for a new and fresh product design, as well as the innovative features that they have been building upon for a year now, not necessarily just to have another stick.
but none of all of those have a gas strut to lift open the top panel, it must look somewhat cool when the top panel slowly open like that + no need to carry screw driver or a risk of losing screws just for changing a malfunctioning button
while this one certainly is too expensive for me, but a friend of mine is a Razer distributor in our town, so I’m looking forward to see it in person
I’m buying 2/preordering 2 regardless.
It’s whatever people think the product is worth paying for…
I tend to agree that without a larger body or LED that $200 seems to be a bit much to pay for a single-person joystick… except for the fact that about half a year ago I bought a VLX! In that case, the sheer bulk (and materials, superior quality) of the thing probably excuses some of the investment there.
I’m not getting into whether all those Razer-unique features make the Atrox a better or more interesting joystick.
My concern, stated in the past but I’ll repeat it again, – that’s IF I were marketing these controllers – would be that they are perhaps at least a year overdue for selling this thing…
We’ll see.
You expect the questions about XBox 720/Infinity compatibility BUT as I’ve noticed some people still aren’t paying attention…
I suspect, based on Microsoft’s past actions, that XBox 360 controllers most likely will NOT work with the new system coming out within the next 18 months. MS makes more money off of licensing hardware and MANDATING certain features (including security chips) that ensure system exclusivity. MS gets a cut (licensing money) from every licensed piece of hardware sold for their system! It’s in their best interests to keep the 360 a “closed system” and NOT allow dual-compatible controllers on the market.
It’s highly likely Sony will follow suit and NOT make the PS4 backwards-compatible with PS3/PS2/PS1 controllers, either. Technically, the PS2 and PS1 controllers were NOT supposed to work with the PS3 but simple PS2=>PS3 USB adapters worked well enough with the older-style controllers. (I think Sony was just cheap and kept the control laws the same for every generation of PS controller myself… Toodles and the other PCB makers can comment on that far better than I can.) All we know now is that the PS4 will definitely NOT play PS3 games. Sony’s new strategy seems to be abandoning hardware compatibility with games and just recompiling, modding, and re-releasing older, successful on its new platforms/consoles. I would not be surprised if MS adopts the same strategy for 360/original XBox hits, too. Hardware BC seems to be more trouble than it’s worth to these companies.
This is NOT like the PC market where MS is making the vast majority of its money from software licensing (Windows, etc.). Game companies make money off their console hardware, period, IN ADDITION to licensed and first party software. It’s only been since Sony came onto the videogame market that other game companies (except ever-stingy Nintendo) accepted losses on consoles because they wanted to build their console bases as quickly as possible… selling 1million or more copies of a game is more likely if 5mil, 10mil, or 20million or more people actually own your company’s system! This practice eventually financially weakened Sega enough that they had to exit the console hardware market and near-solely become a software developer. Sega just couldn’t afford to absorb the financial losses Sony and (later) MS could on hardware sales.
MS doesn’t have to “be fair” to gamers and have an open system… that’s just not the way the videogame industry has even operated for as long as I can remember (or at least since Nintendo became the industry leader in the late 1980s). They’re in the market to make money and if people continue to buy their product and tolerate their business practices (which the last 30 years have demonstrated!) they’ll continue to do whatever they please until people actually revolt AND stop buying their product. It’s very obvious people WILL put up with buggy operating systems AND overheating, melting game consoles if all their friends on the block own the same product and want to be part of the same gang… The OS situation has backfired against MS in recent years; the 360 continued to sell well despite the well-documented problems with the console.
There’s still room to be surprised with the Razer Atrox…
I tend to believe, unless proven otherwise by the gaming community, that the stick won’t sell nearly as well as it could have a year or two ago. I think it will probably do “well enough” but I kind of doubt it’s going to be a huge hit at this point in time… People are already saving up for the next generation of consoles. IF they come in well under $400, all bets are off!
Even then, I wouldn’t put it past the FGC to surprise… it’s not the typical gaming community.
I’m still interested enough in the Atrox that I might buy one if I have the money… and I don’t even have an XBox 360 (or intend to buy one to be honest)! Seems easy enough to dual- or multi-mod.
First of all, you are comparing a full retail price to a temporary sale price. You have to compare it at full retail. $150 for TE compared to $200 for Atrox. Flip top easily adds ~$25 in value. Integrated Plexi? $25 shipped by your estimate. We’re already at a $200 priced compared to the TE. Also minor value improvements are because the TE has the really small cord compartment(I hate that thing) while the Atrox has a removable cable and a large enough slot for it internally. But if this argument for value must be had, why aren’t you comparing the Atrox to the Madcatz VS? The clear winner is this fight would be the Atrox, because the VS isn’t all that special.
