Games

Gaming peripheral icon rises from bankruptcy ashes

Gaming peripheral icon rises from bankruptcy ashes
The Mad Catz Rat Air wireless gaming mouse leads the charge for the company's return from the dead
The Mad Catz Rat Air wireless gaming mouse leads the charge for the company's return from the dead
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The Mad Catz Rat Air wireless gaming mouse leads the charge for the company's return from the dead
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The Mad Catz Rat Air wireless gaming mouse leads the charge for the company's return from the dead
The Strike 4 keyboard from Mad Catz has mechanical switches rated for 50 million key strikes
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The Strike 4 keyboard from Mad Catz  has mechanical switches rated for 50 million key strikes
The Freq 4 gaming headset has ViviTouch actuators for bass you can feel
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The Freq 4 gaming headset has ViviTouch actuators for bass you can feel
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The 30th anniversary of US gaming hardware veteran Mad Catz was almost visible on the horizon when the first signs of trouble began to emerge in 2016. The company closed its doors at the end of March 2017 and looked to be heading for the history books. But now the brand is back, and will be showing off its first new peripherals at CES 2018.

Mad Catz Interactive has now become Mad Catz Global, and is being run out of Hong Kong instead of the US. According to CNET, most of the old company's assets have been acquired by a Chinese holding company that includes workers from the brand's Chinese factories. With new management comes the promise of new ideas and a new attitude, with a focus on quality. The first new generation Mad Catz products out of the box will be new gaming mice, keyboards, headsets and gaming surfaces.

Leading the pack is a wireless version of the user-adjustable Rat mouse called the Air, which rocks a similar battlebot-like appearance to earlier versions of the gaming mouse, but can operate cable-free. Wireless mice generally run on batteries, which can be a big problem if you're just about to enter the multiplayer arena and the power dies, and means that many gamers prefer to use wired mice.

The Rat Air doesn't rely on battery power, instead resting on a powered gaming surface that keeps the juices flowing, likely in a similar fashion to Logitech's Powerplay system.

The mouse features a Pixart PMW3360 optical sensor for up to 12,000 DPI, offers 50 G acceleration and 3.8 m/s tracking, and includes Omron switches rated for 20 million clicks. Its chassis can be adjusted for personalized comfort, and should a gamer wish to go wired, the mouse can be plugged into the gaming system using a USB cable. The power mat features custom lighting effects to the sides.

The Strike 4 keyboard from Mad Catz has mechanical switches rated for 50 million key strikes
The Strike 4 keyboard from Mad Catz  has mechanical switches rated for 50 million key strikes

Next up is the Strike 4 keyboard. Mechanical switches promise an expected life of 50 million strikes, there's independent RGB lighting for each key, injection-molded key caps and an aluminum faceplate.

The Freq 4 gaming headset rocks 40 mm neodymium drivers in a metal-plated frame. Audio specs pan out to a 20 Hz to 20 kHz frequency range, 32 ohm impedance and 110 dB sensitivity and Mad Catz has ditched the 3.5 mm audio jack in favor of USB connection. Elsewhere there's a built-in omnidirectional microphone, 16.8 million color LED lighting and ViviTouch actuators for bass you can feel.

No pricing or availability information has been announced, but the new Mad Catz products will be heading to Las Vegas next week for CES 2018. The video below gives a very brief taste of what's to come.

Source: Mad Catz

Back In The Game

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