View Full Version : Why FPS on a console?
When I owned a console... the first Xbox i think it was... I enjoyed playing hockey on it. that's really the only game i played on it.
then i purchased Halo to see what all the hype was about and was totally diappointed in the accuracy and gameplay compared to the pc.
i think you're gimping your gameplay when you play FPS games on a console compared to the accuracy of a PC's mouse and keyboard.
Trying to move the joystick around to get split second accurate headshots, or any kind of accurac for that matter was like swimming in tar.
i still see demos of FPS games on Xbox 360 and other consoles where the gamer's accuracy is still not as good so I know it's not just me.
So I'm curious to know why anyone enjoys playing these games when it's pretty much a known fact that the pc mouse+keyboard is much better?
and i'm not trying to flame, i'm just trying to understand. : ) and i'm specifically asking some of you here this question since most of us pretty much have decent gaming pc's.
deception``
08-15-07, 02:27 PM
1. Not everyone has the "OMG I use kb/mouse I'm so 3l33t" complex
2. Consoles have a broader appeal to the casual gamer
3. PC's often have varying system requirements, whereas for a console it's just plug-and-play
4. Services such as Xbox Live [and perhaps Sony's Home] vastly increase the appeal of online console gaming; this has long been an advantage for PC's which is fast disappearing
5. Some FPS games are done surprisingly well on Console; Rainbow Six: Vegas is an excellent example.
6. The idea of a kb/mouse being better is an opinion, not a known fact. Everyone has their own preference.
7. For the average person, it's simply much cheaper to buy the typical next-gen console as opposed to a reasonably-equipped PC that an enthusiast might upgrade in some capacity every 1-2 years.
deception``
Burninate
08-15-07, 02:54 PM
I think cost and lack of knowledge about PCs (upgrading, repairing, troubleshooting, etc.) by the general audience are the 2 leading reasons why consoles continue to do so well. Add to that the difficulty of pirating games on consoles and you see why developers are quickly flocking towards console game development (not to mention the higher price tags of console games now, most starting at $60, and the slower depreciation in price of aging titles). Consoles are easy. Buy console, plug in, turn on and you're playing.
FudgeNuggets
08-15-07, 02:54 PM
better question.... why play an fps at all? If you've played one, you've played them all: run around a maze, get guns, shoot monsters, flip a couple of switches , fight a boss, rinse and repeat.
no i am just curious if you've played an FPS on a PC, why would you play an FPS on a console - don't you notice the difference in accuracy and all that?
i'm not dissing the console.
deception``
08-15-07, 03:00 PM
no i am just curious if you've played an FPS on a PC, why would you play an FPS on a console - don't you notice the difference in accuracy and all that?
i'm not dissing the console.
The average person does not care about "accuracy", console commands, or sensitivities adjusted to the 5th decimal; all they want to do is have an engaging experience that looks good and plays even better.
deception``
It all depends on style I think. A keyboard/mouse is a little ackward if you are lying in bed, or lounging on a sofa.
Burninate
08-15-07, 03:03 PM
no i am just curious if you've played an FPS on a PC, why would you play an FPS on a console - don't you notice the difference in accuracy and all that?
i'm not dissing the console.
I definitely agree. I have a pretty good PC and I also own all the consoles. I just like FPS's so much, I want to have all the good ones that come out for all systems. They do control much more accurately on a PC, I'm not sure there'e much argument against that. That's why pretty much all console shooters have some level of auto-aiming. I like console FPS's for 2 reasons: 1) it's much easier on Xbox live to find all my friends online and start a game as well as chatting. PC headsets have always defeated me for some reason; 2) The skill of players in PC games are much higher than Xbox live players. Every PC game has die-hard fans that do nothing but play that game all day. I just don't have that kind of time. Consoles provide more players that are nearer my level and actually fun to play against.
FudgeNuggets
08-15-07, 03:03 PM
yeah, screw accuracy and the PC for that matter, I mean let's take the LAST couple of PC games I bothered with, America's Army and some other military game I can't remember. Dude with a $200 1,000,000dpi mouse and a dozen or so cheat hacks is going to obliterate everybody else on the playing field. On the consoles, the playing field is level unless you just suffer from lag due to a horrid network connection, but that can be a disadvantage on PC too.
It's definitely different, if you got your home theater system hooked up to your 60" HDTV... (Which I don't have :( )
Most people will have a better home theater system than a computer imo.
