I guess I'll start the posting in here with some rambling about the new technology.
DEMO VIDEO HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ryvmsBx9c
*Faster core, more ram: The old modchip had a Micorchip CPU running at 4MHz core speed and it only had 8kB of internal EEPROM for running code. The new modchip has a Microchip CPU running at core speed of 12MHz and has 256kB of internal EEPROM for program code. It also has an external 1024kB (1 megabyte) EEPROM chip for storing macro information. Which means this thing has a LOT more power!
*Programmable LED's: Customers could only pick one color when ordering the old legacy modchip, then they were stuck with that color unless they could bust open the controller and resolder four LED's. The new controller lets customers use the software to choose a new LED color at any time. On top of that, you can create a macro that does nothing but run an LED light sequence if you want. This is accomplished by removing the old LED's manually with a soldering tool, then inserting an entire tri-color "RGB" LED circuit board in its place.
*No more 3.5mm jack: The old modchip could be programmed via USB, but you had to either drill an extra and unsightly 3.5mm jack into the shell, or modify the play-and-charge port by cutting it - ruining the play-and-charge capability of the controller. The new modchip allows you to program the modchip through the play-and-charge port while also maintaining 100% of the play-and-charge functionality of the port!
*More buttons: The old modchip was not connected to the analog joysticks, the d-pad, and also couldn't really be used fully with the A button and the Right Thumbstick due to limitations in the modchip. The new modchip connects to EVERY button/joystick/trigger. Plus we added four more tac switches than the Raven, because you're going to want them after you're done recording tons of macros.
*Analog vs. digital: Old modchip could not control the joysticks for you, nor could it simulate the triggers other than all or nothing. The new modchip has six DAC channels (that's Digital-to-Analog-Conversion): two for the triggers, and four for the joysticks. (each joystick has an x-axis and a y-axis) This means you can use the analog triggers and analog joysticks in all your macros (can you say, EA sports skill move macros? can you say, anti-recoil script for first-person-shooters? can you say, aim-slowdown script for long-distance sniping?...)
*New Software: We started by putting way more power under the hood of this new modchip. Without getting into the details, the new modchip costs us around 400% more money to produce than the old modchip. Plus we were able to learn well from all the shortcomings of the old modchip. Don't get me wrong, I still feel like we have the best rapidfire modchip on the market. But this modchip is the one I was really dreaming about when I started the business in June 2009. Anyway, with so much more hardware packed onto the new modchip, we can take the software a lot further, too.
*Better quality custom shells: we've found a shop that does a professional paint job with a nice clearcoat finish on stock shells. This means no more struggling with crappy 3rd party custom shells that just don't fit right and don't play right. One thing microsoft did well in my opinion was develop an ergonomically pleasing controller (admit it - your mouse hurts your wrist from an hour of gameplay, but you can play using your controller all weekend and only end up with some minor aches and pains). Unfortunately the paint process doesn't happen overnight, so we were only able to get our hands on a short run of about 50 'Serpent' shells for the new product launch.
Questions?
DEMO VIDEO HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3ryvmsBx9c
*Faster core, more ram: The old modchip had a Micorchip CPU running at 4MHz core speed and it only had 8kB of internal EEPROM for running code. The new modchip has a Microchip CPU running at core speed of 12MHz and has 256kB of internal EEPROM for program code. It also has an external 1024kB (1 megabyte) EEPROM chip for storing macro information. Which means this thing has a LOT more power!
*Programmable LED's: Customers could only pick one color when ordering the old legacy modchip, then they were stuck with that color unless they could bust open the controller and resolder four LED's. The new controller lets customers use the software to choose a new LED color at any time. On top of that, you can create a macro that does nothing but run an LED light sequence if you want. This is accomplished by removing the old LED's manually with a soldering tool, then inserting an entire tri-color "RGB" LED circuit board in its place.
*No more 3.5mm jack: The old modchip could be programmed via USB, but you had to either drill an extra and unsightly 3.5mm jack into the shell, or modify the play-and-charge port by cutting it - ruining the play-and-charge capability of the controller. The new modchip allows you to program the modchip through the play-and-charge port while also maintaining 100% of the play-and-charge functionality of the port!
*More buttons: The old modchip was not connected to the analog joysticks, the d-pad, and also couldn't really be used fully with the A button and the Right Thumbstick due to limitations in the modchip. The new modchip connects to EVERY button/joystick/trigger. Plus we added four more tac switches than the Raven, because you're going to want them after you're done recording tons of macros.
*Analog vs. digital: Old modchip could not control the joysticks for you, nor could it simulate the triggers other than all or nothing. The new modchip has six DAC channels (that's Digital-to-Analog-Conversion): two for the triggers, and four for the joysticks. (each joystick has an x-axis and a y-axis) This means you can use the analog triggers and analog joysticks in all your macros (can you say, EA sports skill move macros? can you say, anti-recoil script for first-person-shooters? can you say, aim-slowdown script for long-distance sniping?...)
*New Software: We started by putting way more power under the hood of this new modchip. Without getting into the details, the new modchip costs us around 400% more money to produce than the old modchip. Plus we were able to learn well from all the shortcomings of the old modchip. Don't get me wrong, I still feel like we have the best rapidfire modchip on the market. But this modchip is the one I was really dreaming about when I started the business in June 2009. Anyway, with so much more hardware packed onto the new modchip, we can take the software a lot further, too.
*Better quality custom shells: we've found a shop that does a professional paint job with a nice clearcoat finish on stock shells. This means no more struggling with crappy 3rd party custom shells that just don't fit right and don't play right. One thing microsoft did well in my opinion was develop an ergonomically pleasing controller (admit it - your mouse hurts your wrist from an hour of gameplay, but you can play using your controller all weekend and only end up with some minor aches and pains). Unfortunately the paint process doesn't happen overnight, so we were only able to get our hands on a short run of about 50 'Serpent' shells for the new product launch.
Questions?
