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Xbox Announces Mouse and Keyboard Support (ign.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the gaming-peripherals dept.

Xbox's Phil Spencer announced today that mouse and keyboard support is coming to Xbox One. Crytek's Warface will be the first game to test the feature when it becomes available in October via the Xbox Insider Program. IGN reports: The idea behind mouse and keyboard support will be as a tool for developers, so they can choose how they want the control style integrated, if they want it integrated at all. "If you're a dominant FPS player right now on controller and you're worried that all the sudden you're gonna get swamped because a bunch of mouse and keyboard players are gonna get flooded into your game, that's not what we're doing," said Spencer. "We're putting choice into the hands of the developers about the games that they want to bring." We can expect to hear more about mouse and keyboard support during the XO18 fan event in Mexico City on November 10.

66 comments

  1. I hope this makes ports better on the PC by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I hope this makes ports better on the PC

    1. Re:I hope this makes ports better on the PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You already know it won't, because the problem is political rather than technical.

    2. Re:I hope this makes ports better on the PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      > I hope this makes ports better on the PC

      They already have USB and HDMI ports. The last thing we need is another standard.

    3. Re:I hope this makes ports better on the PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Somehow it will be worse.

      You'll need a microsoft xbox mouse and computer that uses a special connector and phones home to make sure you're viewing the latest ads on the touch screen implanted in them.

      Something. and it will be stupid. it's the microsoft way.

    4. Re:I hope this makes ports better on the PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hope this makes ports better on the PC

      One can only hope... But I doubt it, since the XBOX games catalogue is sketchy at best and most game developers will go out of their way to make controls as bad as possible on consoles... There are many examples across multiple consoles... the worst I've seen is on a lot of wii games. On that particular console, the controls available was like half the consideration when shopping for games.. I sense it has been a similar story with the XBOX.
      Even the playstation has quite a few games with bad controls.

      Regarding KBM on XBOX... Good job Microsoft... This has given what is essentially an old PC in disguise that apparentluy runs windows???, support for keyboard and mouse.. how INNOVATIVE! I am not sure what consoles are worse these days.. They are all backwards in so many ways...

      and for each new console generation, they are becoming less and less relevant... especially XBox and Playstation consoles...

      way to go Microsoft and Sony! Talk about destroying the console market..

      I mean I can understand why Microsoft would make sure that consoles suck (they have stock in windows gaming afterall), but that Sony follows along nicely is just bad business for Sony.. I mean.. are they TRYING to dismantle the console market? Maybe Sony and Microsoft wants to focus on something different and by that be able to follow "the great Apple"

      I guess that there will still be a market for retro stupid, since the market is being flooded by overpriced and all around locked mini versions of ancient consoles..

      A true retro fan would use a pie and an appropiate case for retro emulation, not these so called mini retro console abonimations... many of them are even an insult to the original consoles..

      I wish that this means that controllers will be less mandatory.. they can be okay in a tight spot.. but NOTHING comes close to the control and the options available on a TRUE PC.

      In addition... please shove console ports up where the sun do not shine!

      by the way.. my PS2 supports keyboard and mouse... even my PS1 supports it by using an adaptor...

      I had no idea that the console situation had gotten so bad...

      #PCMasterRace

      CAPCTHA: demolish

    5. Re:I hope this makes ports better on the PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Somehow it will be worse.

      You'll need a microsoft xbox mouse and computer that uses a special connector and phones home to make sure you're viewing the latest ads on the touch screen implanted in them.

      The 360 used USB connectors and the XBO is the same as far as I know. (Incidentally, the most popular controller after KB+M on Steam is... the 360 controller.)

      Something. and it will be stupid. it's the microsoft way.

      "Something", eh? So basically you don't have any real argument against it; you're just making a snarky comment because you think it's still cool to complain about MS at every opportunity. There are many reasons to, but their hardware has never been one of them. MS mice and keyboards were historically pretty damn good for the price, and the Xbox controllers have been decent as far as I'm concerned. They certainly don't make my hands cramp up like the Dual Shock ones do.

    6. Re:I hope this makes ports better on the PC by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      Menus for ports should be better at least... I won't hold my breath for anything else though.

