Many Game Accessories Makers Bow New Products at CES

LAS VEGAS -- Mad Catz Interactive, Nyko Technologies and Sunflex USA, a newcomer to the U.S. market, were among videogame accessory makers that bowed new products at CES last week.

Nyko took the wraps off the Power Shot two-handed rifle peripheral and Perfect Shot pistol peripheral for the PlayStation Move, shipping in March, as well as an updated version of the Perfect Shot Pro force feedback pistol for the Wii, shipping in April at $19.99, it said. The Move peripherals follow Nyko’s release of its first peripherals for Sony’s new motion-sensing control system, two charging stations, about two months ago, it said. Pricing on the new Move items wasn’t yet set in stone, we were told.

Also new from Nyko were the Intercooler STS for the new slim Xbox 360 ($19.99, February) and the Charge Base S the 360 ($24.99, March), a redesigned version of its older charge device. The Intercooler is a redesigned version of Nyko’s accessory for Microsoft’s console that “provides increased airflow away” from the device, Nyko said. The peripheral maker changed the Intercooler’s design so it fits over the console’s top/side (depending on how the 360 is positioned) instead of the back of the console to account for Microsoft’s new placement of the console’s fan system, a Nyko spokesman said.

The holiday season “went pretty well” for Nyko overall and was up versus 2009, although December came in “just under expectations” due to a slowdown in Wii sales, Chris Arbogast, director of marketing, told Consumer Electronics Daily. The PS3 accessory-to-hardware attach rate is “picking up some” after “abysmal” results earlier, he said. Through November, Nyko led the console accessory market in the U.S. in revenue and units sold, he claimed, citing NPD data.

Mad Catz Interactive’s 2011 products include a line of 3DS licensed accessories that it said will become available when Nintendo’s new handheld system ships in March (CED Jan 7 p12). Noticeably absent from the company’s 2011 product line were Kinect accessories, also absent from its line in the holiday season. But Michael Greco, vice president of marketing, told us “we will be doing something” for Microsoft’s new motion-sensing system, though it was too soon to offer details.

"Everybody saw a lift” in sales during the holiday season, said Greco. Mad Catz accessories for Rock Band 3 and Call of Duty: Black Ops “did well for us,” as did its core accessories, he said.

Mad Catz sold out of the “small quantities” it shipped of a $40 MIDI Pro Adapter for Rock Band 3 that enables gamers to use real keyboards and guitars when playing the game, Greco said. The item could only initially be used with keyboards because the only guitar that is compatible with it now is the new Fender Squier, which had yet to ship and won’t until about March, he said. There’s “going to be plentiful supply by the end of January” on the adapter, he told us. Amazon will sell the adapter for the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360, he said, adding “further retailers will be stocking them” after that. The adapter will allow Mad Catz products to be distributed by new retailers, including music instrument stores, who will carry the Squier guitar and adapter, he said. Fender will distribute the adapter in the music instrument market for Mad Catz, and the accessory maker will also resell the guitar for Fender, he said.

Sunflex USA Marketing Vice President Mitch Perliss, meanwhile, conceded that his company is entering a crowded accessory market. But he said the company is confident that it can find success with a differentiated product line as it seeks to popularize the snakebyte brand name in the U.S. The brand is already known overseas, he said. CES marked the company’s “coming out party” after starting in September, he said. On tap is “very aggressive, heavy social media marketing,” including YouTube, he told us. Amazon had taken on a few of the company’s products and Sunflex USA expects to “partner with a couple of key retailers” as well, he said. It expects to ship four to six products every quarter, he told us. The unaffiliated Sunflex Europe started the snakebyte brand, he said.

Sunflex USA announced last month that it will be the exclusive distributor of the new snakebyte MiniMote for the Wii, shipping this month at $24.99. The MiniMote “offers the same functionality of a regular Wii Remote,” but it’s 25 percent smaller, making the MiniMote “the ideal controller for kids and adults with smaller hands,” the company said. Mad Catz, however, unveiled similar Micro controllers for the Wii last week.

Products that Sunflex showed at CES also included a Bluetooth-enabled PS3 universal remote that Perliss said will ship in late March at $49.99, considerably less than a similar Logitech Harmony remote, as well as a $39.99 PS3 charger and a PS3 Move camera at $49.99. Several of the company’s peripherals will feature small screens showing the time and temperature, which rivals’ products don’t, Perliss said.