KontrolFreek Blog

If I know you Freeks like I think I do, Monday evening you’ll be putting on your favorite video game t-shirt, packing up the lawn chairs, grabbing the deck of Uno cards and a four pack of Monster and lining up for the Halo 4 launch party at your local game store. You’ll stand in line like a boss, talking about the last time you saw Master Chief, your KD ratio from Reach and what awesome things you think the new game will bring to the multiplayer arena. You’ll check-in on Foursquare, compose a Tweet and text your good friend Dillon—who you’ll inevitably taunt because he had to work. You’re there, you’re proud, and you’re about to win some cool stuff from KontrolFreek.

We are in possession of a Steve Downes autographed picture of Master Chief from Halo 3 that we’ve been saving for just such an occasion. Here’s your chance to win it along with a pair of the brand new, blue FPS Freek Infinity.

To enter:

1. Pack your favorite KontrolFreek-equipped controller and bring it to the launch event.
2. Take a picture of your controller in line at the event with your mobile device.
3. Use Instagram or Twitter to post your picture.
4. Tag your photo with @KontrolFreek and #Halo4.

To win:

1. Enter (duh).
2. Be lucky.
3. Check back on Wednesday, November 7^th to see if you’re the winner.

Good luck and see you in Halo 4 multiplayer!

Overnight we launched our latest FPS Freek, FPS Freek INFINITY. Inspired by Halo 4, this blue beauty really stands out from the crowd and we’re pretty darn proud of the original design and functionality of it.

For INFINITY we decided to go with a concave thumb surface with an intricate, laser-etched design that provides a high level of grip and control. The extended stick height (0.5 inches) added by INFINITY will put you in total command of your Spartan and makes aiming and strafing much easier during intense multiplayer battles. Infinity is perfect for your right or left thumbstick and is optimized for medium to long-range weapons like the Battle Rifle, DMR and Sniper Rifle.

Want to win FPS Freek INFINTY? We are giving away one pair to one lucky Halo fan right now.

ENTER HERE!

Let’s get right to the good stuff!

The six category winners below have been chosen by our judges TmarTn, Juictra, Trout and Trevor (me) to move on to the final round of public voting. These six winners each win a Black Ops 2 preorder:

The Pro – Andrew Sychtysz

Run-N-Gun – Cameron Asselstine

The Racer – James Coghlan

The Sniper – Trent Rose-Anderson

The Knifer – Austin Enos

Freestyle – Marcel G.

To view the winning videos and vote for your favorite visit the voting page now. Remember, the grand prize winner will get an amazing custom gaming setup inspired by TmarTn worth over $1000—which includes a 3D television, Hauppauge PVR, studio microphone, 2 games and a set of Astro A40s.

Congrats to the six category winners and good luck in the public voting!

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Our exclusive Halo community giveaway, Farewell to a Legend, has come to an end. First of all, we’d like to thank all of our great Halo community partners for helping to make this possible. Halo.Bungie.Org, HaloTracker, GrifballHub, Halo4News and HaloCommunity—you guys are awesome and we thank you for making this a proper salute to FPS Freek Legendary. We hope to work with you all again later in the year!

For Farewell to a Legend we put together one of our most exciting and unique prize packages to date. One lucky Halo fan is about to receive a limited edition Halo: Reach Xbox 360 console bundle, a rare Master Chief vs. The Flood commemorative WETA statue and a pair of FPS Freek Legendary signed by Master Chief himself, Mr. Steve Downes!

Without further ado, the winner of all this great swag is Mario Torres! We’ll be contacting you via the email address you provided very soon.

As promised, we’re also sending an extra token of thanks to the site(s) that went above and beyond to spread the word to their communities—HaloTracker.com and Halo.Bungie.Org. You guys were so close in the end we felt both of you deserved a little something extra—so you both get an autographed picture of Master Chief to do with whatever you like. It pains me to see these autographed photos leave my desk (where they’ve been hanging out for the past few weeks making my workspace much more epic) but at least I know they’ll be going to a loving home. Congratulations!

There are still a few FPS Freek Legendary’s left in stock so get them while you still can.

The pilot episode of the fan made Halo: Helljumper series hit YouTube last week. If you didn’t know, Helljumper is a short series of films that follows the life of one human ODST from his enlistment in the UNSC before the Human-Covenant War to around the Fall of Reach. The series, which is a spin-off of the Tobias Brickell Halo: Evolutions – Essential Tales of the Halo Universe short story “Dirt” was teased late in 2011 to a very captivated Halo audience.

In the first episode, main character Gage Yevgenny has just been saved from a losing firefight by a rookie soldier on the colony of New Jerusalem. Instead of letting the Rookie complete his rescue, Yevgenny forces him to listen to his story of the war, so that hopefully he doesn’t repeat the same mistakes. This prompts  a series of flashes into Yevgenny’s past that’s littered with cool special effects, an  evoking musical score and some rather awkward acting and dialogue—“You coming on to me, Soldier?” and “Excuse me, miss, do you happen to have a map… ‘cause I’m lost in your eyes” are a couple of my personal favorites.

Bad acting aside, it’s a cool concept that represents the highest form of video game love.

The next episode is due out on February 15^th.

KontrolFreek Celebrates Forty Years of Arcade Games by Unveiling America’s Favorite Title
Pac-Man Ranked Number One by 79 Percent of American’s Ages 18-70

ATLANTA – June 28, 2011 – Remember when an arcade was the only place you could go for the thrill of a game? Just forty years ago, before the Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii, teenagers across the country gathered up loose change and headed to pizza parlors, miniature golf courses and arcades to play their favorite video games.  An online research survey conducted by KontrolFreek and IBOPE Zogby found that Pac-Man, Donkey Kong and Space Invaders have stood the test of time and are America’s all-time favorite arcade games. 