Ease of use is easily the second reason. I like chilling on the sofa somethimes when I'm playing Resistance or something.
Scott9027
08-15-07, 03:14 PM
I like playing Halo on Xbox more than any FPS on PC. It's just personal preference. You can't aim as accurately with a controller I'll agree, but the auto-aim in Halo makes up for it. As long as all the players on on a level playing field with regards to accuracy what's the difference?
Burninate
08-15-07, 03:18 PM
... As long as all the players on on a level playing field with regards to accuracy what's the difference?
I was saying that for just about every game on the PC with a good sized following has players that: A) As Fudge said, buy uber equipment that most people can't afford (or maybe they cheat) and dominate over everyone; B) People play WAY too much and get WAY too good, that a casual gamer (like most of us here) can't even hope to keep up and we just get annihilated and it's not really that much fun. On consoles, both issues seem pretty much resolved.
RedDragonXXX
08-15-07, 03:21 PM
If you play long enough like I have, you get better at it then you do with a mouse/keyboard. I know that's hard to believe, but if you ever want to test it out meet me on Xbox Live / GRAW 2 ;)
Or check out some of the top Halo/RS/GRAW clans on Xbox Live. They will pick a head shot on you in a split second.
hm.
well maybe i just never gave it enough of a chance and was too accustomed to the PC for so many years.
:-)
Tyranos
08-15-07, 07:21 PM
Back in the day it didn't matter if you played a fps on the pc or (theoretically) a console. You couldn't look up.
When "real" fps started coming out, I personally found using a mouse horrid. Don't any of you remember running around looking either straight up or straight down? Especially when the mouse movement was set to the default "airplane" mode? Lots of practice will get you used to it, but precise control as required in an FPS presents a steep learning curve for a new user.
On the other hand, it was a lot more fun to play an FPS on the console with an analog stick at the time for me. I was much more used to moving my thumb, rather than my entire right hand. Game play still felt sluggish no matter how much I played though.
A Dpad is just not as intuitive and natural as a mouse. With a directional pad you are absolutely limited to the scroll speed the buttons are set to.
In the end I believe that while analog fps on console can be fun, it can't match the mouse, even a track ball. Your wrist, fingers, hand and arm have many more bones and muscles permitting movement that is NOT possible with just your thumb.
OC Noob
08-15-07, 08:01 PM
hm.
well maybe i just never gave it enough of a chance and was too accustomed to the PC for so many years.
:-)
There are benifits. Like stated some people become very, very good with a controller. Maybe not as good as a keyboard/mouse combo, but its all relative. e.g. everyone on a console uses a controller so there is a level playing field so its more about skill and experience then equiptment or hacks.
Now I'm not saying hacks don't exist on Live, but they are SO much more rare then cheaters in PC games. Its a constant headache for multiplayer FPS PC gamers that is almost non-existant on Live.
So people adapt and get used to the controls.
Isn't the Wii going to bring a whole new level to this soon? The Wii-mote is gonna rawk my sawks once a multi-player FPS come out [if ever].
Isn't the Wii going to bring a whole new level to this soon? The Wii-mote is gonna rawk my sawks once a multi-player FPS come out [if ever].
That will be a happy day :D
They won't look as good as the offerings from the other guys, but damn they'll play awesome :)
NsOmNiA91130
08-15-07, 09:29 PM
Some FPS feel more natural on a console, like Halo or Gears of War. I think it just has to do with the right combination of stick acceleration, auto-aim, and accuray.
better question.... why play an fps at all? If you've played one, you've played them all: run around a maze, get guns, shoot monsters, flip a couple of switches , fight a boss, rinse and repeat.
For once, could you stop trolling and add to the conversation for once? We know you absolutely dislike FPS's. The "played one, played 'em all" motto could go for anything, Final Fantasy, educational games, Mario games. It's about fun, and some people's opinions of fun are different. So give it a rest, okay? It's getting annoying.
the thing is.. who would play halo on pc
i wouldnt.
but i wouldnt play cs1.6 on xbox either..
to me it just depends on the type of fps. halo is very easy to play with few buttons.
cs would be impossible to play with a controller
and of course pc fps's are full of hacks where any 10 year old can dl hax and own the game.
on a console it would take a good deal of knowledge about computers to hack on a console fps.
