Today's hottest game video: XFPS demo

So this can be used in multiplayer, right? If so, it will definitely give some players an advantage.

Do you guys like own stock in the company? This is the-- what third time we've heard about this here?

Can't wait til it's released and you guys talk about it AGAIN.

If I wanted to use a keyboard, I would play games on a PC. It's a neat idea, but it seems slightly pointless

You can plug a standard USB keyboard and mouse into a 360, a PS3 or a Wii. Games should support them directly.

I believe MS prohibits this by developers (they sure did on Xbox 180), and it wouldn't surprise me of N an Sony do too. All of them should allow developers to support WASD and mouse directly via USB and Bluetooth (on Wii and PS3). And developers should take them up on it.

Well all I have to say is that $80 is less then I'd have to spend to upgrade my PC to play C&C 3 when it comes out for the 360 so I'd happily spend that amount to play that game :).

this is bullcrap. hopefully MS will disable this thing with the quickness. everyone using gamepads keeps the playing field level.

But...the keyboard is going to emulate a gamepad. Which means it won't work the same way as on a PC...it's relative control vs. absolut positioning. It's not the same thing at ALL. Thus, this is going to be a terribly forgotten peripheral, unless devs support it directly.

--Branewalker

Does it not have a headset port?

The 2D fighter guys have custom PS2 joysticks. It might make a nice adapter... until microsoft disables it and then sues the guys making it.

Doubt you can disable it . . . the idea is it looks exactly like one of the Xbox controllers to the Xbox. I don't play shooters on consoles because precision control with a gamepad is far inferior to a mouse and keyboard. Sorta like UT2k7 is supposed to be for PC and PS3 . . . assuming UT game mechanics haven't changed (for the worse) you couldn't have consoles going up against PC's online cuz PS3 players would have a huge disadvantage. Oh, and whenever you get pwn3d hardcore on Halo online by some sniper with insane accuracy . . . there's a decent chance it's the original keyboard/mouse adapter for the xbox. :-)

#8 nailed it!

If they would come out with just a PS2 controller adapter ONLY, I would get THAT, if ONLY to able to use my Street Fighter Anniversary arcade joystick for Hyper Fighting on XBLA. I'll never use the keyboard/mouse attachment, except maybe as an extension cord for the keyboard I use for messages.

Good point 7!

Also I really hope M$ goes out and bans this thing in the next update, it would be very easy to do (9).

Pssh, some people want to enjoy GoW, Halo 3 and other 360 exclusives (or cross-platform games) with their most preferred control method and here we just have Livetards worrying about fairness.

There's more to games than Live, and banning a product like this (which I'd love to get two of for my SC2 arcade sticks/SG Guitars, if not for the price) is ludicrous.

MS should have had mouse support from the start. And for Live complainers had special keyboard/mouse lobbies for online games. It just makes sense, I was livid when I found out my 360 doesn't even support mice.

Anyone know whether the PS3 shooters support keyboard/mouse off the bat? If so that'd be another feature that helps justify the extra price, at least for me anyway. My PC's starting to struggle, and UT2K7 on PS3 with keyboard/mouse off the bat makes it a bit less of a rip-off, especially if I can use my bluetooth keyboard/mouse on it.

Personally I can't get hold of using a keyboard and mouse for a FPS (maybe its because I look at the keyboard and not the screen when I type).
My first experience in that genre was with GoldenEye so from then on I've been used to control pads.

Call me weird (don't really) but I think gamepads are better fro FPS anyways. Several people I know feel the same as well.

Yes, mouse and keyboard give far superior control in a fps compared to a gamepad. Why would you be against better control? It's just altering the way inputs are done, but the inputs are the same. It's basically analagous to people who player fighting games with a full joystick, or driving games with the steering wheel and footpads, or flight sims with a flight stick. I can see an input device being unfair if it has certain programmable macros (like doing a 720 piledriver at the touch of a button), but why would anyone be against devices that make gameplay better?

The whole level playfield arguement is just silly cause there is no level playfield. From a technology perspective, some people have bigger televisions, better screens, better internet connections, etc. Biologically, some people have different size hands that make the gamepad more or less comfortable. Would you call someone who gets one of those gamepads with air fans cause they sweaty hands a cheater?

From an economic perspective, you can buy a decent keyboard mouse combo for about the same price as a gamepad (although top of the line will run you higher, but then again people can also buy better tvs with amazing resolutions etc). Regardless, i would much rather have a 10 dollar keyboard and the cheapest optical mouse you can find for a fps rather than any gamepad. Ultimately, I want flexibility to finetune my input devices to suit my needs to have the best play experience and to raise the bar for online play.

