Idea: New peripheral company. costs?

I've been toying with this idea for a long time. I just have no idea how to create it or anything.

I want (after my service in the air force is over) to start a console peripheral company.

Controllers, headsets, etc.

I have a lot of idea's and concepts I think can bring a lot to the industry... any idea of how to kick start it? how much it would cost to bring just ONE product to the market to start it?

 

well it really depends if its a licensed product well they arnt cheap with royalty's and fees and all that fun stuff

if you wanted to build unlicensed peripherals for legacy consoles
then the limit's are really in cost to have molds done witch can be $50,000 or more
pcb production is actually pretty cheap depending on size and complexity

 

How about building Clone systems?

The Retron 3 still can't play Virtua Racing.

 

My goal is to be the Razer of console gaming, no the Hyperkin of console gaming.

However, making legacy products could be a good start.

 

The Patents on a few consoles are ending soon... DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUN maybe the first Clone NES/TG16/Megasis/Famicom/SNES clone with ports for all consoles.

Or you could make controllers for Legacy consoles The Retro market has no licensing costs and people still want things for legacy consoles.

 

Razer products are crap, anybody can make better controllers then them. Anyhow I'd suggest making high quality low-cost controllers, as that's usually what people want to buy.

And actually where the hell did MadCatz go?

 

Aim to be another Hori.

 

Mad Catz makes really high quality stuff now.

Their Arcade sticks are really well made, using authentic Sanwa parts or REALLY good imitation sanwa parts (their first gen imitation parts were meh, but their recent ones? REALLY good. Better than what Hori puts in their sticks in all honesty).

Their gamepads are also really well done. I have been using their Call of Duty Black Ops controller for over a year now, and it's my controller of choice for the 360. Uses the same analog sticks as the official 360 controller, a tighter spring with a shorter throw on the triggers gives better response with quicker reactions.

Razer i'm not a fan of but I used them as an example because of their motto of "for gamers, by gamers".

There's things on controllers I want, that I think would help GREATLY and I think there's a market for what I want. but no one has done it yet.

I want to make premium controllers, not no 20 dollar spare controller that is used for guests. Like what Mad Catz has done with their MLG controller, Astro has done with their A40 headset, etc.

Hori is pretty close to what I want to do. I I think Mad Catz really has nailed what I am looking to get though.

Their FPS pro controller aims for the hardcore FPS crowd, their arcade sticks aims for the hardcore fighting game crowd (both serious competitive markets) and their Tritton headsets are also really well regarded. Their Saitek branded Mice are also well regarded.

I want to make HIGH quality controllers for the hardcore growd. Remappable buttons (the PC market can do it, why can't consoles?), braided cables, microswitch buttons, weights, etc etc.

 

The Best stick I own is my Real Arcade Pro VX AS (button lay out is iffy though) Better than the Mad Katz stick.

I think what you want to do is quite doable.

 

Would you mind telling us some of your ideas? Or are they "trade secrets?"

 

If you're going to start with legacy stuff, might I suggest some nice wireless 8-bit/16-bit controllers? I think people would eat those up. I know I'd buy a nice six-button wireless genny controller (something like the Sega Remote Arcade, but smaller and not infrared).

 

As always costs may vary........wildly

First of all mind that while manufacturing costs are really low now these are still really high compared to software, which is why everyone out there is making apps rather than say handheld devices like in the '90s. Besides its really tricky to make freemium hardware, zynga would have a hard time making an entirely free console and getting their money back.

Back to costs, exactly what are you planning to do? Razer isnt a good example since those guys have been around for like 14 years to get to what they are now, and the quality of their products was IMO below average, razer line of pro-mice was terrible

About funding, dont waste your time with investors: they dont care about hardware and they specially dont give a shit about projects for niche markets or anything that doesnt have "social" next to it.

If you want to crowdfund it I recommend you talk to Tchoin. He and a friend of mine are working on something that might help you take this idea to the next level.

 

excellent advice.

For legacy devices, I want to target functionality. Microswitch buttons, but keeping form factor the same. I've redesigned the NES controller to be more comfortable and with microswich buttons (like the Ascii Dreamcast pads) better response. Wireless versions would get eaten up by hipster retro gamers, a wired version would be a gift from god to Speed Runners.

Like I said, I only used Razer as an example of gear designed by gamers for gamers. I've always used logitech over them. and their programmable Xbox 360 controller was a waste of cash.

I don't want to post my concepts here publicly for modern gaming. But I think if I can draft it, and get a patent...I'll share it.

The general gist of my products isn't your run of the mill gaming accessories. Not freemium.

PREmium.

I've personally paid more for a better service/product many times. Pelican controllers this is not. Microswitch buttons. aluminum analog sticks. short throw analog triggers...

 

100% truth. Do not overestimate the retro-game market. 1000 pieces of software would be hard to move, 1000 wireless controllers would be virtually impossible IMO.

 

defiantly defiantly aware. I'm not sure what kind of small project to start on first and move from there...

 

DIY mode- start up small by making your own vacuum forming table. Super easy to do, and when done well, it yields awesome results.

I also would kill to see some razer style light up legacy controllers.

But a good idea, that not only would be killer, but has been done in the past, is to add a 3.5mm audio jack on the controller (and volume control). Sure, you'll need to work out how to do that for each console, but it is an idea not to be reckoned with. The 3DO and the Sansui NES controller both had it, and I'm sure there are others, but what about an N64 Hori style mini pad WITH audio? A Genesis light-up pad WITH audio?
Only thing I'm fuzzy on is how to disable the system's audio out (to the TV) without actually turning off/down the TV speakers.

Anyway. Just some input if you look into pursuing this.

EDIT- DIY will save you thousands, and per chance it doesn't work out, you won't have to worry about a massive debt. The cost to bring a product in would be the cost of the table (tops $100), the cost of the plastic sheeting (really cheap, cheaper in bulk) and your own labour.
Marketing? eBay would be a great place to start, maybe even Etsy if you're into that stuff. My mother is selling stuff every 48 hours or so and she's had her self run Etsy business (per sé) running for approx. 1 month. From there, set up a cheap website on a free domain and migrate to there.

Who knows, maybe you're on to something here. I would buy from you because this sort of deal is of interest to me.

 

http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol26/?pg=34&pm=2&u1=friend#pg34

I think this will help you, read carefully the part about pricing!

 

As always its all about numbers, how many you plan to build?

Chinese companies fall into 3 groups: the ones that can do whatever you want at the highest quality but only work with high orders, 100,000 of units and even millions

Then theres the one that still get your product as you like but charge a lot, so much you might want to build it yourself in the states

And then there are the ones that are really cheap but you have to literally go there to see if they can do it right, else you might get a bunch of bad units

If you plan to do a couple of thousand to start I think you should get a good CNC company to make the pieces (specially the metal sticks) and then assemble them yourself with the help of friends or if you dont have any an employee.

And dont bother with patents: those costs like $20K and the process takes YEARS, unless of course you have a really revolutionary controller like the wiimote

 

i think the first product I'm going to do is bring my redesigned NES controller to fruiition.

 

if you find the time ide love to see a fan built into damn near every game controller made
ide happily pay $20 each for such a controller for every console ill even buy 2