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Razer Kitsune All-Button Optical Arcade Controller with low-profile build and optical switches debuts

The Kitsune's side profile. (Source: Razer)
The Kitsune's side profile. (Source: Razer)
The Kitsune is Razer's inaugural answer to the growing anti-joystick sentiment it perceives within the fighting game-playing community, dumping joysticks or thumb-sticks for a four-way movement button layout. The controller also eschews levers for a backpack-friendly build, and has a detachable type-C cable for the same reasons. The PlayStation-certified, PC-compatible controller is available to order from now.

The Kitsune might remind some consumers of something like a Stream Deck - however, it is indeed a Razer controller, and as such boasts its brand's Low-Profile Linear Optical Switches for "a shorter actuation height for greater response" in its relatively exclusive Precise Quad Movement Button Layout.

That formation is better suited to optimal control and "execution" in fighting games specifically, or so the company claims to have gleaned from its tournament gameplay research. Accordingly, the Kitsune also integrates a physical lock switch that prevents things such as accidental pause-button presses: something that might get one kicked out of a round, apparently.

The Kitsune also protects the user from potential disqualification with its Cable Lock, which secures the type-C end of its cable during gameplay. Accordingly, the controller is wired-only, which provides power for its Razer Chroma lighting as well as its "lightning-fast" inputs.

The controller is optimized for PlayStation use (with the most central of its buttons bearing the 4 required shapes) as well as for PC gaming, and for "easy storage and setup" thanks to a shape not attainable by many other controllers out there. Then again, the Kitsune does weigh 800 grams (g) - thanks to a stock aluminum top plate that can be removed for customization with skins or vinyls.

The Kitsune starts at US$299.99 through Razer, or can be found on Amazon with pre-applied custom Street Fighter skins on Amazon for US$329.99.

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2023 08 > Razer Kitsune All-Button Optical Arcade Controller with low-profile build and optical switches debuts
Deirdre O'Donnell, 2023-08- 5 (Update: 2024-08-15)