Razer Announces new XBOX 360 Peripherals – More Evidence of PC Gaming Decay?

Razer, the company best known for their PC peripherals for gamers, has announced two new products for the XBOX 360: the Onza gamepad, and the Chimera headset. The Onza is particularly interesting as it is a wired controller and does away with the D-Pad in favour of a 4-way button set. Being a USB peripheral, I wonder if it will work successfully on Windows?



While this story isn’t related to PC hardware, it is a telling indication of how the market and industry is reacting to gaming on PCs and consoles. There’s no denying that consoles is where the money is these days, and I don’t fault Razer for expanding their product line to reach new customers. This could also foreshadow a reduction in PC peripheral SKUs in favour of console products – time will tell. The fact Razer is calling this their “Next Chapter” probably doesn’t bode well for PC gamers.

PCs have been the whipping boy in the game industry of late, but hopefully new technology like DirectX 11 software and hardware , NVIDIA’s 3D Vision, and ATI Eyefinity will give a jolt to the PC market.

If you haven’t watched it already, we discussed the state of PC gaming in our 88th podcast. Check it out.

The Onza will retail for $50 USD, while the Chimera will go for $129 USD. Both available soon. Sorry PS3, no love for you yet.

Carlsbad, Calif. – Jan. 6, 2010– Razer, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle peripherals, has announced that they have received preliminary approval from Microsoft to develop the Razer Onza™ Professional Gaming Controller for Xbox 360® and Razer is working towards approval of a licensed Razer Chimaera™ Professional Gaming Headset for Xbox 360® designed specifically for the Xbox 360 gaming console.

“Just as we did for PC gamers, we are really looking forward to revolutionizing the world of console gaming by creating a controller and gaming headset that gives console gamers the same level of quality, precision and accuracy that they know and expect in our PC products,” said Robert “Razerguy” Krakoff, president, Razer USA. “This is a great opportunity for us to continue to give gamers the competitive edge by really listening and responding to their needs.”

Razer plans to develop the Onza Professional Gaming Controller for Xbox 360 and Chimaera Professional Gaming Headset for Xbox 360 that will provide gamers with special features to enhance the Xbox 360 gaming experience. The Razer Onza will feature Razer Hyperesponse™ buttons, analog sticks with customizable tension and a programmable multi-function button (MFB). The Razer Chimaera is equipped with a 5.1 Channel Virtual Surround sound system, a Daisy-Chain cable system and a circumaural design for optimum sound quality and comfort. These releases promise to be an exciting new endeavour as Razer makes its much anticipated debut into the world of console gaming.

Read the full press release here.