Interview with president of Razer

Razer's lineup of peripherals is growing to include everything a serious PC gamer needs. They now provide an selection of mice, two mousing surfaces, a pair of high-end headphones, and the newly released Tarantula keyboard. The Barracuda audio card is on its way, along with a new laser mouse called the Habu. The Habu is a collaborative effort between Razer and Microsoft, due out by the holidays. During this interview, Razer president Robert Krakoff (Razerguy), discuses the development of the Habu, gives some info about Razer's line of products, and comments on the possibility of Razer creating products for consoles. Read the full interview after the jump.

gmrblogs: Razer often considers itself an underdog in the industry. You take pride in how close you are to your community of fans. Did you "side with the enemy" when you struck a deal with Microsoft to create the Habu?

Razerguy: That depends where one is coming from on this issue. Internally we were hearing for years from our customers that they would like us to make a product in the shape of the Microsoft IE 3.0 with the guts of one of our mice. At the same time Microsoft was hearing the same thing from their fans that loved the shape but wanted more advanced precision. Either company could develop this product independently but when we chatted informally is seemed that we could get the product out better engineered and faster (Razer's strengths) to more retail outlets and at a lower retail price (Microsoft's strengths). So we were able to provide what the players were asking for in terms of form and engineering at a lower price and get it into retailers faster with the alliance. We believed that this was a big win for the end user and were willing to risk the potential of a "sell out" label, which interesting was pretty minimal.

gmrblogs: How did Microsoft's involvement with the Habu laser mouse affect its development?

Razerguy: Microsoft has many detailed and precise development and business practices that we needed to follow. The product validation processes are much more complex and exacting than Razer's customary development standards. We were able to facilitate these requirements and still hit our crucial process dates for the final hand-off to Microsoft before manufacturing. Let's simply say that we learned a lot from the experience.

gmrblogs: There has been some indication of "another co-branded next-generation gaming product" from Razer and Microsoft. Is this a trend that you see gaining momentum?

Razerguy: I don't see any trend here. There may be additional products but that is based on Habu results and where both companies see the relationship growing. The important thing for our fans to know is that Razer is working on their own products today and has no plans to stop regardless of Microsoft or any other potential co-branded alliances.

gmrblogs: Habu was designed for right-handed people only. I'm a lefty. Any thoughts?

Razerguy: As I just mentioned Razer is working on other mice, most of which are ambidextrous. Or you can do what I did years ago...switched hands. I'm completely a lefty in everything except mousing. Now I couldn't mouse with my left hand if my life depended on it.

gmrblogs: You've greatly expanded the Razer product line in the past year. It looks like Razer can provide most of the products that gamers need this holiday season. What does the ultimate gaming peripheral package from Razer include?

Razerguy: When we talk about a suite of products we refer to the four products that can enhance competitive play and provide the player with a distinct advantage...these are in order of importance the mouse, the mousing surface, the audio solution and the keyboard.

A lot depends on the user's game genre of choice. At Razer we think in terms of game genre when we design a product. We realize that not every mouse or mousing surface fits the needs of every game and every game genre. We have recently coined a marketing saying, "the right mouse for the right hand." This philosophy also applies to all the product categories we play in. So if I were recommending a Razer suite for avid gamers playing Quake it would be Copperhead, eXactMat, Tarantula and Barracuda IAS. If I were recommending a Razer product suite to Counter Strike players it would be the Habu, Mantis Control pad, Tarantula and Barracuda IAS. Naturally I would have a different product configuration for RTS and MMOG gamers as well.

gmrblogs: Have you thought about releasing any products for consoles? Could this new partnership with Microsoft lead to Xbox 360 peripherals from Razer?

Razerguy: Actually we have a few skunkworks projects in house today that have some application to the console side. The important thing to note here is that Razer has an aversion to making products in other categories that sell only because of our reputation. We must make products that provide the user with an advantage in precision, accuracy or performance. Our company mission is simply to "enhance the gaming experience." If we can't do that then we won't play, regardless of how many we might be able to sell. The console world really doesn't need just another controller product. What is needed is a controller product where gamers competing on Xbox Live against PC players using a keyboard and mouse. When we can deliver with this solution you will see us and not before.