  2. Death of the controller by Quake1v1 · · Score: 2

    Putting KBM on a console will effectively kill the controller market when it comes to competitive play, because there's no comparison as to which is faster/more accurate.

    1. Re:Death of the controller by RickyShade · · Score: 1

      I wager console jocks will not let go of sitting on their couches holding a controller in favor of sitting at a desk with a mouse and keyboard. They like the comfort and sociability of gaming systems. They're OK with aim assist being a thing.

    2. Re: Death of the controller by dnaumov · · Score: 1

      Skill-based matchmaking makes this a complete non-issue. You get matched against people of roughly your own performance level, regardless on input method used.

    3. Re:Death of the controller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Buy a USB numeric keypad
      Get a small wooden board
      Remap keys to numeric keypad
      Place board on right knee - place mouse on the board
      Place keypad on left knee

      Couch controller

    4. Re: Death of the controller by citizenr · · Score: 2

      This would lead to all the "dominant FPS players" (whatever that means lol) to be matched with below average KB+M shitters.

      --
      Who logs in to gdm? Not I, said the duck.
    5. Re:Death of the controller by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 1

      Playstation 2 and Playstation 3 had keyboard and mouse support (I know, because I had keyboard and mouse on both), and I think Playstation 4 does too. Didn't seem to kill the controller market there. In fact, Logitech made a keyboard/controller combo for the PS2; I still have mine.

    6. Re: Death of the controller by Ranbot · · Score: 1

      Skill-based matchmaking makes this a complete non-issue. You get matched against people of roughly your own performance level, regardless on input method used.

      Exactly. A game might also automatically detect and sort controller from M+KB users too.

      Controllers will die out for higher level competition, but they aren't now anyway. Controller-only competition is like the paralympics of gaming... they have skills despite their handicap, but no handicap would be better.

    7. Re:Death of the controller by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Depends on the game genre. Keyboard+Mouse is great for FPS. It sucks for things like platformers.

  3. Go WASD Yourself by sexconker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If you're a dominant FPS player right now on controller and you're worried that all the sudden you're gonna get swamped because a bunch of mouse and keyboard players are gonna get flooded into your game, that's not what we're doing.

    I'm more worried that this overpaid knob, or the overpaid knob quoting him, considers "all the sudden" to be cromulent.

    1. Re:Go WASD Yourself by DRJlaw · · Score: 0

      I'm more worried that this overpaid knob, or the overpaid knob quoting him, considers "all the sudden" to be cromulent.

      Arbitrary idiom may be arbitrarily used

      Although all of the sudden has been used in centuries past, all of a sudden is the phrasing that eventually stuck. Perhaps it is because Shakespeare used of a sudden in The Taming of the Shrew in 1594, and centuries of grammarians couldnâ(TM)t help but side with The Bard:

      Tranio:
      I pray, sir, tell me, is it possible That love should of a sudden take such hold?

      Some say that on a sudden is an archaic Scottish variant, but consider that London-born Daniel Defoe used it in Robinson Crusoe in 1719.

      My crop promised very well, when on a sudden I found I was in danger of losing it all again.

      Used historically, used by famous authors, but since self-appointed grammarians have a hard-on for Shakespeare we have to put up with you and their ilk losing your minds if we don't follow your arbitrary decision of "cromulence."

    2. Re:Go WASD Yourself by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What really makes me angry is hearing the under-20 crowd say "The picture doesn't justify it" when they mean "The picture doesn't do it justice.".

    3. Re:Go WASD Yourself by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

      Grandparent is modded insightful, while any reply to the contrary is modded offtopic or troll. Way to moderate, Slashdot.

    4. Re:Go WASD Yourself by sexconker · · Score: 1

      You are free to use the correct form, but pointing out the inferiority of the newer, sloppier ones does not make you look particularly good, even to those who know where you're coming from.

      Of course it does. I know because when others do the same thing they look good to me.

    5. Re:Go WASD Yourself by sexconker · · Score: 1

      It's not about Shakespeare winning. It's about the incorrect one losing.

      Fast forward 500 years from now, and someone could point to this story as evidence that "all the sudden" was used in an attempt to justify it.
      That doesn't mean it was used CORRECTLY.

