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It's a well-known fact that anything signed by a founding member of The Who is immediately imbued with supernatural properties. Imagine, if you will, the raw, unbridled power a Rock Band guitar would gain if tenderly handled and Hancocked by frontman Roger Daltrey. We're pretty sure it would be incapable of missing notes at that point.

Such an artifact is now attainable, if you're willing to dish out enough cash to claim it. Daltrey and peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz have teamed up to auction off a pair of classy Wooden Fender Stratocaster guitar controllers for Xbox 360. The proceeds from the auctions will support the Teenage Cancer Trust, a U.K. charity which funds special oncology units in hospitals which "enable young people to be treated together, by an expert team, in the best possible environment for their age group." These auctions are a great cause -- with some extremely rocking benefits.

The auctions are up right now, and will run until next Thursday. Also, we can't think of an appropriate pun to end this post, but if we write about Roger Daltrey and don't link to the "YEEEEEEAAAHHH" button, we're contractually obligated to resign.

[Via Shacknews]

Mad Catz's Street Fighter IV Tournament FightSticks are currently priced to move at sonic boom speeds on Amazon at $99 for Xbox 360. Regularly priced at $150, there was a serious shortage of the peripheral last year, but now these baby Blankas are looking for a home.

For those with a little patience, the Super Street Fighter IV Tournament FightSticks are coming in April, but are priced at $150 like the original.

Remember those Sonic the Hedgehog gaming accessories that Mad Catz announced all the way back in 2009? The peripheral maker has now shed further light on its licensing deal with Sega, announcing a line of Sonic products for the DS Lite and DSi. First up is the microfiber soft case, which looks an awful lot like the neon, nylon wallets we used to carry back in fifth grade. In addition to snugly storing a DS or DSi, the soft case also has an extra pocket for games or related DS goodies.

Next is the ArmorCase which, as the name implies, gives your DSi a tough outer shell to protect it from its natural predators. Like concrete, for example. Finally, our favorite Soniccessory, the Character Sockz. They're basically like the ludicrously priced iPod socks you may have seen, only these have Sonic on them and are somewhat more reasonably priced.

The Sockz, ArmorCase and soft case are expected to retail for $12.99 each, with a release planned for this spring. Check out some pre-production images in the gallery below.

At CES in Las Vegas this week, Mad Catz revealed a quartet of "Premium Cyborg Gaming" mice. From the base model "Cyborg R.A.T.³" at $49.99 that offers a 3200dpi laser, to the super fawncy "Cyborg R.A.T.⁹" at $129.99 that drops the USB cable for a rechargeable battery and offers a 5600dpi laser, all of them certainly look like something made with the Borg in mind (as evidenced in our gallery below).

The standout feature for the Cyborg line is the grip adjustability of the upper three models. "For the first time ever on a mouse, the key points of contact between the gamer's hand and the mouse are fully adjustable allowing it to be customized for any grip preference," claimed Mad Catz prez Darren Richardson in the press release that announced the line. In addition to the customization factor, the upper three models also get two additional buttons (bringing the grand total up to seven, if you can believe it). No official release date has been set, but they're expected to ship this Spring.

After teasing us with half an image last night, Mad Catz and Capcom have announced a new "Tournament Edition" arcade stick is in development, branded with new art featuring Super Street Fighter IV. The stick will be made available in two flavors (check them out below!) for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Alongside the "Tournament Edition S" sticks, Mad Catz "anticipates" releasing four new FightPads for consoles, branded with new art. Considering the supply and demand issues the original batch of controllers saw, we "anticipate" Mad Catz will flood the market with the new batch of peripherals.

Unfortunately, Capcom recently pulled Super Street Fighter IV from its Q1 release window; however, we can only presume the controllers will be made available within the same time frame as the game itself. When we pried a Mad Catz rep for a release window on the new controllers they would only confirm it's slated for a release this spring. Hopefully that means we'll get our hands on both items in time to shield us from the April showers.

click to embiggen
Update: Capcom's Twitter feed got a bit more informationey later on this evening, showing off the Capcom suite at CES, complete with "new hotness from Mad Catz." Though the shot is significantly more blurry, it certainly seems to indicate a new arcade stick coming from Mad Catz for Super Street Fighter IV.

Considering the Consumer Electronics Show is happening right this minute in Las Vegas, it's no surprise that Capcom's Twitter account is busy teasing pictures of yet-to-be-revealed arcade sticks for the upcoming sorta-sequel Super Street Fighter IV. As you can see in the image above, an inky outline of Ryu overlooks a more colorful button set than the previous game's stick. Additionally, the shape of the controller's box certainly bears a striking resemblance to the Street Fighter IV Tournament Edition joysticks from Mad Catz that were in such short supply last year. We've followed up with Capcom but were told there's no official comment just yet.

Though we've had very specific hints about such an item for a while, MadCatz never released details about an officially licensed Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars arcade stick until today. Now, the peripheral maker has announced that the stick is real and will be out sometime this month, to coincide with the game whose name and art it bears. It's so real that, as Kotaku reports, you can pre-order one from MadCatz's site!

The stick connects to the Wiimote for a wireless-ish experience, a de facto upgrade over the wired connections used by the PS3 and Xbox 360 Street Fighter IV FightSticks. It'll retail for $79.99.

