Valve Hoping For 360/PC Play, Scared of PS3 Online

Valve's movement to the console space has been slow, but this year will see the release of Half-Life 2 on both the 360 and PS3. They seem to be having mixed reactions to that move. On the one hand (according to CVG), they're very much hoping that 360/PC crossplay will be possible for their upcoming Team Fortress 2. On the other hand (according to Game Informer and 1up), their reaction to the PS3's online component is one of fear. Valve's Marketing representative Doug Lombardi: "PS3 is brand new and PS3's online is kind of scary so we're hoping that EA is going to be a strong partner for us. (laughs) It's always the scariest thing when it's not all yours. With the PC it's all ours, Steam is all ours, code's ours, game's ours. On 360 we're making it, we've made it before, we know what the Live thing is, although it's Microsoft's so we kind of know it. PS3 we're not building it, we haven't made a PS3 title before, and we don't really know what PS3 online really is. It's always the devil you don't know that you're the most scared of."

Comments

xbox vs. PC

[MrLeap]

This reminds me of playing quake3 on the dreamcast, and getting trounced by all the folks who played on PC. Are they going to give the console folks auto aim? Or a 40 dollar keyboard and mouse adapter to buy? I hope not, for I'll be playing on a PC, and i'd really enjoy a mouse/keyboard skill buffer to take advantage of.

Re:xbox vs. PC

[Kelbear]

No you cannot have kbm/mouse. Microsoft has made statements that they will not support kbm/mouse(it's trivial for them to allow them to be connected, it's just their interface license that keeps them from working natively). You can google for this.

The implementation varies from game to game. In the case of the first FPS crossplatform multiplayer game Shadowrun, they are giving console player auto-aim, while implementing cursor-speed penalties to handicap mouse twitch speeds so that there will be less value in fast and precision aiming and more emphasis on other factors.

Re:xbox vs. PC

[vux984]

The implementation varies from game to game. In the case of the first FPS crossplatform multiplayer game Shadowrun, they are giving console player auto-aim, while implementing cursor-speed penalties to handicap mouse twitch speeds so that there will be less value in fast and precision aiming and more emphasis on other factors.

Let me be the first to say that's not even a game I'd want to play on the PC.

I mean I agree that the playing field *should* be level but frankly I'd rather just not have xbox360 players connected to my PC game than put up with that kind of crap!

Re:xbox vs. PC

[7Prime]

While I'd agree with the mouse being a great aiming system, the keyboard is a bit of a detriment. Keyboards were never built to be used for gaming, they're not ergonomically set up for how they're being used, and the keys have no physical relationship to eachother to allow for the best possible access. Gamepads, on the other hand, are created with gaming specifically in mind. They've never been designed for pin-point accuracy like a mouse was (A-Pads are designed for moving a character in one direction or the other at a precise speed, but they're no good at hitting a target quickly), but the button layouts are a lot better. There are less buttons, and their positioning has been researched to maximize memory recall of different functions (especially on things like the GameCube controller, where each button gives a different tactile reference point for the brain to interpret).

Keyboard customization is another huge problem. The fact is, people guess at what is the best possible setup for their individual needs, but in actuality, unless you have an advanced degree in psychology and have done intensive research into tactile and spacial perception, they're not going to be the most knowledgable person about interface design. This is why I despise the idea of keyboard and gamepad reconfiguration. I find that a lot more thought goes into default gamepad interface configuration than default keyboard interface configuration, because PC game developers realize that gamers are just gonna fuck with it anyway.

That's why I think, eventually, when developers get their head out of their asses (and abandon the bounding box technique used today) the Wiimote will eventually be the best device for FPSs, because it has almost the precision of a mouse, but does away with the clunkiness of a keyboard.

Re:The devil you do know

[drinkypoo]

I have to say, that when I don't know someone/something, I am typically very open minded and positive. Whereas, approaching an entity I know I can't trust (like MS) I am always very nervous.

So what you're saying is that it's doubly reasonable for them to be terrified of Sony? It's both the devil they know AND the devil they don't.

So basically

[earnest murderer]

It's early in the process and they don't yet know what to think about it. But that's not going to stop 1up from passing that along in the most inflammatory way possible.

And people wonder why so many businesses hide behind their PR department.

