Saitek sold to Logicrap, what will become of the SC HotAss?

[Lorddarthvik]

Source http://kotaku.com/mad-catz-sells-saitek-to-logitech-1786689563

Edit: Mouse and Keyboard and everything that's not "simulator" stuff Remains with Mad Catz. So basically Logitech only takes over the Joystick/HOTAS/Wheels business of Saitek.

As the title suggests, will it even happen? Did the deal fall through on the hotas and that's why we haven't heard a word for ages?

Or this has nothing to do with it and we will see the finished product, ready to preorder at CitCon?

It was the one SC related thing I was willing to spend money on in the near future, but if Logitech takes over I'll be keeping my distance until I'm sure they didn't apply their "magic" to it and dumbed it down to the lowest possible quality.

As you may have guessed, I don't like logitech products, because although their cheap ones are okay, the expensive "high quality" products are from mediocre in every possible way.

I've "broken" two Logicrap Extreme 3D Pros under 2 years of light use. On the first one the spring was manufactured wrong and was too hard, broke after a 2 weeks. The second's spring was much smoother, but it lost it's centering after a few months of playing WC and Freespace2 and eventually the X axis potmeter broke inside. Same centering issue happened on my really expensive MOMO FFB wheel. That still works atleast, you just can't drive straight with it anymore as the "center" keeps shifting. I've been using their cheapest mice at work, they last 2 years but for the price they are alright. Don't get me started on their laser gaming mice, the most unergonomic shape ever...
My first generation Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro on the other hand still works perfectly to this day, with the DIY USB adapter. It is still the smoothest joystick I ever held, including any high end saiteks (X52-55), and it has proper HAL sensor so it won't drift, it won't tire out with use, and it's much much more accurate then the analog crap you can get these days.

 

[Bigcracker]

Hey I like Logitech.I think this is a good thing. They might have to work out a new deal with CIG for the HOTAS but Mouse and Keyboard FTW!

 

[Lorddarthvik]

Hey I like Logitech.I think this is a good thing. They might have to work out a new deal with CIG for the HOTAS but Mouse and Keyboard FTW!

Yeah, that could have been nice! But sadly the Mouse and Keyboard and everything that's not "simulator" stuff Remains at Mad Catz!
Should have mentioned that in the OP, sry about that.

 

[NapalmX]

I've owned a lot of mice and keyboards from Logitech in the past and was very happy. When they started going down the low-end peripheral path, I went all-out Corsair. Logitech has caught my attention with their Proteus line lately, though, and I believe that their above average QA will give Saitek a shot in the arm. Looking forward to the future of next-gen HOTAS.

edit : Still have my blue mx-510.

 

[Blind Owl]

I think this is a good thing.
I'm tired.
That's all the input I have ATM.
Night.

 

[AstroSam]

Okay for me. I got the G400 Mouse by Logitech and the G410 keyboard, running the corresponding software, everything worth its price and working good so far.

 

[Reyalp CB4]

i love my g602 wireless gaming mouse. K360 is a great wireless keyboard. Ideal for SC couch gaming. Their programmable remotes are great too. Plus Logitech is great with warranties. The times i have had to get something repaired they just sent me a new one and said keep the broken one no questions asked. So Even when it was a minor flaw i now had a new one and another for spare parts.

 

[Reyalp CB4]

also kotaku.... ewwww

 

[Varku]

Source http://kotaku.com/mad-catz-sells-saitek-to-logitech-1786689563

Edit: Mouse and Keyboard and everything that's not "simulator" stuff Remains with Mad Catz. So basically Logitech only takes over the Joystick/HOTAS/Wheels business of Saitek.

As the title suggests, will it even happen? Did the deal fall through on the hotas and that's why we haven't heard a word for ages?

Or this has nothing to do with it and we will see the finished product, ready to preorder at CitCon?

It was the one SC related thing I was willing to spend money on in the near future, but if Logitech takes over I'll be keeping my distance until I'm sure they didn't apply their "magic" to it and dumbed it down to the lowest possible quality.

As you may have guessed, I don't like logitech products, because although their cheap ones are okay, the expensive "high quality" products are from mediocre in every possible way.

I've "broken" two Logicrap Extreme 3D Pros under 2 years of light use. On the first one the spring was manufactured wrong and was too hard, broke after a 2 weeks. The second's spring was much smoother, but it lost it's centering after a few months of playing WC and Freespace2 and eventually the X axis potmeter broke inside. Same centering issue happened on my really expensive MOMO FFB wheel. That still works atleast, you just can't drive straight with it anymore as the "center" keeps shifting. I've been using their cheapest mice at work, they last 2 years but for the price they are alright. Don't get me started on their laser gaming mice, the most unergonomic shape ever...
My first generation Microsoft Sidewinder 3D Pro on the other hand still works perfectly to this day, with the DIY USB adapter. It is still the smoothest joystick I ever held, including any high end saiteks (X52-55), and it has proper HAL sensor so it won't drift, it won't tire out with use, and it's much much more accurate then the analog crap you can get these days.