[Comic-Con mockup; see retail box on Flickr]

Tatsunoko vs. Capcom proves that the Wii is a perfectly capable platform for fighting games -- except that it doesn't have a high-quality arcade stick. If these box images found on MadCatz staffer Mark "MarkMan" Julio's Flickr stream are any indication, the company behind the Street Fighter IV FightSticks is going to take care of that. Julio posted two images of a retail box for a Tatsunoko vs. Capcom FightStick using the same shape and layout as the company's Standard Edition Street Fighter IV FightStick for PS3 and Xbox 360. It would seem that response to the Comic-Con mockup (seen above) was positive enough for the accessory manufacturer to go ahead with a retail release!

The stick may be included in a special bundle for the game, as well. One Shoryuken forum user claims to have found both a normal and arcade stick bundle SKU in the GameStop database. We've contacted Capcom and MadCatz to find out just how we'll be controlling a giant lighter in a fight against Mega Man.

[Via NeoGAF]

Following the release of Microsoft's improved Wireless N Networking Adapter for Xbox 360, Mad Catz has announced its own wireless adapter, which improves upon Microsoft's device in a couple of ways. First, the adapter, essentially an Ethernet bridge, works with the PS3, allowing for the use of the 802.11n standard with Sony's console.

Second, and most importantly, the Mad Catz adapter improves upon the most reviled feature of the Microsoft model: the price. At $79.99 (£49.99/€59.99 in the UK and Europe), the Mad Catz Wireless-N Gaming Adapter is no impulse buy, but it's exactly twenty dollars better than Microsoft's version. Mad Catz told Joystiq that its device is currently shipping to North American and European retailers and will be available in the company's online store this week.

Plastic peripheral powerhouse Mad Catz has unleashed its fiscal 2010 Q2 earnings results (that's the three months ending September 30, 2009 for us normal folk) and, while the company is still making plenty of cash ($21.6 million this quarter, to be exact) it saw losses of 16 percent when compared to the same period last year, where Mad Catz' net sales earned it $25.8 million. Its biggest market, North America, also saw a dip in sales this year to the tune of 18 percent; US sales have fallen nearly 20 percent this quarter, while Canadian sales rose 55 percent.

When comparing its gross sales by platform, Mad Catz only managed to lose a small fraction of its PC platform business, while simultaneously building its PS3 and Xbox 360 revenue streams by ten and four percent, respectively, and growing its specialty controller business nearly 20 percent. The company did take a considerable hit in its Wii business -- sales dropped eight percent -- as well as in other platform markets, however.

Citing what its key products were during its fiscal Q2 2010, Mad Catz obviously had a lot of love for Capcom, as several of the fight sticks it offered for 2D fighters were top earners. Aside from that, it pointed to its new line of Rock Band accessories and some Wii items such as its Remote and z-Chuk as other successful ventures.

While this quarter may not have been the best for the company, all signs point to it being a successful fiscal Q3 2010 for Mad Catz. With its collaboration with the biggest game in the universe and its venture with Capcom to offer new fighting game stuff -- the company also confirmed that Marvel vs Capcom 2 stick is legit -- we have a feeling our next post on its earnings will probably have an image of Scrooge McDuck in it.

Any alley brawler worth his or her salt knows that when it comes to succeeding at Street Fighter IV, a standard controller doesn't really cut it. You can try and hold out on purchasing a custom-tailored joystick, but consider yourself warned: Capcom and Mad Catz are trying very, very hard to break your spirit. Earlier today, the peripheral manufacturer announced "Round 2" of its line of FightPads and a brand new FightStick, all of which will be dropping later this fall.

At $149.99, you'd have to be a fighting game fanatic to shell out for the Tournament Edition FightStick -- though that black and white motif is strangely alluring. You're more likely to spring for the $39.99 FightPads, each of which feature a design based on one of the game's characters. We'd be remiss if we didn't point out that the placement of the Start and Select buttons on the Crimson Viper FightPad is, well ... unfortunate.

Peripheral manufacturer Mad Catz is going all out for sure-fire holiday hit Call of Duty 6: Modern Warfare 2: Call of Duty 4 Some More. The product range, which includes specially designed controllers for each of the destination platforms, should be available just as you go out to inevitably purchase Infinity Ward's FPS on November 10th. We've placed images below, with pricing and details after the break.

Sharp-eyed Shoryuken forum dwellers recently spotted a Marvel vs Capcom 2 Tournament Edition FightStick at a GameStop conference, and now Mad Catz has officially announced the peripheral, which will be available for both PS3 and Xbox 360 this fall. The stick features Marvel vs Capcom 2 artwork and, like its SFIV Tournament Edition cousins, is fully loaded with Sanwa arcade parts. The stick will be sold exclusively at GameStop, or online at the Capcom and Mad Catz stores. A price has not been announced, but it's likely the stick will retain the $150 price of the SFIV sticks.

We now open the comments for the inevitable Happ vs Sanwa debate. Commence.

Shoryuken forumite ohgee saw some new, unannounced Mad Catz FightSticks and FightPads at the ongoing GameStop Manager Conference, and snapped some pictures for the community. Perhaps most noteworthy is the confirmation of the rumored Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Tournament Edition FightStick, with yellow and white buttons and artwork from the recent MvC2 downloadable release. GameStop employees in the thread say it'll be out September 25 for $159.99, a $10 increase over the original TE FightStick.

Other new items found at the conference include a "Round 2" Street Fighter IV FightStick with new art, and several new FightPads.

[Thanks Ninjax!]