Mad Catz’s products are well known and have been part of the video game industry for quite some time now. They have a long history of manufacturing peripherals and accessories, but have never ventured away from the hardware side of the business. All that changed during this year’s E3 when Mad Catz announced their first game, War Wings: Hell Catz.

War Wings: Hell Catz is an aerial combat game in the vein of Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. or Crimson Skies. Based on the name, most people would probably imagine the game as an over the top and unrealistic experience, but Mad Catz claims they are more interested in authenticity. The game is set during World War II and promises a variety of unique missions.

The existence of War Wings: Hell Catz is the result of Mad Catz’s partnership with Australian developer TrickStar Games. Mad Catz will publish the game, but leave the actual development in the hands of TrickStar Games. Hell Catz isn’t launching until sometime in 2012, but Mad Catz already has plans for potential sequels.

The first footage of Hell Catz is basically just a teaser. It doesn’t explain much about the game besides the fact that it will be a realistic WWII shooter and thus it is hard to know what to expect. The graphics are very average and the trailer is pretty anticlimactic. See for yourself below.

“War Wings: Hell Catz is planned to be the first installment in a series of War Wings games that will explore critical eras in aviation combat.”

In addition to Hell Catz, Mad Catz has also announced the creation of their development team, ThunderHawk Studios. This internal group’s first game is going to be a massively multiplayer flight simulator and will likely be marketed alongside their flight simulator hardware. Flight simulators were very popular at one point, but have become almost extinct. It will be interesting to see how well ThunderHawk’s game performs when it comes out in 2012.

Mad Catz is diving head first into game development with not one, but two flight based games coming out in 2012. Keep an eye on Game Rant for further information regarding both titles.

What do you think about Mad Catz deciding to develop games? Are you interested in War Wings: Hell Catz or a MMO flight simulator?

War Wings: Hell Catz and ThunderHawk Studios’ unannounced game are both scheduled to be available in 2012.