No World of Warcraft for Xbox 360
Many have been hoping that Blizzard would announce the successful PC MMORPG World of Warcraft for Xbox 360. The game just recently surpassed one million paying customers in North America and four million world wide, making it the most successful MMORPG on the market at the moment. Despite the huge success Blizzard's Vice President of Business Operations Paul Sams has now confirmed to CNN that the company is not working on an Xbox 360 version of WoW.
they pretty much said that with an interview with CVG, im not too suprised really... but you never know, they may change their minds in the future, until then i still have the pc to use it on.
I don't really think that would work out too well on Xbox.
The game seems a bit too big to be on any console.
Zomg Fable 2!!!1!11
I don't think its so much a question of size as of design. The game would not handle well on a console controller. The camera controls would work fine but console players would be at a severe disadvantage when it comes to utilizing the huge number of items/trinkets/skills/spells that need to be available at the push of a button in order to remain competitive.
On top of that, subscription based MMORPGs do not have a great track record on console systems where gamers generally want a simpler pick up and go style of game.
I have a feeling I'll get hooked on playing the basic games on Live. If they have a chess game.... I'm done.
no i dont think controls are the problem, as if it would be released you would have to use a keyboard and mouse add on for the xbox
Microsoft has told developers that the keyboard and the mouse are not for games. They are for chatting, typing, and surfing only.
Don't ask me why, I was a bit miffed when I heard that myself.
because it would be completly unfair if your playing halo3 on xbl, and you only have analogue sticks on the controller to aim and move with, but some other people would have the precision accuracy of a mouse...Originally Posted by swivel
it would just be unbalanced
Last edited by SamSmith; 09-09-2005 at 11:07 AM.
I agree with you there. It would be a slaughter. But that isn't reason enough. You could have the keyboard and mouse be Single-Player only, even better, you could make the controller type be part of the Live profile. So you can see what map people are playing, what skill level, what game type, and what controller. That would be a simple solution.
This goes beyond fairness, though. Microsoft doesn't want the keyboard and mouse used for any games. Which is crazy if you ask me. Some games just don't work as well with the controller.
I don't play FPS games on consoles for that very reason. They look better and play better on the PC, and you have constant mods, updates, user-created stuff, tons of online players. Halo was so much better on the PC (but still not as good as Call of Duty, HL2, Doom3, or Far Cry). With the XBox2, Microsoft has the chance to reverse that trend... instead they are sinking into the morass of the past.
Not sure I'd call it sinking into the past so much as pandering to the masses. A great deal of anti-xbox criticism in the early days of the first generation was centered around the xbox being "too much like a computer". There are a great many console gamers that would be up in arms the first time they were told to use a keyboard to game, or had to try and compete with a controller against players with a keyboard/mouse setup.
Hardly a sentiment I agree with, but it exists nonetheless (that being said, there is also a certain degree of charm to a game like Halo 2 where the direction you're facing actually matters, and not everybody aims like a god).
And I would argue that aiming with your entire arm is much more true to life than flicking your thumb. I can aim with a real gun as well as I can with a mouse, and much better than I can with a controller. So realism shouldn't be the argument here.
Look, I'm not saying get rid of the controller... that sort of fanaticism is for the anti-keyboard crowd. I'm saying offer the choice. Don't ram it down anyone's throat or anything, but build it into the game instead of making third-party hardware guys develop a work-around.
Cheaters will always cheat. I rarely play online. But I can barely enjoy playing Halo2 single-player because of how shoddy the controls are.
I made no argument for realism. Such arguments are destined to travel down the endless road of "if you think that's so realistic, then why.....", which are inevitably followed up by someone saying "dude, it's just a game". So, I avoid ever mentioning what is or is not realistic in a game.
My point was more that in order for Microsoft to sell the Xbox, or Xbox 360, they must make it appeal to the largest group possible. Some of that group will shy away from the xbox should it take on a PC-like image, as many console gamers detest PC gaming and hold the belief that any unneccessary similarity between a console and a PC is a bad thing. I believe their marketing strategy is to push the "gaming" side of the 360 as a traditional (though super-powerful) console, with a regular controller. Any extra peripherals related to media centers are mentioned, marketed and enabled stricly for that function.
I've been gaming for the majority of my life. Being able to work, have a social life, girlfriend, and still put 2000+ hours into a game in a year lol.And in all honesty I feel comfortable enough using a mouse and keyboard as well as using a controller. Sensetivity is a wonderful thing for FPS games. A mouse and keyboard are and would be great for say an MMORPG game on a system, in order to use all the hotkeys but as for FPS I will be just happy with a controller at a slightly higher sensetivity.
I'd like to see linkage to that please, so I can quote/link it in the future.
They have plans to release a PC version of the 360 so there will be a keyboard/mouse for it eventually. I don't see how they benifit from not selling an acessory that people want, especially when they have USB ports and need to develope the hardware for a later version anyway.
I'm not saying its not possible, but it just doesn't make sense.
I'm with the people thinking there will be a keyboard/mouse and WoW is still a possibility. Blizzard is probably so darn busy just meeting demand at this point that they don't have the resources to develope it on another platform yet. Its got to be draining on a relatively small company to meet the current demand let alone untapped PC markets. That freakin game may just hit the 7-10 million subscriber mark before it starts to decline. They will likely be making over a billion a year is just monthly subscriptions (they are at 700 mill/year now with 4 million subs)
ps I have it for the PC so it doesn't matter to me, but it just makes good bussiness sense to tap every market available once they are able to handle the additional growth.
Microsoft released a white paper to game developers instructing them on how to code for the XBox2. On the first page, one of the first items they say... and I quote:
"General Console Programming Recommendations:
Developing console games is very different from writing PC games. With this in mind, the following list provides some general recommendations for making an effective console game.
1. Design for controller input, not for keyboard & mouse input. Console players press simple buttons—they don’t move the mouse or tap a keyboard.
2. Design for the ten-foot experience. Use fonts that are readable on televisions. Use simple menus; avoid long scrolling lists.
Consider using a television as an output device during development. PC-to-TV video adaptors are widely available.
3." etc.....
Well, with FFXI, the Marvel mmorpg, and hopefully (fingers crossed) the resurrection of TFLO, I think there will plenty of online rpgs to go around on the 360. But who knows? WE should have had at least one on the Xbox. Let's just try and be optimistic.
http://www.xbox.com/assets/en-us/dow...reparation.doc
Interesting document. Here it is for you guys to peruse.
Keep in mind these are recommendations. The industry could change quite a bit when the PS3 comes out. Sony has stated that the Keyboard and Mouse will be used in FPS's on the PS3.
If sony does it, Microsoft will be a lot more likely to follow suit.
As for WoW...if anything, they'd likely develop a completely separate though similar universe if they decide to go that way. But first their console team needs to actually get around to finishing the disaster that has been Starcraft Ghost (though admiteddly it's looking better again after nihilistic got the can).
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