Five Years Of Kone: Interview With Roccat CEO René Korte

Opinion
By Igor Wallossek
published

The Future Of Roccat

Tom's Hardware: So what are your plans with Roccat for 2013 and beyond?

René Korte: This year will be a very exiting one for Roccat. We will release our first mechanical keyboard series with some pretty unique features, like the individual per-key lighting. This is a good example for the Roccat philosophy of developing products. If you build a mechanical keyboard that has a LED under every key, why not make every LED light its own? Why not try to make more out of things you do anyway? It took us a while to develop the Ryos series, but we wanted to make it perfect, and when we release it, I think we'll have the best mechanical keyboard on the market.

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ROCCAT Kone XTD

We have the Five Years of Kone anniversary with more special limited editions upcoming, and we will also have the biggest launch in our history to show around gamescom this year. Last but not least, we will launch Power-Grid and step into the arena of software and apps. The PC is moving away from the desk and gets more and more connected to the living room. That’s something that we have an eye on when we think about new products. Using your PC while you’re sitting on your sofa; that’s something where you might see Roccat in the future. I expect 2013 to be the most successful year for Roccat so far.

For the future, our goal is to keep producing the best gaming peripherals money can buy. We will further improve our quality control management.

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ROCCAT Kone

Roccat does not exist because there is a market for high-quality gaming hardware. The company exists because we are passionate about gaming. And, as gamers, we want to be able to use the best stuff out there. And if nobody is able to build it the way we need it, then we will build it for ourselves and for everyone out there who requires the same standards.

Expect a lot from us; we have many ideas and a lot of awesome stuff to come.

Tom's Hardware: Thanks, René, we're also looking forward to these products.

Igor Wallossek
13 Comments Comment from the forums
  • merikafyeah
    If only the scroll-wheel on my MX-518 was more durable, I would consider it the best 5-button mouse in existence. Right now it's still usable, but the scroll-wheel is now "loose". By that I mean, sometimes the scroll will register before the wheel fully "clicks" to the next position. Afaik this cannot be fixed.

    At least it doesn't have that "single-clicks registering as double-clicks" issue many other gaming mice nowadays seem to suffer from every now and then.
    Reply
  • slomo4sho
    Call me misinformed but this is the first time I have heard of this company...
    Reply
  • dark_knight33
    slomo4shoCall me misinformed but this is the first time I have heard of this company...
    Roccat is a German company. They likely have a larger presence in Europe than the states. I have heard of the brand, but never seen any of their products at retail.

    Some of the mice look pretty similar to Logitech MX series. That's not to say Roccat copied them, I'm sure there are only so many ways to shape a mouse. Rather, I mean unless you are pretty picky, or want a certain feature Roccat has, it's likely they aren't a big in the US because Logitech & Razer are already serving the market well.
    Reply
  • merikafyeah
    BTW, AnandTech wrote a favorable review on Roccat's latest Kone mice:
    http://www.anandtech.com/show/6802/capsule-review-roccats-kone-xtd-and-kone-pure-gaming-mice

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826436016
    Reply
  • Marcus52
    Roccat's mice do have a lot of respect and if you ask people what their fav mouse is in a gaming forum, they will get their share of mentions. I recently considered one myself when looking at mice better suited to FPS gaming than my WoW MMORPG mouse made by Steelseries. I decided to go with a R.A.T. 7 and I'm glad I did, it is the best mouse I've owned so far. I don't think I would have been disappointed with a Roccat device though. The customization possibilities of the R.A.T. won me over, and they made it possible for me to fit it to my hand, which is fabulous. :)

    I didn't go with another Steelseries, even though their FPS-oriented mice have a good reputation amongst gamers, because the quality of the WoW mice wasn't up to my standards. I don't mind paying a premium price for a premium peripheral that will last for years, and while the WoW mice I have still function okay, okay isn't really good enough, the left and right-click buttons were not consistent on the 2 mice I have, and the finish is poor on both of them.
    Reply
  • emdea
    Five years of kane
    Reply
  • gorz
    The Roccat Kave is an awesome headset.
    Reply
  • knowom
    I don't see any real appeal for a Roccat mouse personally honestly my mouse options are pretty much between Logitech and Razor brand mouses or if Microsoft ever improved the original IntelliMouse with modern button features and modern dpi/poll rate settings while maintaining the comfort feel of the original I'd probably consider that given it was probably the most comfortable mouse I've used or come across that I can think of.

    What I'd really like to see more then anything is a modern track mouse from Logitech that's got the same high DPI and poll rate settings and ample button triggers and similar layout to it's gaming mouses.

    It's a shame how badly Logitech has neglected it's track mouse and Microsoft has the IntellMouse because they were both very good and well designed when they first launched, but badly need a product refreshment due to their ages because since the specs don't come remotely close to more modern specs.

    If Roccat wants to get my interest make a modern track mouse that's laser based with a high polling rate and high DPI and nice array of customizable buttons in a nice ergonomic layout.
    Reply
  • I have a few roccat items, the Isku keyboard which I think for me is a good keyboard little pricey though, the roccat Kave ture 5.1 headset hmm great sound big bass, although I found it uncomfortable after a short time the little square pads left dents in my head and a feeling of pressure pains where the pads sat on my head the mic is poor design and now I use desk mic because my friends tell me they hear buzzing and poor quality sound when using the headset mic the head set was around 3-weeks old at this point but I love the sound on this headset so much I just pulled off the pads and made my own more comfortable padding I would not advise this headset I was honest, I also own the roccat kone xtd mouse which I love, all my roccat items I bought to replace my razer items that I felt I was ripped off with as they felt more like kids toys build quality when compared to my roccat items. I've also owned logitek items (very good compay) along with razer and madcatz (cyborg rat 3 and rat 7mmo) but for me my money will always goto roccat from now on, I suppose other than the headset this company seems to know that the feel of the build quality is as important as the performance of the product, I just felt more happy that what I had on my desk felt more like what i'd expect for my money than what razer did. I would say roccat in my eyes is better than razer and equal to logitek for quality.. im not a razer hater (lol almost was after the arctosa experience poorest build quality keyboard not worth 50pence I have every tried to use) I still have my razer nostromo which I think is the dogz nutz but for the money i cant help feeling razer is highly over rated when compared to other gamming companys of late. im sticking with what I feel is worth its money and that's roccat , but be warned the kave headset needs roccat to rethink the padding and mic setup.
    Reply
  • J3d1M1nD7r1cKs
    I like their products! Looks like a good company to me! Please bring them to the us!

    And the I like the diversity in the products!
    Reply