'Huge market' for high-end gaming peripherals, says Mad Catz
£200 for a headset is not extreme
Mad Catz's Alex Verrey believes that there is a burgeoning market in high-end premium gaming peripherals, and fully expects the £200/$299 Tritton Warhead 7.1 for Xbox to be a big success.
Billed as the first wireless Xbox headset, the Warhead headset carries the Microsoft security chip that allows the company's controllers to connect to the Xbox.
First announced at E3 2011, Verrey says the delay in getting the headset out to market is because more work was needed in perfecting something that is very much pitched at the growing high-end gaming market for adults.
"We know there is an audience for this level of product, look at our Facebook page for instance or the fact that I get ten or twenty emails a day asking when it is coming," Verrey told TechRadar.
"There's phenomenal demand for this product and the true gamer will spend whatever it takes to get the best product, there's no doubt about it."
High-high-end
The price for the Warhead 7.1 has not yet been set, but is clearly aimed at an audience that can afford to be indulgent in their gaming spend, something that Mad Catz is keen to take advantage of by offering up high-end specs.
"We've just opened pre-orders and we launch on August 6 in the UK, actually just before the States", adds Verrey.
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"We announced it last E3 so it's been some wait! With the Warhead it's the flagship [in our range]
"We didn't want to make the best looking headset, we didn't want to make the best sounding headset we just wanted to make the best headset period – something that would literally destroy the opposition - and we humbly think we've done it.
"It uses new drivers built from the ground up for this product and it is loaded with state of the art technology that nobody on the market has or can ever have.
"First and foremost it's truly wireless, no chat cable, no bluetooth dongle that goes into the controller…ours is the only headset to communicate directly with the Xbox itself.
Verrey:
"The true gamer will spend whatever it takes to get the best product"
"It bypasses the need to go through the controller because it is the only headset to use Microsoft's own security chip.
"The Warhead 7.1 is brand new for Christmas, it's not a cheap product but it's the best out there."
Patrick Goss is the ex-Editor in Chief of TechRadar. Patrick was a passionate and experienced journalist, and he has been lucky enough to work on some of the finest online properties on the planet, building audiences everywhere and establishing himself at the forefront of digital content. After a long stint as the boss at TechRadar, Patrick has now moved on to a role with Apple, where he is the Managing Editor for the App Store in the UK.