      Pointing to past usage isn't an argument. They had idiots in the past, too.

    6. Re:Go WASD Yourself by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

      It's not about Shakespeare winning. It's about the incorrect one losing. ...

      Pointing to past usage isn't an argument. They had idiots in the past, too.

      It's an idiom - there is no "incorrect one."

      Idiom: "a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words (e.g., rain cats and dogs, see the light )."

      Please, provide your argument for why "all of a sudden" is correct but "all of the sudden" is not. I'm looking forward to reasoning as to how centuries old usage of one is correct and the other is not, and how present usage of one is correct and the other is not, when the sina qua non is by definition usage, not grammarian approval.

    7. Re:Go WASD Yourself by DRJlaw · · Score: 1

      Of course it does. I know because when others do the same thing they look good to me.

      Then you shouldn't be using neologisms such as "cromulent," because grammarians have not accepted it, and look upon you with derision.

  4. Quake III on the Dreamcast by m0gely · · Score: 1

    I remember when playing Q3 that players would chat about going and finding a DC server to pillage. They weren't kidding. I'm guessing the DC players didn't have much fun most of the time. Later on, I modded my original Xbox and got a port for Q3 for fun. A friend sometime after that was over that was leagues better than me at console play. Usually the best player at an Xbox lan party. That guy. He started talking about console vs PC, taking digs at my preference to PC gaming. I was trying to explain to him there really wasn't a comparison, but he wouldn't relent. So I booted the modded Xbox and ran Quake 3. I gave him 30 minutes to tweak the controls and run through some single player rounds until he felt confident at least that he wasn't going to lose badly. I got both of us connected to a dedicated server I set up while he was practicing. It's been a while, but I don't think he got one kill on me after 30 minutes of play. I eventually just used the pistol and melee, and he just quit in frustration. I told him hey man, don't worry about it. Two diff worlds and a game that was never meant for this anyway. At least he stopped the PC smack talk. :)

    1. Re:Quake III on the Dreamcast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I never understand players who insist that controllers are good for fps.
      There is a reason they all either have separate games for pc master race and console, or they add auto aim for the console players.
      With a controller you are controlling the derivative of curser position (velocity) whereas with a mouse you are directly controlling the position.
      There is no comparison.

    2. Re:Quake III on the Dreamcast by Zmobie · · Score: 1

      So true. I remember the glory days of Halo 2/3 on console and many of my more "bro-like" friends talking about how they could kick anyone's ass at the game (later it became whatever call of duty game was out) and that PC players were just elitist nerds. At the time, I played both console and PC (PC master race now) and tried to explain to them that playing with a controller SIGNIFICANTLY slowed down gameplay and was way inferior to KBM. They kept that opinion up for years until one day they actually saw me playing TF2 and could not believe how fast the game moved and that there was no aim assist in the game. I almost wish the Microsoft cross platform plans happened back in those days just to prove the point that it wasn't even a comparison, but it would have lost all novelty after a couple of hours.

    3. Re:Quake III on the Dreamcast by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I almost wish the Microsoft cross platform plans happened back in those days just to prove the point that it wasn't even a comparison, but it would have lost all novelty after a couple of hours.

      Back in those days we still had Quake 3 fresh in our minds. Remember when they let Dreamcast players fight PC players? It didn't end well for them.

  5. Wow! 1983 all over again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Someday these doohickeys might actually be more than just a toy! Why you could conceivablyc use one of these gizmos to write your grocery list and store mom's recipes!

    1. Re:Wow! 1983 all over again by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      The PS3/PS4 have web browsers and Google Keep/Google Docs is just a click away.

  6. Welcome to 1990 Xbox! by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

    I know that you can use a keyboard on the PS3 / PS4 for text input. Not aware of any games that supported the Keyboard + Mouse combo though.

    It will be interesting if see if any FPS games on the console will finally take off the aim-assists now that you have a proper, high fidelity aim? One of the reasons cross-platform FPSs was declined was the excuse that it was "unfair." i.e. PC gamers with Mouse+Keyboard would completely destroy / wreck all the console gamers using the gamepad.