Well, i'm using logitech mice and keyboard for a while now, and i'm statisfied with the Customer Support.
Once i called them, because my Mice was broken (rigth mouse button stopped working)
And i got a brand new mice for free. I propaly wouldn't buy Audiohardware from them, but mice and Keyboard are not that bad.
Don't know if they do know how to build joysticks, but i guess they do.

 

[rogesh]

I have a logitech 5.1 sound system. It ain't bad. But it sure isn't the best but for 70€ it was the cheapest and best I could afford back then(I was still in school). It's 6 years old I think........ Could be older.....
Time to get a new one xD

 

[Varku]

I have a logitech 5.1 sound system. It ain't bad. But it sure isn't the best but for 70€ it was the cheapest and best I could afford back then(I was still in school). It's 6 years old I think........ Could be older.....
Time to get a new one xD

Well in that case: if it's advertised for Gaming, don't buy it. Audiohardware for gaming is often overprised bullshit.

 

[Lorddarthvik]

It seems to me you'r all happy with their customer service when returning the broken hardware they make. So they admit it they'r making crap, that's a good thing! :D

Just kidding! :D
Obviously they are capable of building good mice and keyboards, but I find their game controllers to be overpriced and subpar in quality, and that's what worries me about the HOTAS.
The last Saitek hotas also had some questionable build quality according to reviews, so maybe they up their game a bit with Logitech behind them to to gain back some of the respect they lost?
I just hope that they don't up the price of a "cheap plastic" hotas to full metal Warthog levels, like they did with their racing wheels in the past.

As for a little aside, by pure coincidence, and even with all the fashionable hate for anything by Microsoft of that time period, I've been given a microsoft intellimouse explorer 1 shrotly after it's release over 15 years ago. If it weren't for me being stupid and tearing out the cable by accident about a year ago, it would still work perfectly today. That, is what I call quality! I still have a 3.0 version that I don't like that much, wife is happy with it though, it's also hitting it's 10th birthday soon without any issues.
I bought a Razer Deathadder Chroma less then a year ago and the rubber on the wheel started slipping, and in the summer heat the rubber padding on the sides started melting off their glue and falling off. Both SC and Amazon basically said it's my fault, and gave me the finger. So I fixed it with a drop of CA glue. And it's supposed to be one of the best gaming mice ever made, because gamer fanboyism I guess... It's shape, click feel and response are okay, but build quality is much worse then I hoped for at such a premium price.

 

[DeepDrum]

I have used Logitech stuff for years. I wore out 3 3d extreme pros. I use a G502 Mouse, a G910 keyboard and I wore out a G930 headset. Logitech builds good stuff but you can have my Thrustmaster Hotas Wartog (and MFG Crosswind Pedals when you can pry them from my spaced cold fingers. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[zeddie]

long time Logitech user with currently my 4 year old G710+, my 5 year old G700 still at work, and recently replaced the G700s that was sent under warranty replacement (the right click was getting loose, double clicked by itself, but no need for so much right click "holding" at work) with the new G900.

Also have an Extreme 3D Pro sitting at the corner.

Love every one of them. I also want a wheel (G27?) but they're just expensive, and takes a lot of space =(

 

[Thugari]

Yeah, that could have been nice! But sadly the Mouse and Keyboard and everything that's not "simulator" stuff Remains at Mad Catz!
Should have mentioned that in the OP, sry about that.

I have been using Logitech mechanical keyboards for quite a while, I am very happy with them.

 

[Croswell]

I fucking love Logitech stuff personally. Their peripherals have always treated me well, and their support is hands down the best I've dealt with for PC parts/accessories.

Hoping this will allow more customization for Joysticks/HOTAS in the G software, which is going to be great for SC IMO. Time will tell!

 

[Lexicon]

I still have my Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard. Version 1. You know, the macro-enabled membrane keyboard from 2005 with more macro keys than sense? They still support it, by the way. Mine still works, including with the new control software.

My first gaming mouse was a Logitech G700, bought in 2011. That mouse dormsurfed through college with me, and everything about it got beat to shit; the footpads fell off, the stickers fell off, the mouse buttons started to peel, the shell is cracked in two places from someone throwing my bag, the detachable wire got eaten by a dog, the provided rechargeable battery got stolen. That motherfucker still works to this day, even jury-rigged as it is with an old cellphone charging cable. AND it's supported in their newest edition of their control software.

