Overwatch Director Speaks Out Against Console Mouse/keyboard Adapters (arstechnica.com)

Striek quotes a report from Ars Technica: Regardless of where you fall in the long-running debate between keyboard/mouse and analog stick controls, you could historically be relatively sure that everyone on a single platform would be playing with the same control scheme. Recently, though, third-party adapters have started allowing console players to use a mouse and keyboard effectively on dedicated consoles, throwing off the competitive balance in a way that Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan doesn't appreciate. "The Overwatch team objects to the use of mouse and keyboard on console," Kaplan wrote on the Battle.net forums. "We have contacted both first-party console manufacturers and expressed our concern about the use of mouse and keyboard and input conversion devices. We have lobbied and will continue to lobby for first-party console manufacturers to either disallow mouse and keyboard and input conversion devices or openly and easily support mouse and keyboard for all players," he continued. "I encourage you to reach out to the hardware manufacturers and express your concerns (but please do so in a productive and respectful way)." Kaplan is talking about products like the XIM4, a $125 hub that lets certain USB keyboards and mice work natively with some Xbox One and PS4 games (as well as PS3 and Xbox 360 titles). IoGear's $100 Keymander does much the same thing, claiming to be "compatible with all console games." These devices essentially emulate a standard controller through a combination of hardware and software settings, disguising the keyboard and mouse inputs in a way that makes them hard for a developer to detect. This is a problem in competitive online games like Overwatch, where the quickness and precision of mouse aiming can give a decisive advantage over players using a slower and clunkier analog stick.

Comments

Read Summary Again

[SuperKendall]

It must be "can't even be arsed to read teh fucking summary" day on Slashdot!

They said the EITHER want to block those products working, OR have open development support paths so that EVERYONE can use keyboard/mice with support from developers.

You know, exactly like it is on the PC????????

Jesus.

Re:No complaints

[ChromeAeonium]

No, because a keyboard & mouse is a far superior for playing an FPS than a controller. I'm not sure how anyone can consider that a topic of debate as the summery implies. A keyboard and mouse allows you to independently move and aim with greater ease and higher precision than a controller. The issue here would be that people using a keyboard & mouse against console gamer using a controller puts the controller users at a severe disadvantage.

Re:No complaints

[Immerman]

I think because it doesn't really matter.

Basically, the reason you can't have both PC and console gamers playing together on the same server is because the games are all intentionally borked to prevent it. Numerous companies have done play testing, and despite the console players getting all the aim assistance, etc. available on the console, even mediocre PC players will still mop the floor with them. The difference in controller speed and precision really is just that dramatic.

Re:No complaints

[leathered]

It has been done at least once before with some success, PC and Dreamcast players could play Quake III together. Of course users of the Dreamcast controller were at a serious disadvantage but there was a mouse and keyboard available for the console and its use was encouraged.

The main disadvantage of playing Q3 on the Dreamcast (and most other consoles) was the lack of support for mods, it was DM or CTF and that was it. Mods are what turned the great FPS games into classics.

Re:No complaints

[TWX]

...and most Slashdotters have no experience with them.

*rimshot*

no shit really?

[indy_Muad'Dib]

the industry learned that back during the closed beta of BF3 when xbox and PC could play on the same servers and the PC players wrecked the absolute shit out of the console players in every match.

Re:no shit really?

[PPalmgren]

I remember playing BF3 with my older brother on his XBox when I visited him, while I had BF3 on the PC. The game played completely different: In the metro station map, on PC, players could barely ever capture the first flag without precise coordination and vision occlusion like smokes because if they popped their head up they'd get wrecked. On XBox, everyone just sprinted for the flag and it was a close range melee fest with flag captures usually being quite easy regardless of how well the defensive positions were set up.

In short, on the PC the defenders had a heavy advantage where on XBox the attackers had a heavy advantage, and it showed in the win rate from those sides. This was entirely due to control scheme.

Re:No complaints

[stealth_finger]

"Handicapped" is an interesting word. I use an adaptive keyboard to overcome some physical disabilities. Fuck you, Overwatch director snob-shit.

Handicap is a perfectly fine word to use. Just because you might be disabled in some way doesn't give you automatic ownership of a bunch of words. It doesn't even mean disabled people, a handicap is something that acts as an impediment or makes progress more difficult, as a disability does but it's far from exclusive to that. Get over yourself.