    1. Re:Welcome to 1990 Xbox! by Zmobie · · Score: 1

      If I remember correctly, they experimented with cross-platform support at MS many moons ago. From what I recall, as a viability experiment they got some of the top console gamers they could find and then grabbed some average PC gamers to try it out. The results were BRUTAL. The guy they interviewed wouldn't give specifics but he said (not word for word) it was like watching 5 year old pee wee players (console gamers) go against an NFL pro bowl team (PC players). They tried a couple more times and did a few variants (FPS, third-person, etc.) and most of them were the exact same result. The program was immediately shut down.

    2. Re:Welcome to 1990 Xbox! by kamapuaa · · Score: 1

      They had keyboard and mouse support for a few Dreamcast FPS. I had it but almost never used it, it was completely pointless. Who wants to sit in front of their TV with a mouse and keyboard?

      I guess people if use their console at a desk it sort of make sense, but even a shitty laptop can play Fortnite (from what I understand).

      --
      Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
    3. Re:Welcome to 1990 Xbox! by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      Not aware of any games that supported the Keyboard + Mouse combo though.

      I've mentioned several on Slashdot in other discussions, there are some, mostly MMO's and ports. Note that there might be more that I don't know about.

      PS2: Deus Ex, Half-Life, Tribes, Dirge of Cerberus, Unreal Tournament 2003, Final Fantasy XI. EQOA the MMO has keyboard but not mouse support, you can play the game entirely with the keyboard if you want. Gran Turismo 4 has mouse support for menus.

      PS3: Unreal Tournament, DCUO, FFXIV, Dust514,

      PS4: Fortnite, DCUO, FFXIV, Onigiri, War Thunder. I highly recommend a mouse for War Thunder...not for playing the game, but for the menus.

      It will be interesting if see if any FPS games on the console will finally take off the aim-assists

      Every console shooter I've played that has mouse support lets you turn it off. In fact, I recommend turning it off in Half-Life on the PS2, even if you use the controller.

      PC gamers with Mouse+Keyboard would completely destroy / wreck all the console gamers using the gamepad.

      I remember the pre-mouse-aiming shooter players saying that mouse-aiming was "easy mode" for johnny-come-lately dudebros whose first shooter was Quake II on their college network. And it IS. Someone who can get headshots with a controller IS more skilled than some mouse pointing "casual", And PC games are designed around the mouse, meaning they place high importance on aiming and lower importance on movement/positioning. The ONE console shooter that I felt didn't need the mouse was the SOCOM series, which in singleplayer is a tactical, realistic, stealth-centric game where how you move and where you move to is important.

      Personally I prefer a hybrid control scheme if I can get it. Moving with the analog stick, but aiming with the mouse. It works VERY well in games that support it.

    4. Re:Welcome to 1990 Xbox! by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      Who wants to sit in front of their TV with a mouse and keyboard?

      Someone who wants to play a console game with mouse/keyboard support? TV trays and lap-pads are a thing.

      I guess people if use their console at a desk it sort of make sense

      I've used a desktop setup with PlayStations since 2002. But I had Linux on the PS2/PS3 and have/do play MMO's/MMO-ish games on console. My PC running Linux/PS3/PS4 are all hooked up to the same display on a desk.

      but even a shitty laptop can play Fortnite (from what I understand)

      The Battle Royale mode for filthy casuals, yes. But the Save the World mode has higher requirements.

  7. Maybe they can add keyboard support to win10 by technosaurus · · Score: 1

    How annoying is it to open something with the keyboard only to get a mouse only dialog window. I shouldn't have to enable accessibility features just to be able to navigate quickly.

    1. Re:Maybe they can add keyboard support to win10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How annoying is it to open something with the keyboard only to get a mouse only dialog window. I shouldn't have to enable accessibility features just to be able to navigate quickly.

      So, what you're telling me is that you don't know how to use a keyboard to control a dialog window?

      "Mouse only" indeed.

    2. Re:Maybe they can add keyboard support to win10 by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      Agreed. I wonder what time frame this changed?

      This is because MS no longer cares about UI "Accelerators" aka hotkeys or shortcuts. Notice how there is no longer an "underscore" in menu items unless you specifically hit the ALT key. Although I see Firefox (v45) shows the underscore at all times.

