Skip to main content

Mad Catz's Rock Band range

Fender Precision Bass, Cymbals, Portable Drum Kit and Premium Mic available now.

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX: MCZ), a leading third-party interactive entertainment accessory provider, today announced that it has begun shipping its range of premium licensed accessories designed for use with Rock Band® and Rock Band® 2 videogames for the Xbox 360™ console across selected European territories.

Published by MTV Games and developed by Harmonix Music Systems, Rock Band 2 has quickly emerged as the preferred platform for music fans and gamers to interact with music, challenging users to master the lead and bass guitar, drums and vocals as solo artists or cooperatively as part of their own band.

Timed to coincide with the launch of Rock Band 2 which begins shipping across Europe for the Xbox 360 videogame system on November 14th 2008, each product in the officially licensed range has been designed and engineered with Mad Catz’ renowned attention to detail, and promises to elevate the Rock Band and Rock Band 2 experience to ever greater heights.

Products expected to ship across key European territories are as follows:

• The first and only official bass guitar available for Rock Band and Rock Band 2, the Fender™ Precision Bass Guitar delivers a staggeringly authentic bass experience. Incorporating all the features of the standard guitar, including Solo Keys, Whammy, and Overdrive Mode, the Fender Precision Bass is at home when used to play lead guitar as it is when playing bass guitar portions of a selected track. The unique Mad Catz Split Strum Bar allows gamers to strum and pluck notes faster and with more precision, vital for fast tempo tracks. To respect the accuracy of the bass, Mad Catz has engineered whammy compatibility by discreetly incorporating it into the volume knob of the bass, providing gamers with essential functionality when playing either lead or bass guitar portions of the track while preserving the timeless authenticity of the original design.

• Designed exclusively for the Rock Band 2 Wireless Drum Kit, the Cymbal Expansion Pack from Mad Catz provides gamers with a stunningly authentic percussion experience, adding up to three realistic cymbals to their existing Drum Kit. Sold either in a Single, Twin or Triple configuration, the Cymbal Expansion Pack allows gamers to grow their game play at the same level as their skills. Attaching quickly and simply, each Cymbal Expansion Pack contains all necessary brackets and leads needed to add a choice of crash, ride or hi-hat Cymbals to their Drum Kit. Velocity sensitive, each Cymbal reacts realistically in game, outputting a louder noise the harder you hit.

• Freeing percussionists from the confines of the living room, the Portable Drum Kit is small on size but big on quality. The compact form factor combined with highly durable build quality provides a discrete and highly flexible solution allowing bands to tour without the need of a roadie! Each color-coded Drum Pad comes equipped with a tactile backing, reducing slippage when used on a variety of surfaces and the Foam-Tipped Drum Sticks (included in the kit) dampen external noise when in use. The Portable Drum Kit comes complete with a durable Foot Pedal and Control Unit providing access to the full complement of controls needed to navigate in-game menus.

• The Rock Band Premium M.I.C. (Microphone with Integrated Controller) offers budding vocalists a device of superior quality and functionality. The Premium Microphone features a full complement of Action Buttons with the D-Pad and Xbox™ LIVE button allowing for quick and easy navigation of in-game menus without the need for a separate controller. A convenient Locking Switch prevents accidental access to Action Buttons, and the premium Soft-Touch Finish and high-profile Wind Shield combine to deliver a microphone ideal for sustained jamming sessions.

Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz commented, “The Rock Band franchise has proven to be an international phenomenon that is set to continue to grow with the imminent debut of Rock Band 2 into the European market. We have worked tirelessly to continue to introduce accessories that make both Rock Band and Rock Band 2 even more entertaining while upholding the interactivity and authenticity that Rock Band players have come to expect. We’re confident that gamers and music fans alike will be delighted with our range of officially licensed accessories and look forward to expanding the range throughout 2009 and beyond.”

The Mad Catz™ Xbox 360™ licensed Rock Band accessories are expected to be available across key European territories beginning mid November 2008.

Further products in this range and products for additional videogame platforms are expected to be launched early 2009.

For further information please contact:

Media

Alex Verrey: Global PR & Communications Manager - t. +44 (0) 1908 336 538

e. averrey@madcatz.com

Michael Greco: Vice President of Marketing – t. +1-619-321-3564

e. mgreco@madcatz.com

Investors

Joseph Jaffoni, David Jacoby - Jaffoni & Collins Incorporated - t. 212/835-8500

e. mcz@jcir.com

About Mad Catz Interactive, Inc.

Mad Catz is a global leader in providing innovative peripherals for the interactive entertainment industry. Mad Catz designs and markets accessories for videogame systems and publishes videogame software, including the industry-leading GameShark videogame enhancements, under its Mad Catz, GameShark and Joytech brands. Mad Catz also designs and markets mice, keyboards, headsets, PC gaming controllers and other PC peripherals through its Saitek brand, and designs, manufactures and markets proprietary portable earphones under its AirDrives brand. Mad Catz distributes its products through most of the leading retailers offering interactive entertainment products and has offices across Canada, Europe and Asia. For additional information please go to www.madcatz.com, as well as www.gameshark.com, www.airdrives.com, www.saitek.com and www.joytech.net.

Safe Harbor for Forward Looking Statements: This press release contains forward-looking statements about the Company's business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information or future events or developments. You can identify these statements by the fact that they use words such as "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "should," "plan," "goal," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: the ability to maintain or renew the Company's licenses; competitive developments affecting the Company's current products; first party price reductions; the ability to successfully market both new and existing products domestically and internationally; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; or a downturn in the market or industry. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators.

Read this next

GamesIndustry.biz avatar
GamesIndustry International is the world's leading games industry website, incorporating GamesIndustry.biz and IndustryGamers.com.