intheLIFESTYLE
intheLIFESTYLE
Q: Tell our readers a little about SteelSeries, as well as your role (and
path) in the company.
A: We’re a Danish company, we were founded in Copenhagen in 2001.
We came from a background of doing computer gaming equipment.
Some very basic stuff in the very beginning, but then we progressed into
other categories – headsets, keyboards, mice. I do technology and product development.
Q: What would you say is the company’s main mission?
A: Create great products that enhance people’s lives!
Q: SteelSeries prides itself on its close relationship with its users. Is
there an example of how feedback from a gamer aided in the development of a product?
A: All the time! We have pro gamers in the offices (Chicago and Copenhagen) every few weeks. We also do lots of focus group polling with a
large number of fans, everything from how functions are valued to which
colour is preferred.
Q: What is one of your favourite SteelSeries products, or perhaps
one that you are most proud of?
A: Having worked on basically every single product, I’m proud of all of
them. I think that we have been very good at breaking grounds on many
occasions such as basically inventing the gaming mousepad, bringing
large over-the-ear ear cups to computer gaming, doing revolutionary
work in mice with exotic sensor types and very powerful processors. And
all those times, basically change the complete level for a category - those
are the products that are most exciting of course. It’s very hard to single
one out individually, but its always more interesting to work on something truly groundbreaking.
Q: When did your interest in electronics and product development
begin?
A: Like many boys, I was always the type of kid that took my toys apart
(sometimes I even managed to put them back together). Then in ‘84 my
dad got me my first computer and I got really intrigued by all the things
that were suddenly possible. I started programming and a within a few
years, I started hacking together the first bits and pieces. Was mainly stuff
that I felt I needed - like a super fast switching system for scratch DJs. From
there on, I just dug deeper into electronics and programming and really
the design part came a little later.
Technology and
Tino Soelberg
Gamers construct and live in a world of their own,
and no one knows this better than Tino Soelberg.
As Chief Technology Officer of SteelSeries, a manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories,
Tino and his team consistently work towards pushing the boundaries of this field so that gamers can
immerse themselves in this world down to the
smallest detail. On his recent trip to Singapore to
promote the new Siberia Elite headset, we discovered that Tino was also the DJ of a top Danish hip
hop group in the 90’s, and sees a little of himself in
Star Trek’s William Riker.
Weekendin 84
Q: You worked with the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Art’s School
of Design in 1998, where you and your students worked on some
interesting projects. Can you tell us more about this?
A: It was a fun experience working there - most of the students were my
own age, so really it was more like hanging out with friends. They were
really sharp on the design side of things and I was good at providing the
technology side to their projects. People worked on strange things like
interiors of a space station, giant robotic underground parking lot systems and I even worked with a guy that took it upon himself to draw
everything in the world. We ended up doing a special scanner setup and
a really advanced database system and he did nothing but draw 10 x 10
cm drawings for three months straight. At the end of the project he pretty
much had covered everything.
Q: You have also been involved in music production and DJ-ing. Tell
us more about t