Microsoft's Open Invitation To Valve, Nintendo and Others To Join Xbox One and PC Crossplay (vg247.com) 175
Microsoft has said it's ready to have a "conversation" with any development team that wants to feature crossplay support on consoles and PC. From a report: Mike Ybarra, vice president of Xbox, told VG247 that it's happy to talk to the likes of Valve and Nintendo when it comes to getting multiplayer games working across multiple platforms, not just between Xbox One and Windows. "It's more about gamer choice, more about making an IP on our platform last longer. I don't care about where they play, I just want people to have fun playing games because that's just better for the industry," said Ybarra. "The demands of consumers and developers have changed," he continued. "People are like, 'we want all of our gamers in one multiplayer pool together, playing.' "We totally agree with that. If any developer wants to have that conversation... Valve is right down the street from us, Nintendo is too -- they're like a block from us. We're having these discussions as developers come up, and we're completely open to that."
Whoa .. that's weird (Score:3)
I read that as
Microsoft's Open Invitation To Valve, Nintendo and Others To Join Xbox One and PC Cosplay
And wondered what the hell sorts of things are going on in MS these days.
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More accounts. (Score:2)
That makes no sense... Cross platform means you can play on your Playstation WITH people on XBox, so you don't have to buy the platform you don't want.
This is *Microsoft* we're talking about.
You can bet that "Crossplay" will practically implemented as games released for other platform being also able to log-in onto microsoft's accounts (XBLive or whatever it's actually called).
Meaning that now even gamers owning only Nintendo Switch and PlayStation4 will need to sign into XBLive and pay monthly fee (or get their public data sold - I actually didn't bother to check what is Microsoft revenue model) if they want to be able to play these Crossplay games.
Meani
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But, at this moment in time, you have no idea about what MS wants, but it doesn't really matter to you if MS benefits because they're actually giving people what they want so long as MS benefits you can complain about it. The article says NOTHING, gives NO details about anything, so all anyone here is doing is making up straw-man arguments and then attacking MS.
The problem is MS has done a lot of shitty things over the years, and continue to do so with things like forced Windows 10 upgrades and built in sp
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I wouldn't be surprised per se, but at the same time this is entirely unnecessary to drive the project.
If a game is released on multiple platforms, people will buy it for whatever platform they have and will play against people who are also on that platform. That is, under the current model Microsoft makes near zero revenue from non-XBox users for non-exclusive titles. The number of people who would go out and buy an XBox just to play with a friend when they've got a perfectly good PS4 is very slim -- gro
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To be fair, crossplay also means "cosplaying as a character who's a different gender than you."
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What does happen if you look at them in the eyes? They blink?
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What does happen if you look at them in the eyes? They blink?
As long as they aren't crossplaying Weeping Angels, then it may be safe?
Crosspwn (Score:5, Insightful)
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I don't use consoles so excuse the ignorance, but can you not connect a keyboard and mouse to a console if you want to? I know typically people don't use them, but they could if they wanted, no?
They all have usb ports, and I thought I've seen keyboards on consoles before.
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Yes, but its down to each game to make use of them. Most don't.
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Also many people on consoles aren't sitting at a desk and don't have a place for a mouse. It's more comfortable to sit on a couch in front of a tv than it is to sit at a computer desk.
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Xbox One runs an edition of Windows 10 that's closer to Windows 10 S in its capability. Games need approval for what input devices they can use.
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>Did Microsoft lie, or does Windows 10 not support mouse and keyboard?
yes.
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Seriously?
I have a keyboard for my PlayStation 2. Way to be behind the times Microsoft.
Xbox supports a keyboard just fine in the non-game UI, but they intentionally disable keyboard usage in games because too many console FPS players are gamepad whiners who know they'll get their asses handed to them if people were allowed to use proper controls.
Console devs need to just tell those idiots to get a keyboard/mouse themselves and STFU.
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Unless of course the usual console aimbot gets thrown into the game.
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In this day and age, you can connect a mouse and keyboard to your console.
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You can connect a keyboard and mouse to a console but will the games use them?
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Re:Crosspwn (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, but the console players can't set up macros. Which is a huge advantage to PC players especially during PvP matches. Hit one key = Perform several moves before the console player hits their second button.
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but the console players can't set up macros. Which is a huge advantage to PC players especially during PvP matches.