      I'm surprised they haven't broken the TAB key to move between UI elements. LOL.

    3. Re:Maybe they can add keyboard support to win10 by technosaurus · · Score: 1

      Speaking of the Tab key. Why do I (randomly) have to hit the tab key (or use the mouse) to get newly opened dialogs to grab focus. I used to be able to navigate with one hand.

    4. Re:Maybe they can add keyboard support to win10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe you can use Windows Narrator or some other accessibility feature to see what window actually has the focus when it shouldn't.

    5. Re:Maybe they can add keyboard support to win10 by CronoCloud · · Score: 1

      Although I see Firefox (v45) shows the underscore at all times.

      v45? Isn't 62 current?

      The underscores show with v62 on Fedora as well.

    6. Re:Maybe they can add keyboard support to win10 by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      Yeah, Firefox v45 is old. Don't feel like upgrading and breaking all my extensions. =P

      Good to know the later version still shows the underscores!

    7. Re:Maybe they can add keyboard support to win10 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. I wonder what time frame this changed? [...] Notice how there is no longer an "underscore" in menu items unless you specifically hit the ALT key.

      That was introduced in Windows XP. Or maybe ME. I know the underscore was there by default in 2000.

      We're 17 years late.

  8. Some games already have k&m support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fortnite on xbox and ps4 already has k&m support but i guess the difference here is the support is coming from the os maker so it should be better implemented.

    I've long been wondering when microsoft would do this and how far they would go making the xbox closer to a pc. Microsoft does a lot of bullshit on the open pc platform, treating it like it owns it and trying to make it closed. If they bought the xbox line under the surface line and amalgamated the xbox store with the windows 10 store and released office on it they could probably turn the xbox into a cheap slim locked down workstation pc. Sales would go through the roof and nobody would complain about what bullshit they do on it because it would be microsofts own platform in hardware and software. They could release higher hardware configurations of the xbox like they already do for those that need the extra grunt or license out the spec like 3do did. Then they could pull out of the pc os war and turn the windows10 store into a frontend for linux that runs windows 10 apps and normal windows programs on linux.

    1. Re: Some games already have k&m support by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think with steamplay enabling almost any native windows steam game to run in linux and valve feeding their work back into the wine project, it has microsoft running shitscared that people will be able to easily, flawlessly and speedily run their old windows programs without windows. I think the biggest obstacle which holds people back from switching from windows is the massive library of windows programs people already have that they dont want to ditch when they change os. I tried steamplay and the performamce cost is almost negible. With more people running their their windows games on linux that would drive more developers to release their games natively on linux or at the very least ensure it is compatible with wine or steamplay. I think microsoft sees the end of windows as a standalone os is on the horizon. Theyve been trying very hard for years to get users and developers to use the windows 10 store, where it can drm lock apps to the os, but it is failing. Nobody wants to use the windows 10 store and the only way they can force it on people is to close off windows from non-store installs but that would just drive more people to linux and old versions of windows. Microsoft is fucked. It is the xbox or the highway for them.

  9. But doesn't Xbox run WINDOWS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Microsoft has been telling everyone since 2013 that Xbox One runs REAL WINDOWS! It even runs Universal Windows Apps!

    So why is it only now supporting mouse and keyboard, something that Windows has supported since 1985?

    1. Re: But doesn't Xbox run WINDOWS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It does but this shitty company is struggling to justify its existence so it is trying to make its console more like a pc to get pc gamers to cross over and bolster the xbox ranks except pc gamers are happy where they are...

      Maybe if microsoft didnt knife their game developers during the xbox and 360 era they would be faring better now with games...

    2. Re: But doesn't Xbox run WINDOWS? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, let's not forget about their warranty shenanigans, general unreliability, and bait-and-switch premium online play treatment they gave to their users too.

      Follow that up with a considerably more underpowered offering compared with the PS4 and they seem to be so confused by how little adoption their walled garden has.

  10. What is happening?? by xgerrit · · Score: 2

    So tablets are using touchscreens to kill off the mouse, trackpad and keyboard, but game consoles are adding mouse and keyboard support.. ?