Vengance_01
08-15-07, 10:07 PM
better question.... why play an fps at all? If you've played one, you've played them all: run around a maze, get guns, shoot monsters, flip a couple of switches , fight a boss, rinse and repeat. I have disagree. Rainbow Six Vegas was an excellent example of this. Th cover system owned so much. I don't remember when I had so much fun getting sucked into a game. I can play FPS's on a console, but still prefer mouse and keyboard.
Mr.Guvernment
08-15-07, 11:35 PM
better question.... why play an fps at all? If you've played one, you've played them all: run around a maze, get guns, shoot monsters, flip a couple of switches , fight a boss, rinse and repeat.
hardly.... sure if you play quake and ut and thas it...
but ideally, look at all games, they are nothing more then the last one with some new graphics and options... nothing in games these days is evolutionary or new, everything is a rehash of the past... how many NHL games can you really need.....
FudgeNuggets
08-16-07, 08:36 AM
Some FPS feel more natural on a console, like Halo or Gears of War. I think it just has to do with the right combination of stick acceleration, auto-aim, and accuray.
For once, could you stop trolling and add to the conversation for once? We know you absolutely dislike FPS's. The "played one, played 'em all" motto could go for anything, Final Fantasy, educational games, Mario games. It's about fun, and some people's opinions of fun are different. So give it a rest, okay? It's getting annoying.
and for once, could you learn to take a joke? Look at my more serious thread a couple of posts below about uber-expensive mice, hacks and level playing field..... I SPECIFICALLY mentioned playing a game not like the ones I mentioned in JEST :rolleyes:
The Ripe Punani
08-16-07, 12:57 PM
It really depends on the gamer. Some prefer to use a keyboard and mouse and some like using a gamepad. There is no scientific fact stating that gamepads are worse than using a keyboard and mouse. There are some gamers that are incredibly good at playing FPS with a gamepad.
Thund3rball
08-16-07, 01:34 PM
Well the way some PC games have been total bug ridden, desktop crashing, in-game control sucking, resource hogging pigs lately... I know why I loved my PS2 for so many years. My following examples are not FPS games but TPS stealth games, but generally fall into the FPS genre IMHO.
Example 1: Splinter Cell
Played 1-3 on my PS2 and LOVED them. Especially 1. Bought SC4 recently for the PC... ugh! What a joke. I am not talking about getting used to the controls, I am saying they just plain suck. Responsiveness is unpredictable and performing "actions" can be just plain awkward. The game looks fantastic but is riddled with bugs and crashes. I am almost tempted to sell my PC version and buy the PS2 version! Controls on the PS2 were so much better for this game IMO.
Example 2: Thief 3
Played 1 & 2 and again, loved them! Thief 3 once again a bug ridden, crashing mess of frustration. WTF? Stealth games already require a certain sense of patience to really be stealthy. But a game that is soooo bug ridden is just plain frustration and disappointment. Why do developers release junk on the PC?
Anybody buy a PS2 game that was so buggy you wanted play frisbee with your dog using the disc? Not me. Don't get me wrong, I love gaming on my PC, especially FPS games, but when you buy junk it just makes you mad that they can do that for PC and not consoles (as far as I know?).
Reasons I like the PC: Downloading games/demos is easy with no subscriber fees (XBL)
I know what my system is capable of, I can jack up/turn down settings as needed.
I have an expensive mouse and a decent keyboard, it's comfortable to play on them.
No fees on most multiplayer shooters like BF2, 2142,
They don't make WoW for the xbox 360 :D
Reasons I like my consoles:
Nothing is better than coming into the room and saying 'wanna play some Wii?' and just sitting down and picking up the controllers. Instead of LANning or connecting through to a paid vent server you can sit next to the person you're playing against and administer elbows as needed.
Lounging on my sofa is hardly the position to play a PC game, I also don't have to look at the console buttons so I can play in pitch black, my keyboard has 108 (I think) keys and suffice to say I haven't mastered the relative position of the forward delete button.
You have the PRIVILEDGE of flailing your arms around and looking like a total dork in front of your roommate while playing an intense game of wii tennis. (All you people who sit down while you play wii don't know what you're missing) I probably burn about 15 calories a game and my arm is sore the next day, but it's good to be king.
I've been mostly getting my FPS fixes on Halo and particularly Halo 2 for quite a while. Mostly I just play multiplayer on Live with Halo 2, now. There's mostly a few simple reasons for that.