Additionally, if consoles were more keyboard and mouse friendly, I bet they would bring in people from the pc crowd. You basically spend about a one half to quarter of what you would spend to build a pc that would get an experience comparable to that of an xbox.

cyberfrog, I know what you mean.

When I first set up 5.1 I couldn't believe how much of a genuine advantage I was getting in online FPS because I could actually hear pretty accurately from where the shooting was coming from.

Kye, I know what you mean. For a while I was torn between keyboard/mouse and gamepad, though I'm pretty sure it's just the comfort level. Keyboard mouse is inarguably more accurate, but the gamepads are almost definitely more comfortable, especially in a livingroom environment.

Nooo! Please don't bring mouse & keyboard to console gaming! I can't imagine playing graw with those. I mean they made gamepads because its easier to play games with them than with keyboard which has 50 useless buttons.

Actually, I just got this wierd idea. I don't have wii yet and haven't had the opportunity to play with one either. Shouldn't it be possible, however, for a developer to mimic mouse and keyboard using the wii controller? You would use the analog stick on the nunchuck to move around. The fun question I have is whether or not the wii-mote is sensitive enough that if you were to put it on a flat service and move it around, would it function like a mouse? If it does, I want a t-shirt from miyamato :)

cyberfrog, the new controls for FPS you described is one of the main reasons hardcore gamers are actually excited about the Wii.

If it works well it has potential to be better than keyboard and mouse, it could also be worse than a gamepad, Red Steel I hear is too mediocre to really say for sure quite yet.

They have done well to target casual and hardcore players.

Personally I think its the form of control that I enjoy most about consoles. I enjoy the fact that they are NOT a keyboard and a mouse. Sure it may be less accurate but the trouble with control is something you have to overcome. Controls add another degree of difficulty to the game, another point of the game to master.

Man, I totally hate having to pull an actual trigger to pull a trigger on a gun, and feel the impact of the shot or being shot at in console games.

Give me digital movement control and hyper accurate mouse controls so I can snip someone with a pistol at 2 mile distances.

Give it up Mouse/Keyboard fans.

"Nooo! Please don't bring mouse & keyboard to console gaming! I can't imagine playing graw with those. I mean they made gamepads because its easier to play games with them than with keyboard which has 50 useless buttons."
The "50 useless buttons" mean that you have extra keys to assign stuff to. It can be used for chat as well.
"If it works well it has potential to be better than keyboard and mouse"
The Wiimote is good for FPS games, but still less accurate since you can't use a surface as a support with it. The inability to turn around quickly and to simultaneously turn and strafe are another problems.
"Controls add another degree of difficulty to the game, another point of the game to master."
Ok, go play FPS games on a racing wheel. You'll have even more to master this way!

Personally though I won't be buying the XFPS for my X360, since if I needed Kb/M controls I'd just go and play on my PC. And I am not big on console FPSes anyway.

This is a most welcome addition. Mouse and keyboard control is far superior to the slugish controller. Playing with a controller is like playing in a vat of superglue. It is slow and unreponsive.

The people that are cry cry crying are the same ones that don't have the manual dexterity to hold on to wiimotes and are trashing thier tv's and sending thier tardy friends to the hospital. Look how afraid they are that they will actually have to be skillful in order to be sucessful.

It's funny how you don't hear them whining how much the awesome steering wheel controller gives you a huge advantage.

(It also works with a PS2 controller, but we don't see the draw to use that gamepad over the standard Xbox 360 controller.)

Like other people have said, think 2d fighters. One of my best friends is a SFII addict. He hates the 360 controller for SF with unbridled fury. He almost wet himself when I told him this was coming out, then almost again when I told him the price >:D. I think he may move on to SFII for the Wii cause the classic controller>360 controller for SF.

If you guys don't see the advantage keyboard/mouse users will have in FPS multiplayer games, you guys are idiots. All should have the same controller set up in muliplayer games. Those of you that disagree are probably the same morons that glitch and cheat on Halo 2 and GOW.
I loved and miss my keyboard/mouse gaming on my PC, and I would own all of you in counter Strike! But to bring it to the console world, it should be limited to the single player experience or create m/kb lobbies and seperate m/kb from standard controller users. The latter would be too much of a pain in the ass for MS, so I see this "adapter" being disabled in the future.

