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Mad Catz files for bankruptcy, company is shutting down

Ban Puncher

Member
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Shame for those affected. Their sticks last gen were great for the community even if they did become far too overpriced this gen compared to their competitors. But, at least Hori and Qanba still make good and affordable sticks.
 

OmegaDL50

Member
Yes, I consider both of their best very close to each other. Nothing in the range of "not even close".

Yep. outside of the PCB which varies slightly from Stick maker to Stick maker.

Saying Hori had the edge over Mad Catz factoring both got the same stick and buttons from the same supplier just seems odd.
 

Outrun

Member
Yes, I consider both of their best very close to each other. Nothing in the range of "not even close".

Fair point.

I just think that if I want premium with durability I would go with VLX all the time.

The TE was a solid piece of kit, and did a lot to change public perceptions of Mad Catz.
 
As someone who works at a company going through a transition phase with a lot of uncertainty, it's not easy so I feel for everyone involved.


Did SF V underperforming have anything to do with it or was it mainly their bet on Rockband?
 
Have a 360 TE 1st edition stick... No probs whatsoever since I bought it, built like an arcade indeed!

Had some crappy Madcatz products in the PS1/PS2 days, but I stopped paying attention after the SF4 Mark Man days. I thought they had turned it all around? What the hell happened?
 

Gestault

Member
I'm sure it was the most viable option they had for volume's sake, but doubling down on plastic guitar controllers recently can't have moved the needle much for them. Some FGC people swear by their arcade sticks, so that's gonna leave a hole.
 
Not happy to see people loose thier jobs. But am glad to see the end of them, and not because of some cheap poorly made products, they did some real shady shit.
 

Outrun

Member
Yep. outside of the PCB which varies slightly from Stick maker to Stick maker.

Saying Hori had the edge over Mad Catz factoring both got the same stick and buttons from the same supplier just seems odd.

Yeah, but you got to factor the pcb, form factor and button placement.

For sure, TE was a premium product. I just wished they focused to refining those products.
 

OmegaDL50

Member
Have a 360 TE 1st edition stick... No probs whatsoever since I bought it, built like an arcade indeed!

Had some crappy Madcatz products in the PS1/PS2 days, but I stopped paying attention after the SF4 Mark Man days. I thought they had turned it all around? What the hell happened?

Doubling down on the Plastic Guitar / Rock Band phase unfortunately. Also selling Saitek to Logitech didn't help either.
 

notworksafe

Member
Yep. outside of the PCB which varies slightly from Stick maker to Stick maker.

Saying Hori had the edge over Mad Catz factoring both got the same stick and buttons from the same supplier just seems odd.
Hori uses their own stick and buttons for their products, outside of a few exceptions.
 

Outrun

Member
As someone who works at a company going through a transition phase with a lot of uncertainty, it's not easy so I feel for everyone involved.


Did SF V underperforming have anything to do with it or was it mainly their bet on Rockband?

I am thinking Rockband.
 

Spukc

always chasing the next thrill
sad to see people let of.
cheap ass fightstick TE2 IN MY HANDS NAO
my TE is amazing
 

OmegaDL50

Member
Yeah, but you got to factor the pcb, form factor and button placement.

For sure, TE was a premium product. I just wished they focused to refining those products.

Button placement is personal preference and not a quality thing though. People used to argue all day over at the SRK tech forums over the advantages of a Vewlix layout, the Sega Astro City layout, or various other ones. There won't be a single consensus on this on what the best is.
 
Fair point.

I just think that if I want premium with durability I would go with VLX all the time.

The TE was a solid piece of kit, and did a lot to change public perceptions of Mad Catz.
VLX is pretty impractical though. Looks nice, but damn if that thing ain't huge for the sake of it. I don't need the actual space of an entire Vewlix control deck on my lap.
 

vg260

Member
I'm sure it was the most viable option they had for volume's sake, but doubling down on plastic guitar controllers recently can't have moved the needle much for them. Some FGC people swear by their arcade sticks, so that's gonna leave a hole.