It mainly boils down the Xbox Live. Convenient, easy, and intelligent match making. I can pop on any time I feel like and almost instantaneously be in whatever gametype I want with players of fairly similar skill level in a game with solid, balanced gameplay and reasonably good variety with widely use voice communication. Usually I'll play for 20-45 minutes and be done. Cheating rarely enters the picture.
Mouse would give more accurate aiming overall, but everyone has the same control sticks...pretty fair. People can get pretty impressively good with those control sticks, too.
The control sticks actually change the nature of the game a little bit, too. With the mouse in fast paced games with powerful weapons, a very quick, accurate mouse user can just blindly plunge into whatever situation, react to other players when he sees them, and blow everyone else up through superior mouse control. Control stick more heavily rewards strategic positioning and anticipation. Funnel opposition into your aim, anticipate where the shot is GOING to be instead to trying to take it where it is. Most of the time when a person gets nailed with obscenely quick headshots from a Battlerifle or something, it's because they walked right into their enemy's crosshairs by moving in an expected way or along an expected path...not some sort of aim hack. I kinda like the more cerebral FPS experience over the highly refined motor skills FPS experience. There are certainly some Halo 2 players who rely heavily on wicked response speed with that thumb stick, but overall a whole it biases towards smarter play more than a lot of PC FPS's.
SolidxSnake
08-16-07, 05:24 PM
Okay, everyone talking about the people with $200 mice and other expensive equipment... give me a break. I know people that can dominate people with top-of-the-line equipment (this goes for PC and input-equipment alike) but run lagboxes with ball mice and old, crusty keyboards. There is a difference using a better mouse, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't magically make you a better player by any means.
IMO, I can't stand controllers for FPSs. I can't stand Halo at all either. It's not something I ever got into in the first place, but it isn't too appealing to me over other FPSs. Shooters belong on the PC, IMO. CoD2 is a great 360 game though. I'd probably think it's better on PC if I had ever played the PC version. Other shooters, though, are console games by far. Metal Gear Solid series, Splinter Cell, those are all console games to me. There's no comfortable control scheme on PC for those games IMO.
In addition, find me a PC FPS that has a subscription service ;)
nakatalee
08-16-07, 06:40 PM
eventually sophisticated bluetooth mouse and keyboard will be available to PS3 for FPS usage. I am just waiting for that day.
-maddog-
08-16-07, 08:22 PM
Consoles have split screen which is great when you have friends over.
OC Noob
08-16-07, 10:57 PM
Okay, everyone talking about the people with $200 mice and other expensive equipment... give me a break. I know people that can dominate people with top-of-the-line equipment (this goes for PC and input-equipment alike) but run lagboxes with ball mice and old, crusty keyboards. There is a difference using a better mouse, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't magically make you a better player by any means.
IMO, I can't stand controllers for FPSs. I can't stand Halo at all either. It's not something I ever got into in the first place, but it isn't too appealing to me over other FPSs. Shooters belong on the PC, IMO. CoD2 is a great 360 game though. I'd probably think it's better on PC if I had ever played the PC version. Other shooters, though, are console games by far. Metal Gear Solid series, Splinter Cell, those are all console games to me. There's no comfortable control scheme on PC for those games IMO.
In addition, find me a PC FPS that has a subscription service ;)
WWII Online and Planetside:D
Consoles have split screen which is great when you have friends over.
That's not an issue for us PC gamers though; we don't have any friends.
nakatalee
08-17-07, 08:14 AM
That's not an issue for us PC gamers though; we don't have any friends.
Classic.....:beer:
SolidxSnake
08-17-07, 08:40 AM
That's not an issue for us PC gamers though; we don't have any friends.
Classic.....:beer:
Hehehehe, pretty much the greatest thing I've heard in the past few weeks :D
OC Noob: Never heard of 'em. Are they any good?
OC Noob
08-17-07, 09:23 AM
Hehehehe, pretty much the greatest thing I've heard in the past few weeks :D
OC Noob: Never heard of 'em. Are they any good?
They are MMO first person shooters not really a true FPS and... heh... no they aren't, lol.
WWII Online has been around forever and I'm not sure if its still up and running and Planetside was a Sony Online Entertainment game that was sort of big when it came out, but fizzled. I'm pretty sure Planetside still comes with the Station Pack Sony sells bunddling all their MMO games.
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