Oh the horror. Kinect creative director Kudo Tsunoda recently told Game Informer in an interview that hardly anyone plays FPS games on the PC anymore. The comment isn't all that surprising considering that Tsunoda is out to promote Microsoft’s new motion sensing device for the Xbox 360. Still, his view will likely ruffle a few feathers in the PC gaming community considering that the comment isn't all that precise.
When asked about first-party games and exclusives for Kinect, Tsunoda said that Microsoft doesn't want to import a controller-based experience. He brought up FPS games on the PC as an example, saying that developers tried to port existing shooters over to consoles, however the games lost their fun-factor because the core control scheme (mouse, keyboard) was crammed into a single controller. According to Tsunoda, that changed with the original Halo.
"Halo did an awesome job of building a first-person shooter exclusively for the console, and now hardly anyone plays first person shooters on the PC anymore," he said. "It's all about the console."
What?
In retaliation against Tsunoda's seemingly biased statement, id Software's Tim Willits came forth and defended the genre and all the PC gamers still fragging each other outside the console realm. After all, who else would know better about the PC FPS than the creators behind the Wolfenstein, Doom and Quake franchises?
In a brief interview with Eurogamer, Willits not only defended the PC platform, but took a jab at the console platform's unstable presence in the gaming industry. "In my opinion, the PC will always be the core of the gaming industry--it is the timeless stable platform that as developers we will always be able to rely on," he said. "Unlike consoles, the PC doesn't disappear because one company decided it wasn't profitable or decided to make a new version. The PC platform is always evolving but staying stable."
Naturally, the best, precise controls for FPS games is on the PC. "The FPS genre is still great on the PC, the input controllers are very responsive, the keyboard allows many more choices and options, and the social networking of the PC allows you to reach out and play with your friends much easier than any of the consoles. Plus, as any hardcore FPS gamer will tell you, the mouse is still the best device for aiming."
Say that again? The mouse is still the best device for aiming.
Over the last decade, the FPS genre has seemingly divided into two classes thanks to Halo: the PC FPS and the console FPS. PC gamers will argue why their platform is far more superior than their console counterparts--console owners will likewise do the same. Nevertheless, the FPS genre is thriving on both platforms.