There's no reason they can't put a macro editor and keyboard support into a console version.
Console games are self-contained (Score:2)
There's no reason they can't put a macro editor and keyboard support into a console version.
Other than that console games are self-contained. This means each studio would have to design a macro editor for each game, with only the capability that the studio can imagine, and each publisher and Microsoft would have to sign off on each macro editor. On a less closed platform such as Windows Home or Pro, a third party can develop a macro editor and make it available to several games. To put it another way: It's like iOS before iOS 8 introduced support for third-party floating keyboard apps.
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"This means each studio would have to design a macro editor for each game,"
I've been able to program my X-Arcade with macros for at LEAST a decade and use that controller on consoles (fighting games.)
Crypto in the controller (Score:2)
In your case, the macro functionality is built into the controller, not the game or the operating system. But I thought the Xbox 360 and Xbox One consoles used a cryptographic challenge and response [brandonw.net] to ensure that only controllers approved by Microsoft can be used with Xbox games, specifically to avoid macros in the controller. How does the X-Arcade Xbox One adapter [xgaming.com] work around this?
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Other than that console games are self-contained. This means each studio would have to design a macro editor for each game,
I don't think that anything you said there was true. Console games are no longer self-contained, they use of OS services for access to the hardware since they're just PCs like any other PC, but with a different interface. Therefore, the macro functionality could certainly be built right into the OS, which is providing the keystrokes to the application anyway.
I also think that this claim is irrelevant, since on the scale of game development complexity a macro editor is a 1 out of 10.
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Console games are no longer self-contained, they use of OS services for access to the hardware
I meant that console games are "self-contained" in the sense that iOS applications are "self-contained": using operating system services but not system-wide third-party services. The definition I intended was that used in the App Store Review Guidelines [apple.com]:
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I meant that console games are "self-contained" in the sense that iOS applications are "self-contained": using operating system services but not system-wide third-party services.
That still has nothing to do with this, because the macros would appear to the game like any other keyboard input.
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Keyboard support is fine. But many games will ban players for using macros. It's not how they want the game to be played. And let's not forget about speed hacking which no way in hell are console game companies going to allow either.
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what's to stop logitech (or whoever) from making a keyboard / mouse that allows programmable functions?
Even from a hardware perspective : push this to start recording, hit your buttons, push record button again to save macro. Lots of PC hardware allows that, without any software intervention for recording.
Controller lockout chip (Score:2)
what's to stop logitech (or whoever) from making a keyboard / mouse that allows programmable functions?
Microsoft would deny Logitech use of the authentication chip required to get the Xbox One console to recognize a controller. Both Xbox One and Xbox 360 use a lockout chip to reject unauthorized controllers.
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But there are 3rd party devices that just require you to plug in a XBO or PS4 controller into them so they can authenticate. They when let you use a keyboard and mouse along with setting up macros.
https://www.amazon.com/CronusMax-Cross-Cover-Gaming-Adapter-Windows/dp/B013E2KD5M/ [amazon.com]
Macros and cost (Score:2)
what's to stop logitech (or whoever) from making a keyboard / mouse that allows programmable functions?
Answer: Hardware cost.
Nearly* all modern keyboard with "programmable macros" are actually plain fucking stupid bland keyboard with a few extra hardware keys,
and it's the driver that came on the CD which was packed with it that installs a Windows-only software on the PC that handles the macros.
i.e.:
plug the exact same keyboard on Linux (or any console which supports USB keyboards),
and you won't get your recorded macros, you'll simply get a "extended key 145 pressed" signal on your OS.
Now nothing prevents you
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I remember some old 3rd party controllers that had this ability (Playstation/ N64 area) it let you dominate in combo based fighting games. But I don't know if they are made for modern consoles.
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I know, right!? I mean what if Sonic Mania had cross play! Those keyboard/mouse players would massacre the Switch players.
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Cross play doesn't necessarily mean competitive play, and does include other genres. As an example of a massive success : Rocket League.
Happens on PC (Score:2)
It happens on PC where gamepads and M/K are matched up, people of varying frame rates, ping times, abilities, matchmaking seems to work fine. This is not even a problem.
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FWIW a lot of people are using hacks/adapters to use mouse and keyboard on consoles anyway.
