From Retro to Modern - Hyperkin Interview at CES 2026

Audio transcription

"So we are Hyperkin. We started in 2006.
We were originally a retro gaming company, or we still are a retro gaming company.
We started off making these retro consoles that play a whole bunch of the old retro games like Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Famicom, regular Nintendo, stuff like that."

"But in the past two or three years, we kind of realized that we wanted to go more modern.
So we understood that retro was our strength, so we wanted, in the transition from retro to modern, still keep our retro roots, but make modern products."

"So, for example, we are licensed with Xbox, and we're the only company that can make replicas for modern consoles.
So this is the Xbox S controller."

"This is one of the original controllers for the Xbox that released, you know, back in the early 2000s.
It looks exactly like it, but it works for modern consoles.
So we added back buttons, but the white and black button are still here."

"It works on Xbox One, Xbox Series S and X, and PC.
So people who wanted to play, you know, older games on streaming platforms like Xbox Game Pass, like, let's say, Halo 1, Halo 2, they can play that, and with the controller that they originally played with back in the early 2000s."

"Hopping on that, we also did an Xbox 360 controller, a replica called the Xenon, and we also came out with this recently earlier, well, a few months ago, called the Competitor."

"It is a controller for PC gamers, and it gives them a new stick layout because usually controllers for PC gamers are typically offset like this."

"We wanted to give them another option, so we made the Competitor, and the sticks are like this.
Our latest Xbox endeavor is the Challenger.
It's our entry-level controller."

"We really wanted to show people our capabilities making modern controllers, so this controller is going to be retailing for $34.99.
Very affordable, but without sacrificing the premium features like Halifax sticks and back buttons."

"We wanted people to kind of, for lack of a better word, like, take a chance on us and see, like, hey, this is what Hyperkin is capable of in terms of making stuff."

"I guess that's a good segue into our new Drakong brand.
Like I said before, Hyperkin has been a retro company, so we started Drakong as a line of our premium products.
So that's where the Challenger is going to be in, and we can just go over these really quick."

"This is our PixelArt line of products.
They are a collectible line of controllers.
We kind of wanted to take a page out of Funko Pop's book, and we were thinking, like, hey, why hasn't there been something like Funko Pop in the gaming space?
So we made a very compact, very user-friendly controller that anyone could use."

"It's not as, for lack of a better word, intimidating as, like, a full controller.
It's very compact.
It's compatible with a whole lot of systems, like Switch 1, Switch 2, PC."

"Actually, I can even read them off to you on the back of this box.
Switch 2, Switch 1, PC, Mac, Steam, Steam Deck, Rogue Ally, Android, iOS devices, the list goes on."

"We didn't want to alienate anyone.
Like, for example, this is our Attack on Titan collab.
If you were an Attack on Titan fan but only played on the Switch or an Attack on Titan fan but only played on the PC, we didn't want, you know, people to be like, oh, but I only play on the PC."

"I can't buy it anymore.
We spent three years of development to make sure it was compatible with all those systems and consoles and platforms perfectly."

"So let's move on, actually, to the guitar.
Yeah.
If you're familiar with Guitar Hero and Rock Band, until recently, there had been a 10-year gap between a guitar being made and the next level of guitar being made."

"In those 10 years, what the Rock Band and Guitar Hero community did is that they started to mod and tinker with old Wii guitars and old Xbox guitars.
So when we decided, like, hey, it's been 10 years, we want to make a guitar of our own, too."

"But we understood that the whole community in those 10 years have been really, like, engineering and tinkering with old guitars, so we wanted to make a guitar that's super customizable because the community is used to, you know, is used to customizing."

"So the very special part about this guitar is that you can actually remove the bodies.
I won't remove the other body because...
But the tuner head is also removable."

"The whammy bar head's also removable.
The strum bar, as you can see, it's not a typical strum bar.
It actually has an attachment on it that has a pick.
There's notches on the strum bar that allows attachments to be put on it so people can play in whole new different ways."

