PS3 Counter-Strike To Support Keyboard and Mouse

RogueyWon writes "Eurogamer reports some encouraging news for console-bound fans of online shooters. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the new stand-alone version of the wildly successful Half-Life mod recently announced by Valve, will support mouse and keyboard controls on the PlayStation 3. This isn't entirely unprecedented; 2007's Unreal Tournament 3 had a similar feature, but the idea has never gained momentum. If the idea of allowing PC-style controls on a console does catch on, could this help remove some of the stigma associated with first-person shooters on consoles?" Players of the Xbox 360 version will still be required to use controllers, and they won't be able to participate in cross-platform play. Valve boss Gabe Newell has had a hard time convincing Microsoft to open up Xbox Live enough to integrate services like Steamworks.

Comments

Awesome.

[DeeEff]

This is what the industry needs.

speaking of what the industry needs... Where's my episode 3 Gabe!?

Re:Awesome.

[Erioll]

There was a rumour a while back that the UT players on the PS3 using M+K were just destroying the controller players. Which is not a surprise to me in the least.

I too hope this to become universal. It is the #1 reason I can't play FPSs on consoles, because I feel like I'm playing with one hand tied behind my back when using the controller.

Re:Awesome.

[Rockoon]

Even the really really bad Keyboard and Mouse players will be accused of cheating by the Controller players.

Re:Awesome.

[medv4380]

This is how it felt playing Quake 3 on the Dreamcast. If you opted for a mouse and keyboard setup it felted like the controllers players were just ROFL Stomped.

Re:Awesome.

[Baloroth]

Nothing stops your from sitting on a couch with a keyboard/ mouse combo and playing games. I've done it before, and on a wired system too. It's not bad, actually, and I imagine a wireless setup would make it almost completely painless. Much better than using a controller, IMO

Re:Awesome.

[Erioll]

I have not bought ANY fps games on consoles because of this issue (closest is metroid, and that at least had lock-on, and such, and so was OK). And there ARE exclusives, so no, I can't necessarily play some games, so the company is losing money because of this.

If you want to put out separate matches for each type, then fine, have you able to set up matches with controller-only, K+M only, or mixed. But don't just cut it out entirely. They ARE losing sales from this policy.

Re:Awesome.

[robmv]

UT3 PS3 allow creation of games with restrictions to the kind of control used. It is the best solution, do you want to play only with controller? search for games that do not allow Keyboard and Mouse, you do not care? search any game. Controller player accuse keyboard player of cheating? tell him to learn to search and kick him

Re:Awesome.

[skids]

Well, as someone who plays UT3 with a controller, I can say that it is more challenging than K+M, however, almost 80% of the challenge is due to the completely assinine and untunable dead zone the coders put into the controller driver. Which is surprising in the case of UT3, given it allows a lot more controller tuning than 99% of the games out there. (You can tune the dead zone, BTW, the choices are 10 levels between "completely unusable" and "I have arthritis so please keep me from walking off cliffs"

Re:Awesome.

[skids]

I don't enjoy the "challenge" of having to move the stick 1/3rd of the way over before it does anything at all, and then watching it jerk way further than I needed. It's actually immensely annoying.

As far as having to take your thumb off the stick to perform certain actions, if you map your UT3 controls correctly (jump and weapon select on L3/R3) melee,fire,alt-fire,and multi-action on L1-2,R1-2 you should pretty much not have to take any of your fingers off anything when it matters. It takes some practice to use a light touch even during panic situations, and you'll have to build up your pinky muscles to keep a proper two-finger posture, but once you get the hang of it you can pull off a few moves that cannot be done with K+M.

Re:Awesome.

[elrous0]

Where's my episode 3

It's done. In fact, it's been done for years now. But the Valve got so tired of listening to all the whiny bitches complain about it not coming out, that they decided to shelve it permanently. A final gold copy of it sits in a special display case at Valve HQ, along with printouts of a bunch of quotes from fans screaming "WHEN IS IT COMING OUT?! WAAAHHH!!!" Every day employees at Valve walk in, see it and laugh--subtly reminded that whining about a release date won't make it come any sooner.

It's a real shame too. Because it was supposedly the best of all the episodes.

Nice

[Hatta]

Prepare to see the superiority of mouse and keyboard controls demonstrated definitively.

Of course, we don't really need to see that because it's been done before. Quake 3 on the Dreamcast supported keyboard and mouse controls, and they made a huge difference. Network games between K&M players and gamepad players are totally one sided.

Re:Nice

[Nethemas the Great]

This isn't how the universe was meant to work! Keyboard and mouse on a console will only lead less disappointing PC ports. When will people get it through their thick skulls that the universe meant for all console to PC ports to suck most awesomely.

Re:Nice

[kevinNCSU]

Prepare to see the superiority of mouse and keyboard controls demonstrated definitively.

I'm not sure I want to. I have no doubt they are, but I don't want to have to set up a table with a keyboard and mouse, and get extra ones for my friends, anytime I want to play a FPS console game in the future and not get destroyed by people using better input controls. Is the controller a perfect input control? Not at all. But it's comfortable, compact, easy to use and doesn't require furniture. I don't want to have to make the choice to either sacrifice all that or get get constantly pwned by people who have in an unfair fight.

Re:Nice

[Hatta]

Well stay in the kiddie pool then. If you don't want to be competetive, don't play counterstrike.

Re:Nice

[Stenchwarrior]

Afuckingmen!

Re:Nice

[ViViDboarder]

What's wrong with casual gameplay? Plenty of people play casually on their consoles with friends and then play competitively on their PCs.
It'd be good if they had 2 lobbies. If using a KBM you go to the KBM lobby and if you use a gamepad you go to that lobby. It'd let you play however you damn well please.

This has me worried....

[madhatter256]

"Cross-platform play between PC/Mac and PlayStation 3, as seen with Portal 2, is also confirmed."

So what does this mean for hosting your own server with custom maps/mods????

Any word if the multiplayer aspect is severly limited like in Left 4 Dead, BF: Bad Company 2, etc.??

It seems like theres a growing trend in shrinking the mod community... :-(

Re:Hard time convincing Microsoft?

[Kreigaffe]

I don't know that it's fair to say it's murdering GFWL. GFWL was dead right out of the gates, and it's microsoft's fault.. and GFWL was really just a knockoff of Steam anyway.
Microsoft had several years to look at Steam and copy it before launching GFWL, somehow they did not and instead they... well. They released GFWL. It's terrible. Their XBox service isn't bad, but for PC? Eeeewwwww

Re:Players 2 through 4

[h4rr4r]

Why can it not be done exactly like the controller version?
Hell, some players could use controller and some mouse and keyboard on the same ps3.