An interesting blog post by Rahul Sood (founder of Voodoo PC) ponders the implications of a rumored project that Microsoft is rumored to have canceled, rumor has it. Apparently, Microsoft was working on cross platform gaming that would allow PC players to take on their lesser Xbox counterparts. This isn’t particularly unknown news – Halo 2 and Shadowrun are both cross-platform games, and there was a big PR hoopla about the concept a year or three back.
Sood claims he has it on good authority that the project was canceled largely because the console players couldn’t compete with PC gamers.
Shocker? Hardly. There aren’t many game genres out there that don’t benefit significantly from the versatility and accuracy of a mouse and keyboard. Playing a shooter on a console is like trying to ride a motorcycle while wearing boxing gloves and with both arms in casts. Possible, but so unwieldy it’s a far cry from fun. With the possible exception of sports games, the same principle holds true for nearly every other genre out there.
So pitting those poor console types against gamers armed with mouse and keyboard is a little like throwing stormtroopers at Darth Maul. Microsoft apparently felt sorry enough for the Xboxers (or, more likely, feared a mass boycott of the games that were “unfairly balanced”) that they canceled the project.
It’s impossible to say how true this story is, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was. Just another sign of these sad times.
Sood’s post is worth a read. Check it out.
What do you think? Do PCs really hold that much of an edge over console gamers?
Jerod Jarvis is an independent gaming journalist and founder of Duality Games. He maintains gaming columns for The Washington Times Communities and for The Outpost. When not blogging madly about games, he freelances for the Spokesman-Review in his hometown of Spokane, Washington and attends school at Whitworth University. Check out his presence on Facebook and Twitter to stay up on Duality Games updates and the inside scoop on the gaming news you care about.
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I know it’s been common procedure to decrease the number of enemies that spawn on Xbox/PS3 versions of FPS games; and in some cases to increase the hit box (though, when you’re online how much does that really matter with average lag issues, really?).
May be that the games are different enough to make it difficult to integrate a multiplayer platform for them.
Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me. Aim assist is another common trick – in the worst PC ports they leave it in (Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood; The Force Unleashed). When your cursor moves to target a headshot without you moving your mouse, you know you’re playing a game inflicted with severe consolitis.
yeh.. they did some statistics with the # of kills PC have and xbox360 have with codmw2, and xbox360 don’t even come close to the # of kills. either PC players are kill whores or its easier to kill with pc + keyboard. i really disliked using dual analog sticks, it might be ok for playing against ur real friends who are all on the 360.
on another note, im annoyed that theres no cross region play on SC2 =(.. i like to play against the koreans from time to time.
Using analog sticks to play a shooter (or an RTS…or an un-dumbed down RPG…or most things) is indeed painful. It’s just sluggish, among other things.
I’m also annoyed at no cross region play on SC2. However, that’s something I suspect they’ll incorporate in the future, especially if there’s demand. We shall see. I’ll have a review on SC2 up in a day or two.