Now, here’s something you don’t get with the TE or VS that the Atrox provides. When you swap the stick, buttons, or art, you can keep your warranty. That’s a huge bonus for some people. You can’t dual mod it under warranty, but that’s still further than the competition will officially go. That said, MadCatz has excellent customer service and will often go beyond what they officially advertise, but why risk it? The Atrox is safer to mod.
As for the Etokki stick, It’s not a mainstream option. It’s $200, and right now, only the Korean edition is in stock. Most people don’t want Korean parts, so that’s already an advantage for the Atrox. The Atrox isn’t dual modded(but it is officially licensed, so that’s a plus), and if I’m not mistaken, the Etokki Omni uses the Paewang PCB which is known to be inconsistent. If I was to buy an Omni, I’d probably replace the PCB with a PS360+. Nothing against laugh, his stick is built really well but I wouldn’t risk it the stock Paewang PCB. With the Atrox, I know it works as it should.
That said, I’m not buying an Atrox as I’m set in terms of sticks, but it is priced appropriately as far as I can tell.
It’s already been confirmed that the wireless controllers for each console WON’T be backwards compatible (only the Move controllers will work on PS4). As for wired controllers, consider this: Microsoft is changing the wireless technology for the new XBox, so it’s highly likely that the protocols for the security chips in the new controllers will also be different, making wired 360 controllers useless on NeXtBox as well.
On the PS4 side, the odds are probably better, but I also have my concerns, given that select/start have been replaced with two new functions. For dual-modded sticks, perhaps the Mod gurus will figure out the PS4 scheme in due time (no rush though - I’m still not aware of any FG titles under development), but realistically, I’m preparing for the worst.
One saving grace is that these licensed manufacturers are usually advised ahead of time to be prepared for the new hardware releases. Of course, they’d be bound by NDA’s from revealing anything here before release, but if they are selling these new sticks with only months to go before the new hardware launches, one can only hope.
the word “Razer” and “being competitive in price” can’t be written in the same paragraph. everybody knows they just sell everything more expensive than other respectful/ well-known brands who offer comparable products, so far they are consistently being premium at least in pricing, so if you plan to buy a whatever Razer don’t go about comparing prices
Let’s be real here. The vast majority of people buying sticks are aware of the FGC events and the Madcatz sales along with them. It’s pretty fair to say that of these people, most will take advantage of those sales. My sales price comparison is valid, especially from a consumer stand point (or are you telling me, you’d rather pay for full retail than take advantage of these common and easily anticipated deals?).
As for the warranty point…if you’re actually planning to keep your warranty with the Atrox, then whats the point of having all those neat modding features? The Atrox is begging to be dual / LED modded. To not do this in order to keep your warranty defeats the purpose of having such a moddable stick.
The Etokki is out of stock, that is true. I wasn’t aware of that. However, when it becomes available again, it’s difficult to deny the amount of value it has for 200$. As for the Paewang being unreliable…if that were true, I highly doubt Infiltration would be taking that risk at every tournament he attended. A world champion who has fought many critical matches using a “riskless” playstyle would never use a faulty PCB in his stick. I’m not saying the Paewang is faultless, but its times of failure are too minimal to deduct from the value of an Omni. (KNOCK ON WOOD, now it might happen!)
Again, I just want to say this: I really think the Atrox is a good stick. That honeycomb floor and the gas strut are impressive as ****. My only issue is the price point. It’s so late in the game that to most of us who already own sticks, the 200$ price is too much to add it to our collections (and by your own admission Yoshi, you agree to this). If it were priced at $160-170$, now it becomes something seriously worth contemplating whether to purchase or not.
It also doesn’t help that Razer has a history of over-pricing their products.
that sale however only affect US& Canada market
here in my country TE is priced around $180, Qanba Q4 around $200, and I wonder how much Fighting Edge would be priced by private/ small-time game shop who will import them in small quantity since there are no local distributor for madcats, Qanba and hori products, while we have Razer distributor, so we also get its warranty and service when needed.
No one cares about XBox720 because the FGC as a whole is likely not moving onto next gen for at least another EVO season.
Man…was pretty keen on this…but now seeing that price…
…shee-it…might have to just pick up a couple of other sticks instead.
Don’t get me wrong…I’d still like to own one…but I think I better wait for a price drop.
The buy link went live for North America earlier today. So I ended up preordering/buying 2. The order status said it was scheduled for May 28th shipping. Can’t wait to get these.
Preordered.
It looks quite nice and the easy access for modding and for switching the panel is just great, if it is sturdy and feels good this is top notch. But since this is 200 Euros and I just bought 2 Sticks and a mechanical keyboard, if this is gonna be mine it will be at some point in the future. I would be alot more tempted if this was 150 instead of 200, though. Also, Razer is known to have some quality problems from time to time, so I wouldn’t preorder necessarily, even if I wanted to spend the money on it right now.
Schoko
What quality problems, it’s got Sanwa parts same as MCZ/Hori/Qanba.