Gladiator joystick in Europe
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2016 10:48
Hello Everyone,
This topic is open to clarify situation about Gladiator joystick in Europe.
First of all, regular VKB Gladiator joystick will not be sold in Europe at all. Period. This is due to long standing contractual restrictions agreed to very early in the design and mold making process. It’s obviously not ideal.
Instead, a similar joystick will be available under a different brand name and called something other than Gladiator. VKB participated in this project as an engineering company providing overall architecture of the product, electrical and mechanical design of internals and the overall design of the base and the grip. Final readiness and preparation for production was done together with Taiwanese company Asian Games. Asian Games has exclusive rights to sell the product in Europe. Final technical and commercial decisions were taken by AG and VKB has no influence over that.
The joystick for EU market will be simplified in some ways (no MaRS for yaw control, software from 3rd party has fewer settings) therefore the price is also expected to be a bit lower.
It is important to understand that VKB does not control the manufacturing process of the non-VKB branded joystick and is not involved in final acceptance for the joysticks made for EU market.
Hence, VKB takes no responsibility for the build quality of this product and does not provide any support.
VKB apologizes if this causes any inconvenience to anyone interested in VKB products. This is a unique situation and will never happen again.
However, the Gladiator Pro model WILL be sold in Europe by VKB. It is the same form factor as the base Gladiator, but because is has completely different internals and a special all-metal gimbal the restrictions mentioned above do not apply.
This topic is open to clarify situation about Gladiator joystick in Europe.
First of all, regular VKB Gladiator joystick will not be sold in Europe at all. Period. This is due to long standing contractual restrictions agreed to very early in the design and mold making process. It’s obviously not ideal.
Instead, a similar joystick will be available under a different brand name and called something other than Gladiator. VKB participated in this project as an engineering company providing overall architecture of the product, electrical and mechanical design of internals and the overall design of the base and the grip. Final readiness and preparation for production was done together with Taiwanese company Asian Games. Asian Games has exclusive rights to sell the product in Europe. Final technical and commercial decisions were taken by AG and VKB has no influence over that.
The joystick for EU market will be simplified in some ways (no MaRS for yaw control, software from 3rd party has fewer settings) therefore the price is also expected to be a bit lower.
It is important to understand that VKB does not control the manufacturing process of the non-VKB branded joystick and is not involved in final acceptance for the joysticks made for EU market.
Hence, VKB takes no responsibility for the build quality of this product and does not provide any support.
VKB apologizes if this causes any inconvenience to anyone interested in VKB products. This is a unique situation and will never happen again.
However, the Gladiator Pro model WILL be sold in Europe by VKB. It is the same form factor as the base Gladiator, but because is has completely different internals and a special all-metal gimbal the restrictions mentioned above do not apply.