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Xbox 360 + mouse + keyboard

J

jarosh

Member
Alright, I love me some FPSes but besides HL2 nothing runs smooth enough on my outdated PC/graphics card. I would LOVE to play COD2, F.E.A.R. (yeah I know it's only rumored so far), Prey and every other upcoming FPS for the 360 with a mouse and a keyboard. It's simply not the same with a joypad.

But why is this something no one seems to talk about? There are enough USB ports. Many current and upcoming games are developed for 360 AND PC so the games are proven to work with a mouse/keyboard setup. How hard can it be to implement it as an option, particularly because it's already there in the PC counterpart? Even if only a minority is interested in this, as far as I understand this needs almost no additional work on the developer's side, right? In online matches you would probably have to separate mouse and joypad players but this shouldn't be a problem either.

So why is it not happening? :)
 
It isn't happening because MS doesn't want it to happen.

If you want mouse/keyboard support with upcoming games, BUY A PS3 potentially. Sony doesn't seem to have the same restriction as MS regarding control interfaces.
 
MS: "even playing field"

That's why. usb keyboards are useable for text input (plus there's the concept controller keypad expansion) but they won't be implemented into gameplay.
 
Bob is right. Microsoft doesn't want their console to be seen as a "PC" in any way and Sony does want their console to be considered more as a "computer entertainment" device.
 
Mrbob said:
It isn't happening because MS doesn't want it to happen.

If you want mouse/keyboard support with upcoming games, BUY A PS3 potentially. Sony doesn't seem to have the same restriction as MS regarding control interfaces.
Click to expand...
Bizarre. This has never occured to me. Of course MS is interested in keeping PC gaming alive too and with a mouse+keyboard setup the 360 could potientially be a real threat for PC gaming. Why didn't I think of this?

Anyhow, it will certainly be interesting to see Sony's stance on this issue...
 
open_mouth_ said:
Bob is right. Microsoft doesn't want their console to be seen as a "PC" in any way and Sony does want their console to be considered more as a "computer entertainment" device.
Click to expand...

No, it is as raYne said. Even playing field. The usage of cheating devices can also be limited in this way.
 
Screw even playing field. Make a server for controller playes only and another for real men (keyboard + mouse)
 
Wow I'm just now realising how much this sucks. The 360's got games with HD resolution and visuals on par with or even better than their PC counterparts but (as far as FPSes are concerned) an infinitely inferior control method. :(
 
Wario64 said:
Screw even playing field. Make a server for controller playes only and another for real men (keyboard + mouse)
Click to expand...
Yeah, exactly what I suggested. But I doubt that "even playing field" is the real reason here. If it was they could simply entirely prohibit the use of mouse+keyboard for online play and restrict it to the single player mode. Not that I think this would be a good idea but the fact that it hasn't happened yet should be proof enough that "even playing field" is probably not the actual reason...
 
Honestly, it's smart on Microsoft's part. I tend not to upgrade my OS unless I go for a major hardware upgrade which, in turn, tends to be initiated by a desire to play more resource intensive games. If the 360 supported K+M, there's no way in hell I'd be saving up for a rig refresh when Vista hits. Win2k has been bulletproof for me for years. MS would be hurting a vital revenue stream by making the 360 the defacto Western Developer game platform. Not that it isn't beginning to look that way already. :(
 
I have not once heard of an MS representative citing an "Even Playing Field" as a reason for not supporting mouse devices. I think that it's always been an issue of not wanting the thing to look like a PC......they've really overcome that hurdle though, and ought to just bite the bullet and let people use what they want to.

Sucks that Microsoft has decided to lockdown the peripheral market, too. We probably won't get a SmartJoyFrag like we did on the original Xbox.
 
Foil said:
If you want mouse and keyboard controls, play on a PC.
Click to expand...
Thanks for your contribution. That was very useful.

Years ago if someone would have asked for online play on a console would you have told him: "If you want online play, play on a PC"? It's not that absurd wanting to have the precision of a mouse in a console FPS. Oh well, I guess no one willl ever care for this kind of precision on a console. Really, how did I come up with something so bizarre LOLZ???
































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1996 called and wants their angst back. Since the advent of dual analog sticks and trigger buttons, this argument has been moot. If you still like mouse + keyboard better, that's fine, but it's not like current console controllers are awful for FPS like they used to be. For me, it couldn't possibly get any better - Left stick moves, right stick aims, right trigger fires, left trigger grenades. Perfection!
 
Mrbob said:
It isn't happening because MS doesn't want it to happen.

If you want mouse/keyboard support with upcoming games, BUY A PS3 potentially. Sony doesn't seem to have the same restriction as MS regarding control interfaces.
Click to expand...

Cause there are so many keyboard/mouse games for the PS2.
 
VALIS said:
Since the advent of dual analog sticks and trigger buttons, this argument has been moot.
Click to expand...
How the argument becomes moot due to merely non-awful controllers is beyond me. Mouse is still faster and more precise than stick. Keyboard still has more keys than a controller has shoulder buttons.