It didn't get disabled on the original xbox and it wont get disabled on the 360 as the 360 see's it as a regular controller.

Why arn't you up in arms about the wireless steering wheel? It gives and obvious insane advantage and I don't see you cry cry crying about that.

Why are console kiddies such little baby girls?

mouse and keyboard is far superior to joypads for fps. i was ignorant once too and stood by console fps games. then i played UT tournament and alien vs predator on pc. it's no contest. mouse and keyboard is better, period. faster more accurate controls are key.
ds and wii are the only two that even comes close

HMmm...Interesting, but you know why the console, Xbox360/PS3, is not suited for the keyboard/mouse? Answer: Because it can't handle the fast movement the mouse provide due to the lower framerates the game is running at. Hardcore PC gamers usually play games at 90-100 fps (That's why you you need a GeForce 8800GTS/GTX) to give fluid movement using the mouse.

Hint: PC graphics have already surpassed the capabilities of the PS3 and Xbox360 before they came out.

at #26

True true, but when was the last killer game for the pc??? Tought question huh. Quake wars is on the way, but in the mean time gears of war and cod 2/3 for the 360 with keyboard and mouse ftw.

One the main advantages of Mouse + KB is that the response is better, but my quesiton is will that higher response rate translate to the console? Just because the KB+mouse is capable of one type of performance doesn't mean that the console HAS to take advantage of it. looking with the mouse could be exactly the same as looking with the controller since the console doesn't support the mouse directly. I'll be really interested in seeing this device in action.

B

Maybe Street Fighter II wouldn't suck so hard on the 360 if I could plug in one of the Anniversary Collection controllers. The PS2 controller also has a better D-Pad than the standard 360 one too. And that's avoiding the mouse/keyboard issue entirely because it doesn't matter to me either way.

Not sure if you guys actually watched the video, but it doesn't look to me like it controls very accurately.

There is maybe some lag or the framerate can't keep up or something, but it looks a bit awkward.

@ Autocrawler

Actually, you're missing about 3 different things when you're trying to say the Wiimote wouldn't be as good.

First off, you say that you wouldn't be able to strafe and shoot, which is wrong, since with the nunchuck attachment, you have both the joystick for your actual movement, swinging the nunchuck for turning your character quickly, and then the wiimote itself for your weapon and aiming.

Second of all, you mention accuracy because your hand doesn't have anything to rest on. If you want to rest your hand, just prop it up on a pillow or something, the only reason people would have trouble with holding the wiimote up is because they're weak from using a mouse. Give it about a month of practice and they're control is going to firm up.

Third of all, As far as speed and response, it's still up to the game developers to translate the Wiimote's movements and such. The Wiimote has the potential to be the perfect control for FPS, but only if the game developers utilize it properly.

Okay, that's my bit for being a Wii fanboy. It seems like a reasonable idea, I wouldn't even consider getting something that is merely a controller adaptor, but with the keyboard and mouse, it kinda makes it worth while. Plus, there's all that stuff about reconfiguring your Xbox to use as a regular computer, so with this, you could have a pretty cheap setup for a computer at only $500 or so.
Still, I don't have an Xbox360, so it doesn't seem to make much difference to me.

If some of you wanna use this thing go ahead. Just give me your Gamertag so I can completely avoid you on XBL.

Seems console gamers know the better movement /will/ totally own them now.

and then there was no difference between a PC and a console...

Re: 30

Nah, that's ok. Give me your gamertag so I know who will be an easy kill.

I've always said MS's biggest mistake with XBox and 360 was that there was no support for a keyboard/mouse setup. If they had that support, game companies could port PC games over to 360 with ease, games that would otherwise be PC exclusive. Also, the precision of a mouse/keyboard setup might have attracted gamers who otherwise only play PC.

Why they didn't do this from the beginning I have no idea. I guess MS didn't want to compare the XBox to a PC, but that happened anyway. Besides, would that really have been a bad thing? Getting a gaming-only PC for half the price of a normal PC wouldn't be too bad in my opinion.

I used to play PC games all the time, but it got too expensive to keep upgrading my computer, which is why I eventually switched to console gaming. But, some games, such as RTS and FPS, just don't work very well with a controller. I've been playing Halos, Ghost Recons, Rainbow Sixes, and so forth on XBox/360 for half a decade now and I STILL prefer a mouse/keyboard setup. Once in a while I go back to an old PC shooter just to remember how much better the controls are...

With that in mind, this looks to be a great device for finally bringing together what I've always wanted, console gaming with PC-style controls. I just don't know about that price tag...

