CES 2016: Mad Catz
Mad Catz was at the usual hotel for CES and I stopped in to check out their latest products for PC, console, and mobile.
A while back, they debuted the R.A.T. Pro X at last year's show. It's been shipping for a few months, but this was the first time I saw it in person since I missed last year. The mouse is just crazy with so many interchangeable parts and customization. Switch out the grips, feet, hell even the sensor can be changed. This is one mouse that can grow with you. If Mad Catz releases some better sensors, just pick one up from them for around $30 and pop it into the R.A.T. Pro X and it'll feel like a brand new mouse.
One of the coolest features is the analog wheel so you can tilt the wheel left and right at various degrees. Imagine being able to peek left or right by varying degrees based on how far you push the mouse wheel to the side. And yes, even the wheel can be switched out as well as tightened or loosened. The R.A.T. Pro X looks like the ultimate gaming mouse and it's on sale now for about $200.
A step down from the Pro X is the R.A.T. Pro S. Take the Pro X, remove most of the customization features, keep the adjustable palm rest, and you have what is essentially the Pro S. It's for those who like the size and shape of the Pro X, but can't afford to spend $200 on a mouse. It's still got a world class optical sensor and weights just 77 grams. It'll ship soon and retail for about $70.
One of the more unique mice I've seen is the R.A.T. 1. It's got three components: the sensor, button unit, shell, and palm rest. What's interesting is that you can take the sensor/button unit off the shell and use it like a portable mouse. Or, if you need something small to do presentations, you have a small yet usable mouse to do so. It all snaps back together pretty easily and then you have a full size mouse. Definitely one of a kind. $30 will be what you have to spend to grab one, and it's coming soon.
The star of Mad Catz's booth is probably the Tritton Katana HD 7.1 Wireless headset. It's the first gaming headset that takes audio straight from HDMI instead of optical out so you get uncompressed sound which is 80X better than coming from an optical source. The sound is then beamed to the headset via a 2.4GHz wireless signal where it plays beautifully. There's a removable boom mic and something unique, the boom mic has a pass-through port in case you want to use say the PlayStation 4's chat connection on the controller.
The puck itself has an HDMI input and an HDMI output. It's a pass through so you can keep the unit plugged in when not using the Katana HD and still have picture and audio going to your TV. The puck is powered by a USB connection and that's also used for PlayStation voice chat. Finally, a 3.5 input connector allows you to connect any audio sources that has that connection type, but if you have both that and an HDMI connection in place, the HDMI connection takes precedence.
I was given a demo of scenes from Jurassic World and Exodus: Gods and Kings and the sound quality was amazing. Everything was crystal clear with great highs and solid bass. Hearing the sound of hail raining down on Egypt in Gods and Kings was pretty damn impressive. The rumble of the dinosaurs and its roar really packed some punch with the Tritton Katana HD.
You can expect about 20 hours of gaming on a charge, which is pretty good and it will be shipping in March for $250.
For those that want a good quality ear bud style gaming set, the E.S. PRO 1 Gaming Earbuds might be for you. They feature 13.5mm drivers, which is larger than the average 8mm drivers you find in ear buds and it comes with 3 different sized ear plugs. There's also a piece that fits inside the ear to help keep it in place. A boom mic that's detachable will let you talk with great clarity, but you can also use a mic that's on the inline remote as well. The E.S. PRO 1 comes with a splitter cable so you can use it with your PC if it doesn't offer a single 3.5mm all in one connection. They are available for $50.
Mad Catz also had two mobile controllers being shown. One was the S.U.R.F.R., which features a QWERTY keyboard, a mouse and gaming mode, retractable grips, and combo analog sticks and D-Pad. It's made for those that want to game in front of a TV using say a ROKU, FireTV, or some Android device. It's got a nice feel and the full keyboard helps when browsing the web or chatting with someone on the big screen.
A smaller version of the L.Y.N.X. 9 called the L.Y.N.X. 3 features a foldable design comfortable grips. It has an option for a phone clip and is made for on the go gaming. For $50, the L.Y.N.X. 3 is a good option if you're looking for a portable gaming controller for your mobile device.
Mad Catz has some great stuff at the show and the Katana HD was the product that really impressed me. The rest of the lineup was solid and there are some great offerings for PC, console, and mobile coming out from them in the coming months.
