Saw this over at SHQ but its worth sharing here if only to perhaps explain why there seems to be some delays in ordering their Saitek rudder pedals over at that thread topic on here recently?.
Mad Catz are behind Saitek of course, Saitek have been a pretty positive cheap and cheerful affordable flight sim peripheral producer for a long time now, it would be extremely sad to lose them IMHO. Its hard to imagine a group like this not wanting to cut back on our hobby, we are a minimalist interest in the grand scheme of things.
I helped beta test the Saitek FIP LCD gauges before they came out and have 12 of them now from my own money, also most of the Saitek Pro Flight stuff, it would be sad to see them go, it really would, they fill a great gap in the market for affordable stuff for most of us.
We’ll have to wait and see though what exactly happens because nothings been decided yet … I fear the worst though.
I heard that they had bet the farm on making big money from physical accessories for the Rockband 4 launch. A warehouse full of mini bass guitars with buttons is how that sad story ended. Hopefully they’ll still be a mid-range’r like Saitek around in the flight sim accessory field, as we need them I think.
Plus, weren’t they doing a Star Citizen HOTAS too?
Trying to board a train that left the station years ago - that’s a darn shame. So I wonder what the new wave of accessories is going to be? Obviously - VR headsets are the thing…but will they require any add-on products? Think - Tony Hawk VR elbow pads…or the Jenna Jameson VR knee pads…
yeah I saw that Star Citizen HOTAS. you can click on parts like keyboard parts, wich seems a little “eh…” to me. There’s a trackball on top of the stick itself though, apperently to control the game’s nummerous gimbal weapons. it may wave over to convential flight sims if it is comfortable for things like controlling radars and TGP’s. Although it seems a little low on buttons for conventional simming especially if it’s going to be X52 price-range.
I’m sorry for the people who got laid off, but it seems they’re still making a profit so I don’t think they’ll go out of business anytime soon.
I hope theres no serious trouble. I’ve always respected Saitek as a solid mid-range producer, and all of their stuff in my experience has been really good (if you take into consideration the relative price point.) I got about $20 bucks worth of life out of an old Saitek Cyborg, which was what I paid for it, and my X52 lasted me nearly ten years! until I upgraded to a Warthog. Sold it to some guy in still 100% working condition…
That said, I’ve heard questionable things about QC after their Madcatz merger, with the newer X52s and Pros, and from my friends who picked up the early X55’s I’ve heard they’ve had some teething issues…
But they’re cranking out some interesting ideas, with that Farming Sim controller and the new StarCitizen thing, and their solid line of Cessna/General Aviation stuff I would imagine they have a good fallback. Still I hope they dont get crazy and dilute or over extend their product line.
@Kombat_Karl agreed, saitek has been my best bang for buck goto for peripherals. But as you said, madcatz has brought with it some questions over quality.
I am avoiding upgrading my very long in the tooth x52 (before pro version). The warthog is pricey and i am not sure of the x55 in quality.
Maybe i should stop being a scrooge, but i can’t help it, between the decade of x52 and almost decade of saitek rudders, it really is god bang for buck.
Been reading elsewhere since this and maybe just coincidence, but its getting hard to buy new Saitek stuff in UK it seems, there is a post on one forum of a single 3 lever Saitek throttle quad just sold on Ebay for well over ÂŁ100 + postage, they should be under half that price new in UK.
Flightstore in UK who sell a lot of flight sim gear are not saying in stock or out of stock, but they’ve always been like that in my experience and its best to call first with them if you want to make sure of an early delivery.
I’ll go on Ebay and watch some popular Saitek items and see what they sell for, that’s normally a good indicator for demand and lack of supply.
They’ve made some good affordable gear over the years, much of it can be modded, with a potential hall sensor mod (is there one?) I think their rudder pedals with moderate use could last almost a lifetime … my first original set are still physically sound with only the yaw pot just starting to spike to show its age.
I have the Saitek X-65F force stick that I know is out of production and could get a good price on Ebay, but tempted to keep it, it really does work well in suitable jet sims with a bit of practise.
The place I ordered my Combat pedals from has been kind enough to hold on to my money while I wait for the back order of combat pedals to be filled, I am hearing March… we will see.