Console/PC mix

[RichPowers]

Obligatory: How can Valve make it fair for someone with an Xbox controller to fight against someone with a keyboard/mouse setup? I play shooters on both consoles and PCs, and the keyboard/mouse is far superior in terms of control and accuracy. I wouldn't want an Xbox player on my team if he has difficulty aiming. Would Valve have to modify TF2's gameplay to accommodate the shortcomings of the Xbox controller? (As in dumb the game down like EA did with C&C3 - another console/PC release)

Oh, and do PC players and console players really have some burning desire to play with one another? TFC public servers have plenty of trolls and idiots, but no where near as many as I encounter on Xbox live. Fighting with them on Halo is bad enough.

I own an X360, PS2, and PC so I can experience different forms of gaming. And at this point, my PC is still the best for shooter games.

Wii?

[Yvan256]

It's sad to see the console with the best First-Person Shooter controllers gets pushed aside for its lower CPU and GPU capabilities.

So you end up playing FPS games on more powerful systems with crappy controllers.

And before you tell me that I only need to practice, I've got plenty of experience. About 15 years with a keyboard and mouse. The Wii remote and nunchuck take about 30 seconds to get used to. The analog sticks and dozen buttons on the Xbox 360 and PS3 gamepads? I gave up after 2 hours.

And no, I don't own a Windows PC either.

Re:Wii?

[tepples]

The Wii still doesn't allow someone to turn with the speed of a PC user Even if the game binds +Control Pad left and right to quick turning? What about rolling the remote or the nunchuk to turn?

The layout of the remote, and all the variables with the screen's size and the distance to that screen hinders accuracy. Would it be so hard to let the player adjust the pitch/yaw sensitivity?

And that's not to mention that the targetting accuracy varies from game to game. I've had the on-screen crosshairs jittering on the Wii's system menus making it somewhat difficult to quickly select some of the smaller buttons. But then I'll play a game like Wario and the crosshairs are stable and fairly accurate but then there's a slight lag in responsiveness. Would it be so hard to let the player adjust the pitch/yaw moving average width?

I'm sure we'll eventually see something better than the mouse/keyboard combination but the Wii controller isn't it. Does a mouse/keyboard combination allow for more than one player per monitor? Single-screen multiplayer is a big advantage of consoles over PCs, as the price of Wii + $60 eBay markup + 2nd remote + 2nd nunchuk is still less than the price of a decent second PC + monitor.

Re:The devil you do know

[NekoXP]

Considering a lot of the guys at Valve used to work for Microsoft, I don't think anyone there has any reason to be scared, nor have a lack of trust; they know what it's like from the inside and have their internal contacts. None of them were fired or ousted, but were valued employees that went to do other things - I am sure Microsoft misses them (especially considering the success they've had, wouldn't MS be riding a high right now if Half-Life and Steam had been their product? :)

Re:Keyboard/Mouse vs. Controller

[the dark hero]

The question as to which is the superior gaming input device will finally be answered. When it comes to FPS games there never was a single doubt which one was the best. The Keyboard/Mouse combo will always win out in FPS games over a controller.

don't mind the troll thats just paizuri

[tacroy]

Sorry you all had to see that. Thats almost certainly PaiZuri from digg (http://www.digg.com/users/PaiZuri/news/dugg) he tends to copy and paste that comment (and others like it) in all gaming posts regardless of content. Its a shame that the two pools are only separated by the rope.

Re:Contractual obligations?

[ADRA]

Valve has always been 'pro-MS'. Since they're based in greater-Seattle area, is it really that surprising?

What was a real kick in the ass was them completely dumping OGL from their now current-generation games making them unable to play on anything non-Microsoft.

Now that they are in the UniPlaf world of windows, the incentive to support -any- other platform is probably a heavy one. I can't speak about their architecture in particular, but unless a system is written from the ground up as modular, its difficult to shove it in later without showing some serious scars.

Re:Keyboard/Mouse vs. Controller

[Mprx]

Dreamcast Quake 3 vs PC Quake 3. Keyboard+mouse won so hard it wasn't even funny.

Team Fortress 2 not out?

[VGPowerlord]

Team Fortress 2 still isn't out? I remember seeing an advertisement for it in the original Half-Life's box.

What'd they do, outsource it to 3D Realms?