Re: 29

That's my one worry. If changing the sensitivity in the game corresponds half way decent to the mouse, I am sold on this.

1. install device
2. mouse flick
3. PWN3D.
4. GOTO 2

Wii will have a better FPS control... just wait and see Metroid Prime.

Honestly this is getting annoying. Console First person shooters do not feel clunky compared to PC's. In fact I think they are superior. I can't stand using a mouse and keyboard.

I have tried many a time and have had PC games. I dont like the controls for PC games. If I did I would be a PC gamer.

PC fanboys need to stop talking about how consoles feel uncomfortable. It is merely your opinion.

If PC gaming was the way to go then we would be talking about the next generation of PC gaming and not consoles. There is a reason why consoles are more popular. One they are simpler to upgrade. You buy one every 5 or so years.

Two the controllers are pick em up and play unlike PC.

Am I the only one that was more than happy to switch from Kb/M PC gaming to gamepad console gaming? Sure, the mouse may be more accurate, but the keyboard is far less accurate. An analog joystick is much better for moving around than a keyboard where you have to use run/slow buttons. Not to mention that the ability to lay down on the couch with a gamepad far outweighs any advantages a Kb/M has for me. I like to be comfortable, something I never was as a hunched over PC gamer.

I believe that the best of both worlds would be to replace the right thumbstick with a trackball. That would allow for some damn accurate aiming with a gamepad.

Malfoy Roark, go fuck yourself.

PC gamers make up about 10% of the gamers market. Let them stick to the PC with their m/kb controls.
Anybody that has not gotten used to the analog controls after playing Halo and Halo 2 are whiners.

I was excited about first-person shooters on the Wii... Until I actually played one. Admittedly, it's probably not fair to judge based only on Red Steel, but the control in that is so much worse than when using a normal controller that it really has me doubting that the Wii will ever work for FPS. And even if it does, let's face it -- the graphics suck in comparison to the PS3 or 360, so are we really going to put up with that just so we can use the controller? I'm not really trying to bash the Wii, but there are some things it's good at and some it is not.

As a former pro-cs player, I'm very excited about a competing against console players. Long have the frat boys encroached on my domain of first person shooters, and long have they kicked my ass on their consoles. This brings my forte to their arena and I absolutely can't wait. I can see it now "Holy shit check this kid out he brought a kb/m and a huge mousepad, what a nerd!" (30 minutes later)..."dude...uhh...where'd you get your stuff?"

couple stupid things;

sucks you gotta pay for it

sucks it won't seperate lobbies for mouse / gamepad

if i want to play a precision game that relies on mouse/kb i'll go play Q3 Threewave on my dual core 3.2 on my 42" LCD... and be totally satisfied with a game that's been out for 10 years. Then go back to playing non fps games on my threesixty! I'm not a real big fan of console FPS' just because of the whole audience that play it. Immature h0m0s3x3z. Clans on a console, good game!

It's only an unfair advantage if the device wasn't available to everyone. If you're that hardcore into console FPS games, then you would buy it without a second thought. It seems silly to me that the 360 doesn't fully support keyboard/mouse in the first place.

I bought PS2 controller adapters for my Dreamcast and Xbox so my "Playstation" friends would quit giving me excuses like, "If I had my controller..." and it was pretty fun for all of us. As for the keyboard and mouse functions, how bout you PC only gamers go spend that extra $80 on deodorant or something. I've found the biggest difference in strictly PC gamers and console gamers is Body odor, and the ability to have a girlfriend. LOL...not really I'm serious, go take a bath.

As for why MS made the "stupid" decision not to support KB/M from the start, it's really obvious: it's a console. The vast majority of console users sit on a couch in front of a TV, and the KB/M form factor doesn't work on a couch. Even if KB/M were supported, no game developer is going to try to optimize for both the controller and some rare KB/M accessory, so they go with the controller. If the game developer really wanted to optimize for the KB/M they'd make a PC game, it's that simple.

This accessory will help players who haven't learned how to play FPS games with a controller, and it'll open up console FPS games for them and that's great. But for players who picked up a controller and have been having fun with Halo etc. for years now, they can already aim and fire as fast as they can think it.

KB/M will not let you dominate console gamers who use controllers. All it does is let you translate your KB/M skills to the console (where console gamers already have controller skills), yet it does that poorly because the games were designed around the controller. A KB/M user will face an uphill battle in relearning the controls because of fixed controller turning speeds and will always be at a disadvantage because of lack of analog movement.