Razer seems to have upped its game with the PS4 Panthera. It's a good stick and better than recent Mad Catz products, imo.

My one worry is that Hori will start overpricing all of their stuff now that their main competition is gone. Having competition in the arcade stick space was a net win for everybody because prices were lower than they ever were in the past.

There's still competition in the space, and Mad Catz seemed to be the ones whose prices led the prices trending upwards.
 
I bought my fair share of Mad Catz products over the years. I can't recall a single one that worked out for me. And yet, I'm still bummed. Feels like the end of an era.
 

Neoxon

Junior Member
As someone who works at a company going through a transition phase with a lot of uncertainty, it's not easy so I feel for everyone involved.


Did SFV underperforming have anything to do with it or was it mainly their bet on Rock Band?
It was most likely them betting on Rock Band 4.
 
April Fools!!

Oh this is real.......I don't remember the last thing they did, Rock Band maybe? I never found their products to be quality anyway, sucks for people losing their jobs though.
 
Sucks because Mad Catz were the only one to have patent for controllers with switchable sticks/dpad:

MadCatz_MLG_Pro-Circuit_01_600px.jpg


I hope someone bring that back...
 

Justinh

Member
Damn dude...

Glad Markman got out and got situated somewhere else, but I hope everyone else affected can land on their feet. Sheeiitt, man...

I don't know why, but this hurts and I don't even buy any of their products.

damn, at first I was all "April Fools is tomorrow ya ninny!"
 

vg260

Member
I bought my fair share of Mad Catz products over the years. I can't recall a single one that worked out for me. And yet, I'm still bummed. Feels like the end of an era.

As a fighting game fan and Rock Band fan, I've been through a lot of their stuff over the years, and honestly, I was scared of a dud or an issue everyone I opened one even though I appreciated someone was supporting on the games I liked most. Unfortunately, they couldn't quite maintain consistent quality, and those genres are both somewhat niche making it not really sustainable.
 

Mihos

Gold Member
Somehow I have a bunch of MadCats controllers and I never in my life remember buying them. They just always somehow appear....
 

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
Mad Catz were clearly there to supply the shitty second pad, but damn I've got a soft spot for them.
 

Skyr

Member

When SF4 was released 2009 I purchased a TE Stick even tho I never used a stick before.

It had prolly the best built quality of any controller unit (including all pads) I ever laid hands on.
This thing was solid as a rock.

I never got used to a stick tho, so it went into the closet after a few playing sessions where it stayed for years to come.

Recently I put it on ebay and one guy got it for about 80 bucks.
When he received it he lost his mind that he basically got a new TE stick in mint condition. Thanked me like a 1000 times.

ye no real point in this story. I just wanted to say RIP mad kittys
 
Loved my TE MvC stick. Sold when I moved to PS4 for fighting games and didn't see XB1 support ever coming.

Great stick.

But yeah most 3rd party controllers always sucked. Logitech wireless PS2 controllers were pretty great though.
 

TacosNSalsa

Member
I remember dealing with the customer service a couple times last gen..I remember them having really good warranties and everyone I spoke to was extremely nice. I think their last gen TE was like a 5 year warranty and their SE was a 1 year (if you didn't open them of course )

I had a problem with an SE I had and when I called them the rep told me that my warranty was up in like a month so if I would like him to just ship me the parts (which he said would leave in like an hour) and I fix it myself as it would really cut down on the turnaround . I agreed and he said "okay..I'll send you 16 sanwa buttons and 2 PCBs"...the SE sticks didn't come with sanwa parts last gen so this was a very good upgrade. I said "OMG are you serious?" He said "Yea , these things are everywhere I'm fucking tripping over them just take 'em!" He didn't end up sending me 16 , he sent 22 , an extra 6...Maybe I just got lucky that day but that was the best customer service I've ever had in the industry to this point..
 
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