"Let's see.
We wanted it to be a very community-based guitar, so when this does release later in 2026, or I guess this year, we will be releasing the 3D model of the guitar to the public so people who have the ability to 3D model and 3D print, they can use our guitar as reference."

"So let's say they want to make their guitar into a battle axe.
They can use our model, model their own battle axe in, you know, whatever 3D software they're using, and once 3D printed, it would fit perfectly into it."

"We definitely want people to, when they purchase it, or, you know, when they receive it, we didn't want it to just be a guitar to be like, oh, that's nice, and then we hang it on the wall or, like, put it, you know, against the wall on the floor."

"We wanted the possibilities for it to be endless.
So, you know, if you want to make a battle axe controller or, you know, if you want to make a koi fish swimming up to it, we wanted the guitar to be a playground, basically, for creators."

"Oh, and the neck right here is where all the electronics are.
So since all of this is removable, this guitar is basically just from here to here in terms of internals.
And what's really cool is that since it's so customizable, it opens the door for accessibility gaming, too."

"We're partnering with an organization called AbleGamers, and they're helping us design attachments and work with people with disabilities to make sure that people who want to play rhythm games or want to play Guitar Hero Rock Band, they'll be able to have attachments available for them."

"Like, they could put attachments on the, to replace the guitar's body and attach it to a wheelchair, stuff like that.
And with the strum bar being, having those notches on it, people can, that would have a hard time strumming a guitar, wouldn't be able to strum a guitar with the right attachment."

"So we're really excited about that, too.
This game right here is called Sound System.
Similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band, it is a, it is a rhythm game for PC."

"But like how we're making the guitar a community guitar, we, they are also making a community-based game.
So similar to Guitar Hero and Rock Band.
But as this guitar is very customizable, so will their game be."

"So this whole theme in the background right here, the multiplier here, the scoreboard here, or the score counter here, and the note highway, all of that will be able to be customized when the game does release."

"You can put your own music videos in the background.
You can choose from a whole different mess of patterns.
Like if you wanted to make this like flower-themed or maybe put some skulls here, stuff like that."

"They understand that the community really wants to make their gaming experience their own.
Especially with a new feature called Pulse Map, you can edit your own songs in the game."

"So if you ever had a favorite song, but there was never, you know, a note highway for it, you can make your own in the game.
One last thing, they also included something called Pro Mode."

"In those 10 years that people were playing guitar here on Rock Band, they just kept getting better and better.
So they added a super, they added a very, a much more difficult mode in the game that has lives."

"And if you miss a note, you lose a life, and then you lose all your lives, the game's over.
And the note accuracy is much more, it demands higher note accuracy."

"So it's much less forgiving in terms of like missing a note.
We're really excited to be able to partner with them because they have the same philosophy as us.
We want to make a community-based experience, and they're just doing it via game."

"We're doing it via our hardware guitar.
Lastly is the Ultron.
So we're collabing with a company called GameSir.
GameSir are experts in, they're experts in mobile controllers for mobile devices."

"And we like to consider us as experts in retro gaming.
So we wanted to combine our efforts and our knowledge to make a phone controller that is customizable for any retro game you might want to play."

"So that's why here is a phone controller here, and you can switch out different modules for the different games you want to play.
For example, if you wanted to play a GameCube game on your Switch 2, you can switch out this module into here, and you'll be able to play that game like how you would using a regular GameCube controller."

"The device is compatible with iOS, Android phones, tablets, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.
It has a very far reach, so you'll be able to swap in larger tablets or the larger Switch 2 into it."

"It's very exciting.
We were able to snag an award for Best of CES 2026, so we're really excited about that.
Yeah, and it's perfect for, you know, playing retro games on your Nintendo Switch 1, 2, or, you know, retro-style games on your phone or tablet."

"And we're very excited for it to come out.
It'll be releasing in 2026.
Can't give much more of a more specific date than that, but it's been a very fun time working with GameSir to make a product that everyone seems so excited about."

"So, yeah, I think that wraps it up."