My current gaming mouse is a Logitech G600, bought in 2012. It had a manufacturing defect inherent in the laser, something about improper tracking in the y axis. They reached out to me to inform me there was a recall, sent me a packing sticker, and paid for the shipping to send back the old one and get a new one delivered to my door. Nobody does customer service like that anymore.

I am an enormous slut for Corsair. I own their RGB-encrusted K95 keyboard, their RGB-encrusted VOID headsets, and every computer in my house is in a Corsair case. But Logitech makes every mouse in my house, every set of speakers, and three-quarters of the keyboards, and that will never change.

If Saitek got sold to Logitech, good. I can't think of a better buyer.

 

[Croswell]

I still have my Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard. Version 1. You know, the macro-enabled membrane keyboard from 2005 with more macro keys than sense?

I had one until about 3 months ago, when it was introduced to a Brandy and Coke one night. RIP in pieces G15. :( Rocking a G710 now, big fan. Miss the LED screen but I never really used it anyway.

I bought a G7, one of the first wireless mice that worked well for gaming. Had a hot-swap battery pack that worked amazingly well. There was regrettably some flaw in the mouse itself, so it would randomly drop signal. Logitech replaced it twice, then they sent me a G9x instead the third time. Still using that G9x today.

 

[Lorddarthvik]

I'm happy to hear that a lot of you had great experiences with their L mice and keyboards, especially with awesome curtomer service. I never had that chance.*

Spoiler: Drunken conspiracy theory, skippp... hic... hicc...

Anyways, what I would be more interested in is, with Logitech having almost so little experience in making joysticks and Hotas, what will they do with it? I worry about this because although Saitek didn't make cheap Hotas setups, they were mostly affordable after some double shifts and scrounging behind the sofa, especially on the used market, and were an okay middle ground.

Will Logitech allow them to continue, or will they just wipe out joysticks again, and "replace" them with fancy and expensive gamepads, as those sell in much greater numbers, for way more profits?

It seems to me that there is very little pressure on any big manufacturer to make joysticks, with every new space flight game being "optimized" for gamepads, and most of em not even supporting anything else then an xbox controller equivalent.
They know that sim guys either have old goodies still working, or are willing to shell out for a very expensive Warthog or similar. So I see a dark future for Hotas and joysticks, cos despite space sims slowly making a comeback, the generation that's playing them has grown up without even knowing what a joystick or hotas is, and simply it's just not worth it for Logitech to bother with it.

To rephrase the original question. Why did they buy it? Logitech bought the game controllers department of Saitek, so they aquired the know-how, along with the manufacturing capacity probably, to create actual great Hotasess, but will they use it to make Hoatasss, or use it to make "better" gamepads and kill the whole Hotas line, because from a market standpoint, it would be so much more worth it for them?

*I never had the chance to try Logitechs their CS as they didn't have any in my country 8 years ago when I bought my stuff from them... There was a phone number I could call and I had to take my joystick down to their "repair center" which was basically a very small flat in a huge apartment building, with 4 20somhing guys looking bored and wishing I was gone. Stuff lay all over the place in nylon bags, with labels hanging out. So yeah, it was anything but professional. Ofc they sent me away with "you broke it, that's user error, no replacements", while it was clearly a manufacturing fault. But this was many years ago... I bought Logitech wireless KB+M set for my mother's android TV box, it seems to work okay so far.

 

[Varku]

I'm happy to hear that a lot of you had great experiences with their L mice and keyboards, especially with awesome curtomer service. I never had that chance.*


*I never had the chance to try Logitechs their CS as they didn't have any in my country 8 years ago when I bought my stuff from them... There was a phone number I could call and I had to take my joystick down to their "repair center" which was basically a very small flat in a huge apartment building, with 4 20somhing guys looking bored and wishing I was gone. Stuff lay all over the place in nylon bags, with labels hanging out. So yeah, it was anything but professional. Ofc they sent me away with "you broke it, that's user error, no replacements", while it was clearly a manufacturing fault. But this was many years ago... I bought Logitech wireless KB+M set for my mother's android TV box, it seems to work okay so far.

I've never seen a logitech support store, i've only communicted with them by phone/E-Mail/chat, but they do the best they can do to help you. And if you're hardware is broken, they may ask you to send them a proove, that you really own it, 8for example a photo) and they will deliver you a replacement. (often it's more expensive to them, to repair your hardware, so they will just give you something new)