There are rumors flying around regarding the next generation consoles, the Playstation 4, and the XBOX 720. Every generation of consoles brings us new and exciting features, and notable increases in performance and graphics capabilities. Along with advanced performance, the design and aesthetics are greatly improved over their predecessors. The final piece of the improvements are the controllers. Additional buttons,more ergonomic designs, and advanced input mechanics are a few of the added features given to us. But what about the actual devices used?
Gaming inputs have always been a major topic for me. I was born in the early 80's, right at the dawn of gaming. The highlight of my day was crouching into a green tube, or fighting weird creatures with a Battletoad. I felt more natural sitting on the couch with a controller in my hand then I did riding my bike with my friends. The video game controller was my favorite thing in the world, it was my gateway to the exciting world of Nintendo. Fast forward to the 90's. I get my first PC, a Packard Bell 166 hz model, and it was blazing fast.
The world of gaming changed for me. Starcraft was the meat of my gaming, and Diablo was the potatoes. I sat huddled in front of my PC playing in KBK tournaments, and hanging out in the competitive gaming channel, Clan -x17. My brothers and friends preferred sitting down playing some Goldeneye 007 on the N64. I played all of the console games, but I always went right back to the PC. It wouldn't be long until my console days would come to an end, with the release of CounterStrike.
The reason I go over this brief history of my gaming career (very brief), is because I am just as hardcore of a gamer as the guys that were playing Halo on the XBOX. I have played just about every game released for PC. I have competed in numerous major tournaments and leagues. Gaming history seemed to have moved on without me. PC games just weren't as big, and the PC gaming community seemed to be shrinking. I purchased my first XBOX 360 2 years ago. I was AMAZED! The community was built in. I instantly had tons of friends to play with. But there was one problem, I had to use a controller!
Using a controller at this time in my life, was like using a spoon to cut a steak, I literally couldn't cut it. My reaction time was slow. I had to think about every movement I made, as opposed to twitch aiming. I was disgraced and shamed! I began a feverish search to find out how to use a mouse and keyboard on my XBOX 360. I researched and researched, and it seemed that everything fell short of any type of reasonable input options. And then I found the XIM3!
The XIM3 allowed me to plug whatever I wanted into the 360, including my Mouse and Keyboard. This is when the debate started raging. I heard "that's cheating" "that's not fair" and even "I am reporting you." from fellow gamers. I didn't quite understand the reason I was pissing off these gamers! The way that I saw it, is that I preferred the mouse to the controller. I will be honest, when I first got the XIM3, I thought that I was going to just totally mop the floor with the controller "noobs". That really wasn't the case. There are plenty of gamers that can keep up with me in CoD, or any other FPS that I am playing.
The reason I am writing this, is to hopefully shed some light on the subject. A PC gamer can use a controller,a joystick, a mouse and keyboard, or any other selection of input devices. Why can't we do the same with a console? I am hoping that the next gen consoles will have added support for optional input devices. I am not married to either console. I will purchase whichever console I feel is the best game box...BUT if one of them has mouse support, and the other doesn't, I will be purchasing the console that I can plug my Razer in to.
Why would Sony or Microsoft want to add mouse support? It's simple. They would make TONS of money, and totally destroy the competing console. The convenience and support, and the simplicity offered by a console versus a PC, is priceless. No upgrading graphics cards, play with more of your friends, and it is plug and play. If Sony added mouse support to the PS4, and Microsoft did not, gaming would be changed forever. It would be a huge blow to the PC market, and it would take a HUGE amount of sales away from the 720. In short, if PS4 wants to win the console wars, add support for a mouse and keyboard. Thanks for reading!
-The Masked Gamer