    1. Re:What is happening?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The always-intelligent, yet wisdom-lacking UI and product designers of today may have finally figured out that the future is not Minority Report-style computer interfaces. There is a use for tactile controls.

    2. Re:What is happening?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The next innovation will be the tablet....with a built-in keyboard!

      And Apple will have invented it

    3. Re:What is happening?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A mouse is a terrible interface to use while walking around.

      A controller is a terrible interface for some types of games.

    4. Re: What is happening?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Touch screen plus ten finger ops or even just two thumbs since your fingers aren't transparent, gives you amazing aim/fire. You can use your feet on a split dual stick or dual rudder/trim helo style controller and do alright with some practice.

      The crazy elites can use a modified OSO trackpad and split zone it for independent per finger actuation. I've tried but i can get beyond four fingers and both thumbs before I make more mistakes than I gain from the fifth axis. If that doesn't make sense, just image taping six 1.5" wide trackpad (one 3" pad split into 4/6/8 zones) to the back of your twin stick game pad trackpad.

      I can actually fly two drones at the same time this way, in matching flight or mirror images, but if I tried to add a third I'd crash all three inside a minute. I am maybe that's what the reality of an elite Gundam plot would be. Pinkies controllers feet/thrusters, ring fingers for leg control, middles for spine/torso, index for arms and thumb on a two stick for wrist control in swordplay. Eye tracking for weapon aiming, wince for fire, with independent thumb operation for look here blind fire there and head controlled by the head/neck of the actual pilot.

      Then drug em up to get toes operating another set for dance off and lion fusion crap.

  11. PC Master Race! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Turtles all the way down :)

  12. Welcome to the 20th century, Microsoft by OneHundredAndTen · · Score: 1

    This is sure to fill out a much-needed gap in the gaming world.

  13. hello, locked down PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hope this isn't the end of true personal computing.

    1. Re:hello, locked down PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would it be? Microsoft can pull whatever shit they want on their console. I dont care. If it means they end up pulling out of the pc platform, even better. PC computing will always live on with or without microsoft. microsoft thinks that they own the pc platform but they don't.

  14. Warframe, not Warface by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Summary is wrong. The article says the first game to test the feature will be Warframe, which is by Digital Extremes, not Crytek's Warface.

  15. Ctrl+Alt+Del by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've been looking to do this ultimate combo with my joypad, I guess it's going to be easier with a keyboard.

    Remember kids: the only winning move is not to play!

  16. Smart Move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Crypto mining has essentially killed PC gaming forever, this is probably the best way to fill the gap for "normal people" who don't want to spend 6 grand on a gaming PC.

    1. Re: Smart Move by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Umm actually GPU prices have stabilized. I seen a GTX 1080 going for $450 today.

  17. right by argStyopa · · Score: 1

    "...The idea behind mouse and keyboard support will be as a tool for developers..."
    Bullshit.
    Other game companies are starting to unify their player base between consoles and PCs, and the problem is that mouse+kb users consistently ANNIHILATE people stuck with gamepad vector controllers (that are actually astonishingly shitty when it comes to precision movement).

    This bias meant that historically Sony, Nintendo, and MS *had* to wall off their console players from PC players even in online games, or face the consequences of their marquee product owners routinely losing. The only other alternative was to implement aiming-assistance code that amounted to basically aimbot cheats that helped the console players stay competitive.

    As online games have become the majority (in particular competitive esports where actual money is on the line), this walled-garden approach has seemed less and less tenable, and the aimbot-training-wheels absolutely unacceptable...perhaps console makers simply recognized the fact that kb+mouse was - for shooters at least - the better control set, no matter how many million$ were dumped into 'ergonomic' control pads. /pcmasterrace

    --
    -Styopa
  18. Catching up to the PlayStation 3 by doconnor · · Score: 1

    I used a USB keyboard to play Final Fantasy 11 on the PS3 years ago. I would alternate between using the controller for battle and the keyboard for other other tasks.

    It also supports Bluetooth keyboards. I would assume that the PS4 does as well.

  19. How about .... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bringing KINET Back....

  20. next announcement by sad_ · · Score: 1

    xbox will now run windows 10!
    and the circle will be round.

    --
    On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.