New console generations always come with the need for compatible controllers, and nothing much has changed with the release of Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One.
For the fighting game community in particular, Mad Catz has been on the forefront of providing arcade sticks for these new consoles with their line of Tournament Edition 2 models, which so far have come in Killer Instinct, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, and Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- flavors. The latter in particular has seen incredibly high demand, making it nearly impossible for folks who didn’t pre-order to get their hands on one.
Earlier today, Mad Catz went live with a special restock of 100 sticks, sold through their online shop on a first come, first served basis. They were gone within fifteen minutes.
For a bit more insight into the mad rush that occurred this afternoon and their plans for future releases, we contacted community manager Mark “MarkMan” Julio for some specifics.
“It was insane,” he divulged. “The traffic/demand for the product due to the lack of options of [PlayStation 4] sticks on the market is extremely obvious by now. That being said, we are doing our best to make more of the Mad Catz version of the [Tournament Edition 2] and the Ultra Street Fighter IV one available again.” During the rush, which saw outages to their website from high traffic, Julio likened it to the hype created by limited edition sneaker sales.
The sticks he mentioned, which work on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3, will be restocked sometime in late February or early March, depending on how their production and subsequent shipping pan out.
“We’ve ordered a lot more for that time frame and hopefully everyone will be satisfied then. We really want to apologize to everyone who tried to order and wasn’t able to get one.”
Mad Catz isn’t the only developer having a hard time keeping PlayStation 4 sticks in stock either. Similar controllers sold by companies like HORI are becoming increasingly hard to come by, though alternatives will be available sometime next month.
After the restock’s selling out this afternoon, Julio took to Twitter to talk to his followers directly, saying, “I’ll be talking to whomever I need to to try and make more Xrd sticks possible in the near future.”
With Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- out now and titles like Mortal Kombat X and Street Fighter V on the horizon, demand for PlayStation 4 compatible arcade sticks definitely won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Fortunately, these recent events have made it hugely apparent that the market for such peripherals exists, which means it’s likely that we’ll see production shifted towards making larger quantities available at regular intervals in the future.
What makes the Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- stick so great apart from working on PlayStation 4? Be sure to check out our official review and find out!
