Robert Krakoff, the President of Razer kindly agreed to do a phone interview with our very own Wright "Master Yunk" Fong. Razer, known for their gaming peripherals and accessories has been in the business since 1999.
Questions & Answers:
GAMEAPEX: Thanks for allowing me to interview you, this is my first interview, so please any faux paus, I may make.
KRAKOFF: (Laughter) No Problem.
GAMEAPEX: First off many people I know wonder, is Razer deliberately spelled with an "e" instead of an "o" for some sort of difference from Razor?
KRAKOFF: (Laughter) Initially there were registration problems and confusion around the name. But when we first started we wanted a name that would revolve around precision technology, and would also attract business which is why we came up with Razer. Besides the domain name was cheaper with an ‘e’ (Laughter).
GAMEAPEX: Razer has branched into new markets aside from mice to Keyboards and now to sound cards, do you foresee Razer entering into the any other markets, possibly console controllers? wireless peripherals? Tablets? Or other hardware besides Soundcards like Memory?
KRAKOFF: Well, our original mission was to enhance the gaming experience, so if we believe that we can do that, we will. It started out with mice, but we felt there were four categories in which we could improve the gaming experience: Mice, Surface, Keyboard, and Audio. If we can apply the same concept to anything new, we will.
GAMEAPEX: Some people think nicer mice are just a placebo effect. Is there a way to physically demonstrate the capabilities of a Razer mouse aside form kill/death ratios?
KRAKOFF: (Laughter) I wish it was a placebo effect, that would make our jobs easier. There is actually quite a bit of testing involved with the quality of our products. We have tests, DPI, Inches per second, FPS, the mouse pull on the CPU, USB rates, button click speed. We spend most of the time and energy in the sensor, the buttons and Teflon. Our goal is to make the gaming experience better in control, it really is a definite science.
GAMEAPEX: What was the initial reaction to reviews of new products? Primarily for Audio, was it discouraging? Encouraging?
KRAKOFF: In audio, we believed that we had new technology, which would enhance the gaming experience. Other soundcards were loaded software for other applications besides gaming, that bogged down the system. We made our card specifically for gaming, streamlining out the other features that would slow down the system.
GAMEAPEX: What about the headphones?
KRAKOFF: Well, we made those for high end surround sound, initially the reviews for the mic weren’t too great but we improved upon that in later versions.
GAMEAPEX: I noticed that there is a s a specific naming scheme with your products, Spiders, snakes, and fish, any reason why?
KRAKOFF: When we had designed our first mouse, marketing came up with the name of Razer 1 for it. I asked what would the next one be, they said Razer 2. The scheme was planned obsolescence. So I asked what would we do if we had a new mouse for a new user? It was really bad sub branding. So we came up with the idea of single named predatory animals, Krait, Barracuda, Diamondback. (Laughter) We kind of cheated with Death Adder.
GAMEAPEX: I’m going to be honest, I use a Logitech mouse, is there any specific tactic for taking consumers away from Large Rivals?
KRAKOFF: We’re perceived as a gaming specific company, while as Logitech is a Home-Mice type of company, that happens to make gaming mice. Razer is more of a aggressive and innovative company, with a large community behind it. Either way, rivals are good for innovation, reliability and competition.
GAMEAPEX: In regards to the Saitek/MadCatz merger, does Razer have a strategy for future products?
KRAKOFF: Basically, their merger creates competition. MadCatz gives Saitek their distribution power, allowing Saitek to get into different channels. They were stuck on a specific level for a while, unable to grow. Their merger is good for everybody, it gives consumers another choice, and makes companies more competitive. Their market share has already increased. We don’t have a strategy against them, because I see MadCatz as an OEM company focused on Consoles. Pardon me if I digress..
GAMEAPEX: No problem here.
KRAKOFF: People have been saying that the death of the PCGamer is coming, but I really have to disagree, consoles are fine and all, but if you look at the ratio of play time with console gamers versus PC gamers, there is a vast difference. PC gamers play twice as long as console gamers, and they’re still playing older games like Quake 3. While you have a console gamer who will play a game for 30 minutes in one sitting, compared to myself playing something for 2 or more hours at a time.
GAMEAPEX: I am exactly the same way, I still have my own marathon sessions of Starcraft. Now, out of sheer curiosity, did a larger company like Logitech ever proposition Razer with purchasing it?
KRAKOFF: It was probably considered in the beginning, it was quite a while back. But I can’t really speak for Logitech. There was a discussion a long time ago, but Razer isn’t for sale, though we had problems in the beginning. we’ve grown pretty large, about 100+ people, and business is up.
GAMEAPEX: We here at GameApex we’re a smaller company like Razer originally was, what were Razer's original goals, as a smaller company?
KRAKOFF: We wanted to be the company a gaming focus, like a tennis or golf company that gave you the extra edge, an extra yard or frag if you will, and we wanted to do this in the four aforementioned zones: mice, surface, keyboards, and audio. Now challenging Logitech is exciting, we’re #2 almost everywhere. And here's a little fact: gaming has passed hours of TVs watched this past year, which is a sign of the change of culture. I believe we passed ticket sales about 3 years ago.
GAMEAPEX: Now, The Powered by Razer program, lets companies license Razer tech, do the Razer engineers actually design the company's item, or are they there for purely opinion? Would you draw it parallel to Licensing a gaming engine?
KRAKOFF: Its more dynamic, so I’m not sure there is a parallel. We design it every part of it, minus the packaging. When its RTM, we hand it off to the one who licensed us, they manufacture, advertise it , etc. When Microsoft used Powered by Razer, they had a strict set of controls, weekly meetings, and they’re a really involved company.
GAMEAPEX: There have been a few new forms of interfaces, like touch technology, which can bee see in like the iPhone or Microsoft Surface. Does this pose any sort of threat to Razer? Do you have a strategy to counter it?
KRAKOFF: Honestly, I don’t know a whole lot about it. Until we see the product, we don’t form an opinion. However, right now we have something in the works for RTS gamers. If you remember Microsoft’s “Command Center” interface, it didn’t capture the fancy of gamers. We’re working on that.
GAMEAPEX: Alright, last question. You may get this a lot, but what do you make of Jack Thompson?
KRAKOFF: I’m a gamer, so I’ve been in the community a long time. I just came back from the CGS finals. Brian Flander won the World Championship. I’ve met a gazillion gamers, most of them are mild mannered. Its like an athlete, they take it out in game. I played sports when I was younger, and I’m just as mild mannered, I don’t feel the need to be macho off the field. Its very similar to sports. I grew up in East L.A. I used to be a bad kid, but when I found out I was good at sports, they kept me out of trouble. It feels like social interaction, its good for you, it keeps you off the deep end. Video games are healthy, there are numerous studies that say its good societal interaction. It’s silly to say toilet paper caused it cause it was there, and its just as silly to say video games caused it cause it was there. Holding guns, and parents not caring is more outrageous than violent video games.
GAMEAPEX: That was very enlightening, thanks so much for letting us at GameApex interview you.
KRAKOFF: No problem, don’t hesitate to look me up in the future.
Conclusion
On behalf of GameApex, I'd like to thank Robert Krakoff for taking time out of his busy schedule to let us interview him. We're sure to see more of him and Razer's products in the future.