You're right it does create a massive advantage but it's not quite as severe as you say. I don't bother because I can't be arsed to spend £130 to cheat on a video game so when I come up against them it's a mixed bag, some still suck, because no amount of money can stop a stupid player from sucking, but others have a clear advantage.
So yeah it would completely break game balance in competitive FPS games, bu
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Yeah, we sure have too few crappy console ports as it is now.
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Ya, we have great stuff like Rocket League instead. Where PC players can play against PS4 or XBO players.
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Don't know that game, care to elaborate what your point is?
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You gonna detect this and every variation thereof?
https://www.amazon.com/Keyboar... [amazon.com]
Probably not. There are literally hundreds of different models out there.
Wanna know how I know it works? I use them. Specifically this model for any console FPS gaming and combine it with my X-Arcade for fighting games.
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Embrace, Extend, Extinguish... (Score:5, Insightful)
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/... [roughlydrafted.com]
You know once they're at 75%+ marketshare, they'll change their tune...
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Maybe but for now, they are the underdog.
They don't come close to Valve's Steam for distribution, don't have Nintendo's licenses and are losing to Sony's PS4. They are only relevant because they have Windows. They are just trying not to be ignored here.
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Microsoft has been good at Embracing but in the past 5 years have been completely inept at Extend or Extinguish. You give them too much credit.
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I'm not anti-MS, per se. I use MS Windows every day and it works well. I like SQL Server. Skype is great. Outlook is buggy, Office 365 is awful, and Skype for business is terrible (but getting better). MS, like any large company, has good and bad products.
Give me a few examples where MS has super majority marketshare and is taking action to embrace the community, and I'll reconsider my opinion.
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I don't know. .NET development is doing a pretty good job of embracing the community. Not sure what you consider a "super majority", but it is a large share.
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That's the problem with building a bad reputation. It takes a long time to fix.
And sometimes it doesn't matter if you fix it or not, if you alienated your customers thoroughly enough the first time around. There are a handful of companies that are on my "fuck you forever" list, and I honestly don't care if they have reformed, or if they ever do. I was burned badly enough that there is no compelling reason to ever go near them again. Until their competitors all burn me somewhere close to that much, I'll be using their services and products instead.
The world would be a better p
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It's what makes MS...MS.
Until you see it often enough AS IT HAPPENS, you don't see a pattern.
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That's not paranoia, that's bitter fucking experience.
I did read the summary and wonder if this was an attempt to fuck over Steam and Nintendo.
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Agreed.... I was right there along with them, as MS was brutally anti-competitive and did a lot of morally wrong things (a super-set of the illegal things they did). There are still things that really bother me about them, especially with Windows 10 telemetry and spying. But I have to admit, as a developer who recently had to start developing software to work with existing Windows only software, the development tools are really quite nice - the community version of visual studio is fantastic, IMO, and the
Won't work (Score:4, Insightful)
This won't work for many of the most popular types of games, including FPS. WASD + mouse input will always outperform dual joysticks.
Also, I'll be damned, as a PC player, that I want to hear chatter from 12 year old kids rattling on about my mother's vagina. Because of the price point of PC systems, there seems to just be far fewer twits like that.
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https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/minecraft-xbox-one-keyboard-and-mouse/
Yes it's for minecraft, but it's a start.
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So nice of them to give us a feature the Dreamcast had.
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umm so a box with tiles interface and a keyboard and mouse. nice!!
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Also, I'll be damned, as a PC player, that I want to hear chatter from 12 year old kids rattling on about my mother's vagina. Because of the price point of PC systems, there seems to just be far fewer twits like that.
You must not be playing many games with randoms and voice chat on PC if you think that. Hop into any PUBG match if you want to be relieved of that myth.
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Because of the price point of PC systems, there seems to just be far fewer twits like that.
I don't know about that. I tried out a few different MOBAs a few years back and even though they're all on the PC, there were plenty of idiots being jackasses in chat or doing other things to ruin the game for everyone else. Maybe that's just a consequence of those games typically being free to play and having very little in the way of hardware requirements though.
I think Blizzard might have gotten it right with hearthstone where you can only communicate with your opponent through a set number of emotes,
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"WASD + mouse input will always outperform dual joysticks."