The top 10 favorite arcade games in the KontrolFreek and IBOPE Zogby 2011 survey of active gamers are:

1. Pac-Man
2. Donkey Kong
3. Space Invaders
4. Asteroids
5. Frogger
6. Ms. Pac-Man
7. Centipede
8. Pong
9. Mortal Kombat
10. Galaga

The complete survey results can be found on the KontrolFreek website.

“While all of these games kept it simple, they were able to give game players a truly unique and memorable experience,” said KontrolFreek CEO Ashish Mistry.  “As the leader in creating performance gaming gear for the active gamer lifestyle, we created the innovative Rcade Freek to breathe new life into gaming classics by giving console players the feel of an arcade joystick in the palm of their hand.”

The Rcade Freek was developed based on extensive user research and provides gamers a classic feel by improving the ergonomics, comfort, and precision of their Xbox 360 or PS3 controller. To further celebrate this 40-year milestone, KontrolFreek is releasing two new color options, Retro Red and Groovy Green, for its newest gaming accessory. The new Rcade Freek colors are available now and are priced at $9.99.

Joining in the celebration, celebrity video game players weighed in on their favorite arcade games and memories:

Alison Haislip, NBC’s “The Voice” V Room and G4’s “Attack of the Show!” :
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was my favorite. It was the game my brother and I played whenever our mother took us to Pizza Hut.”

James Kyson Lee, CBS’ “Hawaii 5-0” and NBC’s “Heroes”:

“Definitely Street Fighter II: Champion Edition and Super Street Fighter II Turbo were my favorite arcade games. During high school, we used to go to the burger joint that had it and have our own tournaments, lining up quarters on the machine to mark who was next. At the time, it had the most number of combination moves, characters, and story - and it was a challenge to finish the game.”

AJ LoCascio, Back to the Future: The Game:

“Easily the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game was my favorite. It was too perfect. I think my favorite memory of it was playing it recently at my friend Dennis's house; he has an arcade cabinet in his apartment and four of us played and beat the game on the spot.”

Fun Survey and Arcade Game Facts:

• 57.4 percent of republicans preferred blasting Asteroids versus 48.1 percent of democrats
• 7.1 percent of married people included Punch Out as their favorite game versus 20.9 percent of singles and 26.3 percent of divorced respondents
• In 1971, the first known coin-operated arcade video game, The Galaxy Game, made its debut on the campus of Stanford University
• Centipede was the first game that was designed by a woman
• According to Guinness World Records Williams’ Blaster cockpit is the most valuable arcade machine with an estimated worth of $12,000
• The fastest perfect Pac-Man score was achieved in 2009 by David Race who completed the game flawlessly in 3 hours, 41 minutes, and 22 seconds
• Pac-Man, Dragon's Lair, and Pong are all on permanent display at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
• According to Wikipedia, Pac-Man revenues equaled 10 billion quarters by the late 1990s
• Notable celebrities who are also turning 40 this year include Ewan McGregor, Snoop Dogg, Mark Wahlberg, Emmanuel Lewis, Mariah Carey, Luke Wilson, Jada Pinkett Smith and many others

About KontrolFreek
KontrolFreek is the leader in creating performance gaming gear for the active gamer lifestyle. Since 2007, the company’s range of highly acclaimed products for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have combined the latest in ergonomics, engineering and materials technologies. KontrolFreek has cleverly merged the simplicity of design with performance boosting features to improve accuracy, maneuverability and comfort for gamers of all levels and gaming genres. For more information, visit KontrolFreek.com or join FreekNation on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.

About IBOPE Zogby International
IBOPE Zogby International is a non-partisan, premier global public opinion polling and market research firm that offers timely, accurate results and in-depth analysis and insights. IBOPE Zogby International works with issue experts in a vast array of fields including healthcare, technology, finance, insurance, energy, agriculture, public affairs, and media who offer insightful data analysis and exceptional service to clients in countries throughout the world. IBOPE Zogby International experts analyze data and work with clients to develop and implement new strategies, and offer customized and attractive solutions to challenges our clients face. IBOPE Zogby International was formed in January 2010 following the acquisition of Zogby International by IBOPE Inteligencia of Brazil, a subsidiary of IBOPE Group. 

Just in case you haven't stopped by KontrolFreek.com lately, I wanted to tell you about four brand new bundles that we've created just for the holidays and supply you with a few tips for getting them to your house (or wherever you're planning on shipping them) before Christmas.

The first two bundles are the GamerPack TD and GamerPack Hoops.  These two are for people whose disk tray isn't taken up by Call of Duty: Black Ops 24/7, and instead craves more sports centered games, like Madden NFL or NBA 2K.  Each of the two bundles comes with either the Hoops or TD Freek correspondingly, and includes a pair of the critically praised Speed Freek.

The next two holiday bundles were designed for the serious first-person shooter fan.  The UltimatePack Prestige and UltimatePack Legendary are our most exciting bundles ever!  Each one features a GamerPack (FPS Freek and Speed Freek) and either the brand new FPS Freek Legendary--for all you Halo fans out there--or the even brand new-y-er FPS Freek Prestige--for fans of Black Ops.  Any gamer worth his or her weight in headshots should own one of these bundles.

If you are planning on ordering any of these new  holiday bundles or any other gear in our store and wish to have them by Christmas, you will need to have your order in by Friday, December 17th.  After that, your best option becomes placing your order through Amazon.com.  International orders or orders containing any FreekWear should be in by December 14th.