Paying $50 more for the opening top panel is well worth it IMO, it would also make my life easier when I’m helping people mod their graphics or swapping out parts especially the regulars that do it often. I know it’s happened to everyone at least once where they modded/swapped their stick and forgot to do a quick check and closed it up then they had to open it back up lol.
Now that the Atrox is official, I can say that most of us here on SRK that got a Beta Arcade stick voiced very very detail suggestions to improve the stick, from what I remember, there wasn’t even much problems reported and it’s been 8 - 9 months since the program started. Of course, mine is still working great and I got no complaints, two issues I remember is the fragile button(it “comes” off…but still locks into place when the top panel is shut) and the stick lever is placed 2 or 3mm lower than the standard Vewlix layout. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v105/syn13/20130522_224118.jpg
Just updated my Beta stick with a DC theme and added the official name to it, I was rocking a Ms. Fortune wanted poster previously but these Seimitsu marble buttons work better with this current Duela themed stick
I think the layout is off intentionally to avoid patent violations with Taio, so having a layout slightly off from the veiwlix is normal, look at Namco and its “Noir” layout, its a modified veiwlix.
My big issue was the locking/ clasp system, and that just take some finesse to overcome.
Yeah, it takes getting used to(I’m past that by now) but yeah, everyone who took it for a test drive all were really really soft trying to close the lid/top panel haha. Hopefully it’s more sensitive now and by that, I mean if you let the lid slowly close, it’ll lock or even a slight push instead of a sudden slam
The third row of buttons are the same height as the second row whereas the Noir/Sega Astro/Blast/Net City layout are set lower I believe. I guess you can say the Namco stick’s layout is pretty the 2P layout on the Sega Arcade cabs which is essentially the same as the Hori Fighting Stick V3/VX.
I’d say the Namco Noir button layout is more like a 1P Sega layout, not 2P. I think it would make more sense to say that the Namco Noir layout was a modified Sega layout. The Sega cabinets have been out since the early '90s, whereas the Vewlix didn’t come out until 2007.
Oh whoops, I think I misinterpreted the entire post lol. All I just know is
Astro City(1P) = Noir but with a greater distance between the stick and buttons
Astro City(2P) = Vewlix
Vewlix = Razer but stick lever placement is lowered
That’s all I gathered from all the sticks I’ve owned over time…but what I posted probably doesn’t help what’s been asked lol.
I could have sworn that I read somewhere – probably the Razer website – that the Atrox joystick wasn’t being released until early June. I thought I read June 6th somewhere…
I wouldn’t expect it before mid-June but it should still be out well before the end of June if production goes fine.
I don’t expect it to be as big or as crazy as the Mad Catz TE Round 1 launch was back in March 2009.
People probably should still be able to get a joystick within a month of launch… I just don’t see a run on these although they could still sell well. It still has some decent features in it.
I had to go through the check-out procedure to get the In-Stock status…
I couldn’t find it elsewhere on the Razer Atrox web pages.
The stick’s on my queque for the future.
I’d definitely design alternative art for it, though.
I still don’t know what they were thinking with the final production art…
At least they made it easy to mod!
Did find a definition for Atrox, though, and it makes sense… Good name for the joystick!
Given Razor’s habit of naming products after animals, I figure it’s named after C. Atrox. Going with a Latin species name is stretching a bit, but they’ve already used up a lot of animal names.
That would break from their tradition. Only their mice get snake names.
Mice=Snakes
Keyboards=Spiders
Mousepads=Beetles
Controllers=Big Cats (non-motion)
Audio=Sea Creatures
Niche specific or System based products=Mythical Creatures
I assume that since arcade sticks are a “niche market” that they named it after the Greek myth; Atrox Fortuna. Atrox is the goddess of Fate. She’s the one who tricked Pandora into opening the box.