Why it even has to be an argument is beyond me. Just let people play with the peripherals they want to use.
Left stick moves, right stick aims, right trigger fires, left trigger grenades. Perfection!
Click to expand...
Until you want to jump.
 
VALIS said:
1996 called and wants their angst back. Since the advent of dual analog sticks and trigger buttons, this argument has been moot. If you still like mouse + keyboard better, that's fine, but it's not like current console controllers are awful for FPS like they used to be. For me, it couldn't possibly get any better - Left stick moves, right stick aims, right trigger fires, left trigger grenades. Perfection!
Click to expand...
Yeah you're right, they're not awful but I still prefer the precision of a mouse. Hell, I play 90% of my FPSes on consoles because my PC is not good enough. I just thought it would be nice to have the option, because after playing through HL2 on a PC I can safely say that there's NO WAY I could ever regard a controller superior to a mouse/keyboard setup.
 
border said:
How the argument becomes moot due to merely non-awful controllers is beyond me. Mouse is still faster and more precise than stick. Keyboard still has more keys than a controller has shoulder buttons.

Why it even has to be an argument is beyond me. Just let people play with the peripherals they want to use.
Until you want to jump.
Click to expand...
Yeah you said it much better than I did :)
 
Whoever said that the keyboard has more keys and that's a reason why it's better - I never understood that argument. A PS2 controller doesn't have enough friggin buttons already? I have a hard enough remembering what everything does. If you (as a developer) need more buttons than that, your game needs to keep its happy ass on a PC.

While a mouse is more precise, it's not like developers don't compensate for the difference in accuracy. So you miss a little more, but it takes less shots to kill - who cares?
 
Atari2600 said:
Cause there are so many keyboard/mouse games for the PS2.
Click to expand...

Well the difference is Sony doesn't stop developers from implementing key/mouse control if they want too.
 
Atari2600 said:
Whoever said that the keyboard has more keys and that's a reason why it's better - I never understood that argument. A PS2 controller doesn't have enough friggin buttons already?
Click to expand...
Doesn't have enough buttons that are simultaneously accessible. A person playing Halo on Xbox has to give up the ability to aim if he wants to jump, switch weapons, or do a melee attack. A person playing Halo on the PC does not.
 
How are you going to aim if you have to take your thumb off the right stick to press the Jump/Melee/Weapon Switch button?
 
This is possibly dumber than the wheel thing for racing games.

If you want to play PC games with mouse/keyboard, use your PC. I don't imagine any such games will be left off the PC anyway.
 
Having more buttons at your disposal on a keyboard is great cause you can fully customize the game's control to your needs. You're no longer bound to having to deal with only 10-12 buttons to play with. You can have additional functions like being able to recall a certain weapon, being able to relay your status/position with a touch of a button, precise sniping zooming, etc. PC games allowed you to bind all sorts of shit that you could never do in a typical game
 
Atari2600 said:
While a mouse is more precise, it's not like developers don't compensate for the difference in accuracy. So you miss a little more, but it takes less shots to kill - who cares?
Click to expand...
Well, I do care, sir. What is more satisfying: shooting five times somewhere in the area were an enemy stands and hoping auto aim will take care of it or hitting him with one precise shot without wasting bullets or time?

See, I'm playing COD2 on the 360 currently and I'm loving it, but hell, everytime I have to snipe someone from a distance I crave for the precision of a mouse. You aim SWOOSH hold, shoot, BANG. With a controller you aiiiiiiim, then you mooooove the cross-hair back a little, then a little more, a little more to the right, now up a little, now the enemy moves, you aiiiim again, you're somewhere near his head, you shoot in the air, BLAM he's dead, well something killed him, maybe it was my bullet. Now with COD2 it isn't that bad actually - but still you have to correct your aiming constantly and THIS is the main difference to a mouse. There's just no correcting. AIM BANG PERIOD.
 
border said:
How the argument becomes moot due to merely non-awful controllers is beyond me. Mouse is still faster and more precise than stick. Keyboard still has more keys than a controller has shoulder buttons.
Click to expand...

Mouse + keyboard wins in the aiming dept., but moving is much better with a controller. Thanks to analog controllers you can creep/walk/run depending on how far you move the stick, you can press the left stick in to crouch and the right stick in to zoom. Can't do any of that on a keyboard, those will all take extra button presses. Not to mention, who likes moving with key presses? I always hated that.

My point is, if someone likes using a mouse + keyboard better for FPS, fine, but it's long past time to shitcan the ancient argument that console controllers are inferior for FPS. Whether or not you prefer them, the current Xbox/PS controller set up is remarkably functional and intuitive for shooters.
 
VALIS said:
Mouse + keyboard wins in the aiming dept., but moving is much better with a controller. Thanks to analog controllers you can creep/walk/run depending on how far you move the stick,
Click to expand...
But what's more important in an FPS -- movement speed or aiming? I can't think of an FPS where movement speed plays a huge role....most people would be constantly running if the game allows it. Map crouch to L-Shift and Zooming to a mousebutton ;)
 
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