Update: Enough people have joined this drop that the $34.99 price tier has been hit, making this the best deal we’ve ever seen on a non-refurbished SteelSeries Stratus. It comes with the Massdrop caveat of it’s not going to ship for a couple weeks, but, good things come to those who wait, right? Anyway, as of this update, there’s 17 hours left on this particular drop, so if you want to get in on it, now’s your chance.
Originally Posted December 28th: I was sort of on the fence with regards to posting the last MFi controller on Massdrop, but the response was super positive and resulted in something like 50 (maybe more) TouchArcaders jumping on the MFi controller bandwagon. Browsing the site again this morning for knives, key caps, and the other weird junk they’ve got on there I found they’ve got a drop that only has two days left for the SteelSeries Stratus, available for $39.99, or potentially $34.99 if enough people hop on. (You can choose to only join in on that price, if you want, but might not get a controller if they don’t have 30 people onboard to hit that price point.) It’s all kind of weird how it works out, but I’m starting to dig Massdrop.
Now, we’ve previously reviewed the SteelSeries Stratus, and all of our criticisms of the controller still totally hold water. But, it is by far the most portable full layout double analog stick MFi controller there is. Even though the ergonomics aren’t great, and both the D-Pad and analog sticks aren’t as good as full-sized controllers, it’s the only MFi controller I carry with me in my bag everywhere I go. The Nimbus is a way better controller all around, but, doesn’t fit into bags nearly as well as the Stratus. It’s kind of like that old saying, “The best camera is the one you have with you." So, if you value portability, the Stratus is the best controller to get provided you’re aware of its various caveats.
$39.99 is also about the cheapest we’ve seen a non-refurbished version of this controller. They must’ve had a bad first run or something, as it seems like refurbs pop up on daily deal sites quite often for around $30. Anyway, if the super-tiny Stratus is the MFi controller of your dreams and you were waiting for a better deal to pick one up, here’s what you need to do:
1. Sign up for Massdrop. (If you’re not logged in, you can’t see their deals, which seems real dumb, but, whatever.)
2. Mash this link (or just search for “Stratus" on the Massdrop site) and decide if you want to join in for $39.99 and maybe get a $5 discount if enough people also join, or just go straight for the $34.99 price point and potentially not get a controller if they don’t hit 30 sales.
3. Sit back, relax, and wait for it to ship. Estimated ship date is January 19th, but, hey, think of the savings.
Anyway, I’m going back to waffling on whether or not I want to buy this SNES keycap set. $120 for keycaps seems absurd, but they’re so cool!
