Razer shows off its first console controller

By Ryan Fleming January 8, 2011

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The gaming peripheral manufacturer Razer, has a long and impressive history of creating some of the best PC gaming peripherals on the market. Many professional gamers swear by their products, and even those that don’t tend to respect the company. Now that same company that has become synonymous with PC gaming is heading to the console world, with the hopes of becoming the de facto third-party peripheral maker of choice.

This week at CES, Razer showed off the Onza controller, and announced that a release date will be announced in the next few weeks, and pre-orders are now being accepted. The Onza was first unveiled at last year’s CES, but at the time is was still a concept, much as the Razer Switchblade is this year. The release date is welcome news, especially to Xbox 360 first-person shooter fans that have been drooling over the precision controller for a solid year now. The Onza comes in two models, the standard and the tournament edition.

The Onza features raised thumb sticks, an elevated precision D-Pad, two programmable macro keys, hyperesponse buttons, a textured surface, as well as two programmable macro buttons.

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The Tournament Edition will feature everything the standard edition offers, as well as a rubber surface for better grip, and adjustable resistance on both analog sticks.

The controllers are wired, but besides the fact that Microsoft can be stingy on handing out its wireless licenses, the wired controllers help cut down lag for tournament players.

The Onza Tournament Edition will be released in the coming weeks with a price of $49.99, while the standard version will cost $39.99.

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Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

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