Depends. How high can you crank the sensitivity on that joystick? In all the keyboard+mouse games I play, my mouse sensitivity is jacked so high (on purpose) that I never need to move the mouse more than 4-5mm to get a full 360 turn. High sensitivity + acceleration on a joystick could achieve the same effect, and only requires roughly the same amount of muscular control - barely any.
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12 year old kids rattling on about my mother's vagina
I encountered one of those on Overwatch at the weekend. I responded with calm polite wit and s/he could only manage 'shut up. shut up. shut up' after that.
I muted my microphone and laughed.
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Nah, they are just better distributed to some genres. The LoL crowd for instance are far more toxic than anything i got on console ever. Console ranters are just funny and ignore-able, some of the PC crowds made me leave the respective game for good. (Until i started to use muting capabilities)
It's the same old Microsoft (Score:5, Insightful)
Inviting everyone to come join them in a walled garden Microsoft itself controls. It's not like their online service wasn't available to paid subscribers only, the low-level protocols undocumented and proprietary.
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There's already crossplay between Nintendo/Microsoft/PC platforms for games like Rocket League, doesn't seem to be any walled garden involved. Sony is currently the only one blocking any crossplay.
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Sony is blocking crossplay? Explain Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV.
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As far as I'm aware, those two titles are highly uncommon* exceptions to Sony's general policy not to allow PlayStation users to play with Xbox users. For which game, other than a major Square Enix MMORPG, has any developer convinced Sony to make an exception?
* I'm hesitant to say "rare" because that's a Microsoft brand.
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"Sony is currently the only one blocking any crossplay."
Uhhhh, what? I'm pretty sure my Final Fantasy XIV has crossplay. Why, yes, I'm playing with PS4 users on my PC.
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And this is surprising how? Not specifically that it's Sony that's not playing ball, but that the company in the dominant position isn't willing to help out the underdogs. If Microsoft was in Sony's position they would be behaving exactly the same way.
That's just not true... We know from history that Microsoft would way, way worse.
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Inviting everyone to come join them in a walled garden Microsoft itself controls.
Are you new to this whole game console thing?
Let me get this right (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Let me get this right (Score:5, Insightful)
"Microsoft invites competitors in positions of strength to cut their own throats."
I waiting for the cheerleaders... (Score:4, Funny)
cartwheeling in from stage left and stage right, big smiles and pom poms, kicking their legs out like dancers, shaking their stuff screaming EMBRACE, EXTEND, EXTINGUISH!
It's a trap! (Score:2)
It's a trap!
Awww, being last always helps (Score:3)
While I agree with MS that full cross-platform play should be a thing, lets be clear about MS's intentions. They're loosing badly to Sony on console sales, and well, Windows Store is a tiny spec compared to Steam. They weren't making any noise about this last generation when they were much closer (maybe even leading, I haven't kept up with the numbers) in market share.
Kinda like Internet Explorer was just fine as was when it had the market share, but once it started getting dumped by people MS realized that maybe web standards/interoperability were a "thing they should do".
They also know full well that this would be much harder for Sony to pull off than it is for them as Xbox & Win10 share quite a bit. Maybe Valve can ask MS to provide support for all this (and Direct X 12) for older version of Windows before they come on-board.
Country and western (Score:2)
"Mike Ybarra, vice president of Xbox, told VG247 that it's happy to talk to the likes of Valve and Nintendo when it comes to getting multiplayer games working across multiple platforms, not just between Xbox One and Windows."
ELWOOD: What kind of music do you usually have here?
CLAIRE: Oh, we have both kinds -- country and western.
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Looking at the Splatoon 2 community, I'm not sure letting the people who actually play Nintendo games online into the general population is the best decision.
Do you have your Union Card? (Score:2)
Do you have your Union Card?
Keyboard/mouse coming soon (Score:2)
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For those who are worried (or gloating) about control equality, keyboard and mouse control will soon be available [hexus.net] for the Xbox.
Hmm, maybe I'll actually be able to play on my son's Xbox now. I just can't get used to the controller.
