Can New Game Control Schemes Hope To Match the PC Keyboard? 202
An opinion piece on Gamasutra discusses how, in spite of the fancy new motion control systems that have come to console gaming, the PC's keyboard and mouse setup is still unreplaceable for many titles and genres. Quoting:
"With over 100 keys to choose from (back of the box quotation right there), the possibilities are near endless, if you start to think of shift and control functions altering the purpose of keys. It means that, when the developers start to make their game, they don't have to worry about the limitations of the interface, knowing that, if all else fails, they can always assign the compass to K, even if that's a bit of a stretch to all but the pianists. The keyboard is the friend of ambition, and ArmA 2 is the testament to that, in all its surrealist, broken glory. ... It's the same reason RTS games have found a home on the PC for so long, able to use the skills people accumulate moving around windows and clicking on icons to command troops and manipulate their battle lines. Developers taking advantage of what we already know to teach us something we don't is what gaming is all about."
i love the keyboard and mouse (Score:5, Interesting)
I just wish it were taken seriously. Nowadays games are developed for console first, then ported to PC after many months, sometimes never. Even then, the ported games often have incredibly poor controls for moving, camera, and other things. PC gaming should be given the respect it deserves across all genres, not just RTS.
The reason... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:i love the keyboard and mouse (Score:4, Interesting)
I'm not a gamer so maybe I'm missing something here, but why couldn't game consoles support the regular keyboard and mouse in addition to the controller? It sure would make porting PC games to consoles easier, or the player could be given both options. Seems like the best of both worlds, no?
Most console developers have waged a war to disassociate the fact that a console is basically a glorified, locked down personal computer. The current generation support keyboards (for text input), but go out of their way to ensure that they serve no other function in games.
Re:unreplaceable? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:The reason the keyboard is popular is simple (Score:3, Interesting)
WASD also keeps you nearby to the traditional "alter function" keys - Shift for running/walking, ctrl/alt for strafing or "sneaking", tab for weapon or preassigned group cycling, etc.
Re:The reason the keyboard is popular is simple (Score:2, Interesting)
That brings up a good issue. Warcraft 2 was arguably harder on the controls than Starcraft. You couldn't queue up unit production, among other things. Then from Starcraft to Warcraft 3 they made spellcasting smarter so you could, for example, select a group of priestesses and cast slow on a unit and let the game figure out which priestess will actually cast the spell. So games are clearly getting smarter about controls and making them get in the way less. Intuitive controls that don't get in the way are part of good game design.
The article basically points out that console controls just aren't as good as keyboard/mouse for some games. Especially games that try to mix genres and become more complicated. In the end it's all about having an input device that matches the game you're making. For example, I wouldn't want to play a game like Devil May Cry without a controller. And I wouldn't want to play a fighter without a joystick.
In the end I suspect consoles will have to develop better keyboard/mouse support if they want to become the platform of choice for some of these genres, but then you have the problem of location. Consoles are often next to a couch or some other layout that does not easily accommodate a keyboard/mouse setup. I think solving this problem is more likely than someone inventing some revolutionary new input method. This is mainly because of the hurdles of new input methods. They are expensive to design and build, then you have to convince the users to buy them and hope they are intuitive enough to warrant spending the time to learn. And since one input device is never optimal for different types of games you would be asking people to do all of this on top of buying other controls for other types of games.
Maybe the ultimate solution would be some sort of modular lap system where you can swap out a joystick, different buttons, connect a mouse, etc.