WASD + mouse is too ingrained, plus I grew up with the simple NES controller.
lol, very opportunistic of them to ask now (Score:5, Informative)
MS was asked many times to do cross platform networking, FFXI (MS refused, Sony did it square skipped MS with FFXIV), Borderlands 2, Steam w/Portal 2 on 360 (MS refused, Sony did it on PS3)
MS gave this reasoning via Kotaku: "Here's a Microsoft spokesperson saying "no," while promoting how awesome the Xbox 360's online service is: "Xbox Live delivers the best entertainment experience unmatched by anyone else, with 35 million actively engaged members. We have a high level of expectation for our game developers to ensure that all Live experiences remain top notch. Because we can't guarantee this level of quality, or control the player experience on other consoles or gaming networks, we currently do not open our network to games that allow this cross-over capability.""
Now that they need players on Xbox Live and Windows Store and are having trouble making inroads in those areas, they're panhandling.
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Pretty much par for the course, it's always the underdog(s) asking for compatibility, interoperability and so on to break into the market. The top dog is giving it lip service or coming up with excuses with how it hampers innovation and creates a poor customer experience. Occasionally during the toppling an actual industry standard appears more or less by accident, unless it's just an oligarchy designing it like DVDs but pretty much all business alliances are temporary. Which means that yesterday's friend i
Make it so that windows store is not needed or get (Score:2)
Make it so that windows store is not needed or get rid of the sand boxing so that game can do the same things that can be done with steam.
Main things are
workshop
SLI and Crossfire (windows store seems to have limited support for it)
disable VSync
non borderless fullscreen modes like ( Exclusive Fullscreen)
mod's
user maps
mouse / keyboard custom bind software
why need to take control of the folder as admin to mod? steam games are not forced to setup.
games are forced to supports cloud saves??
Could someone translate for me? (Score:5, Insightful)
"I don't care about where they play, I just want people to have fun playing games because that's just better for the industry,"
sounds like it ought to mean
"We'll still support future Minecraft releases on Mac, Linux, and older Windows versions after all; sorry about the confusion at E3!"
but I'm guessing it actually means
"I'm lying. I'm lying right now. Isn't it fun that I can lie to your face, and you can't even call me on it or I'll just give someone else the "story"? Now type my lies for me, stenographer. Maybe tell your kids to take a few classes in economics rather than journalism, huh?"
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It worked to become president.
lol, very opportunistic of them to ask now (Score:3)
They refused with FFXI, FFXIV, Borderlands 2, Steam when Valve were trying to get Portal 2 cross platform multiplayer/voice etc. Sony accepted by the way.
Of course now lagging behind online with Xbox and Windows Store they are shamelessly doing a reversal...
Here's a classic quote from back in the day, the same kind of thing they're chiding others for saying currently, via Kotaku:
"Here's a Microsoft spokesperson saying "no," while promoting how awesome the Xbox 360's online service is: "Xbox Live delivers the best entertainment experience unmatched by anyone else, with 35 million actively engaged members. We have a high level of expectation for our game developers to ensure that all Live experiences remain top notch. Because we can't guarantee this level of quality, or control the player experience on other consoles or gaming networks, we currently do not open our network to games that allow this cross-over capability.""
Sorry for double post. (Score:2)
Sorry for posting this twice :( I thought there was a problem with the first and didn't see it come up when I refreshed. Apologies.
Wow (Score:2)
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Actually, I do.
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Where do I sign up?
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Do this if you want to see console FPS players get murdered by keyboard + mouse
Wait... do the FPS players get murdered, or just their characters?
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Sounds like the embrace phase of "Embrace, Extend, Extinguish". Microsoft must think people have short memories.
Maybe they'll allow Steam on Xbox... (says with a straight face)
Exactly what I came here to post.
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Why would anyone with a closed environment with a storefront allow a competitor in? Would Valve let anyone open a competing store in Steam? Blizzard in Battle.net? EA in Origin? Sony in the PlayStation store? Nope.
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However, all Microsoft Studios 1st party games are now supposed to be part of UWP and available on the PC. The next fps Halo game should also be on PC as well.
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AND PlayStation.
Try again when you understand qualifiers.
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I think, then, that you should never look at what Sony is doing. Your head might explode.
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I think it's because the main consoles are crippled by design to only allow games to connect to the paid-for gaming network, interaction with which is controlled by the console manufacturer.
So as a game developer you can either work within their constraints or miss out entirely on sales to that platform. Cross-platform play isn't going to happen in either instance so you're not helping your customers at all by restricting your market, and there are strong financial incentives to avoid being the game that ch
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Yup. You'd totally destroy those Sonic Mania players or Street Fighter players with their weak gamepads.