Blizzard doesn't hate consoles, it's just a square peg and a round hole
by Michael Gray 
Aug 27th 2008 at 4:00PM
We love diversity when it comes to controlling our WoW time. There's a seemingly infinite sea of AddOns and custom UI options. You can even hook up a treadmill, and simulate your character running in live action. However, except for a few custom hacks, like rigging your Wii up to control your character's direction, WoW is not playable on your console gaming device.
There's always been quite a few folks who'd like to be able to play WoW on their Xbox or Playstation. But, according to J. Allen Brack in an interview with VideoGamer.com, that's not going to happen any time soon. "World of Warcraft is designed as a PC game," Brack said. "It's designed to have a keyboard and a mouse. So the controls and the control scheme that you have are very PC centric. If you think about mapping those controls and all those different type of buttons that you have to a console without a keyboard for chatting, it's a very challenging proposition."
I think that makes a lot of sense. When you talk about keybinds, control combinations using the Shift and Alt keys, mouse buttons, Addons, customization -- it just seems like an awful lot to try and cram onto a Xbox controller. To even make it feasible, it seems like you'd have to add some kind of keyboard to the device. And even then, AddOn customization wouldn't be the same.
Tom Chilton summed it up by saying "It's just more like a square peg round hole thing for our game. "
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Interviews
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Xtofer Aug 27th 2008 4:08PM
Sounds about right; however, made-for-pc games have been very playable on consoles in the past. I do have to admit that FFXI is quite playable on the XBOX 360/Playstation 2 with a keyboard set-up. I know a couple people that have played that game (which definitely has a complex way of being controlled) on their consoles with no problems.
With that in mind, It wouldn't be unreasonable to suggest that if WoW were coming to a console that they would just implement the same keyboard/mouse control-scheme used for a regular PC/Mac. Just food for thought.
Elanassa Aug 27th 2008 4:13PM
"made-for-pc games have been very playable on consoles in the past. I do have to admit that FFXI is quite playable on the XBOX 360/Playstation 2 with a keyboard set-up."
Technically FFXI was made for PS2 and later ported to the PC.
Elanassa Aug 27th 2008 4:09PM
Pity FFXI did it about 8 years ago, on a PS2 no less...
But yes, you'd lose a massive number of UI addons by porting the game to a console. It's all going to come down to what market share Blizz could capture by porting the game over to a console. Obviously they don't think they'd capture enough additional players to justify the development.
TotalBiscuit Aug 27th 2008 4:20PM
An area that's not been properly explored yet (unless you count Phantasy Star Online) are console-specific MMOs. Console game development requires a different design methodology and an understanding of the kind of demographic who are likely to play your game. A heavier emphasis on action and skill and less on micro-managing 20+ keys and mucking about with add-ons is required. I think it's something that Blizzard should seriously look into. Consoles provide the opportunity to do things that don't necessarily work so well in a PC environment, it would be interesting to see what they could come up with.
Vazhkatsi Aug 31st 2008 1:38AM
I'll say what i said on the wowmb, have you ever tried playing starcraft 64? i'm sorry but blizzard should really stay on pc. FFXI was one of a string of games that were made for consoles, by a company that focued on consoles, so yeah its good on a console. but if you have to add a mouse and a keyboard to your xbox/ps3 to play a game, i'm sorry thats just a computer game on a console, not a console port.
Procris Aug 27th 2008 6:32PM
I couldn't agree more with you. If your going to use a keyboard or mouse you might as well be playing the game on a PC.
I love consoles and i think a lot of other gamers do as well. Who wouldn't love a Blizzard game on their console? But yeah, even though i could see both the 360 and PS3 running WoW really well from a technical point of view, the combat system doesn't really fit with the controller. There are far to many spells and abilities to map to a controller and while it could be possible to do (i can think of many ways but would probably involve limiting the amount of abilities you could use at a time) the end experience just would be totally different to the PC and would not be the WoW that we love.
I'd rather have a game that was built for consoles in mind, like Starcraft ghosts or whatever that game was that was cancelled.
Butnick Aug 27th 2008 4:27PM
Everquest Online Adventures was a pretty good console only MMO. Granted now adays after playing EQII and WoW it looks a little silly, but when it came out 7 years ago it was a damn decent game. A revamp of something like that on the insanley powerful new consoles could work very well.
~SoW and Invis. please~
slimj091 Aug 27th 2008 4:29PM
doesnt need it. doesnt want it.
now If WoW was in the market position of say star wars galaxies.. then yes i would agree porting the game to a console to temporarily increase subscriber numbers would be a valid idea.
but seeing as WoW's subscriber numbers have only gone up since it's release. it's not needed, and talk any such porting to consoles should be punishable with life in rape you in the *** prison.
PeeWee Aug 27th 2008 4:30PM
Good God, we wouldn't want the XBox-live crowd in WoW anyway.
Adaph Aug 27th 2008 4:43PM
Yeah, we wouldnt want them to scare the [Dirge] and Anal crowd away.
TotalBiscuit Aug 27th 2008 5:02PM
What Adaph said.
Tordenflesk Aug 27th 2008 5:09PM
I've had no problem playing WoW with my old PS1-controller using Xpadder. Mostly banking and leveling alts through their early levels though. Balancing several mobs was a bit of a challenge with my Hunter/Warlock.
Chris Aug 27th 2008 4:36PM
Console manufacturers could just create keyboard/mouse accessories. Then people could play MMOs on their consoles the same way they play on their pc.
jbodar Aug 27th 2008 11:23PM
Pssst, they have USB ports now. KB & Mouse just have to be supported in the game.
http://www.ps3fanboy.com/2007/08/03/ut3-on-ps3-confirmed-to-have-keyboard-and-mouse-support/
Addons could be a problem if the console lacks a hard drive, though most have the option for one. This is why FFXI came with the hard drive accessory for PS2. A bigger problem is that the game engine would have to be optimized for the console, and that takes some work.
Sagara Aug 27th 2008 4:36PM
Let's consider: Console MMO: Action-based, less subtle.
Non-subtle RPG... Lemme see... Diablo I & II?
Ok if the guys @ Blizz are planning exactly that (Diablo III released for console)... Welll that could be bloody damned smart...
ScorchHellfire Aug 27th 2008 5:16PM
i agree... diablo is pretty much the only blizz series that would really work on consoles... especially the first two with only being able to do two skills at once...
Drakkenfyre Aug 27th 2008 9:07PM
The original Diablo was ported to the Playstation. It ran a little slower, and loaded alot slower than the pc original.
It featured multiplayer, with two players at once on-screen, but they had to be on the same screen, and the saved games were separate from the single-player saved games.
Namus Aug 27th 2008 10:31PM
OMG I remember the first diablo on Ps one, that thing was just horrible! hideous graphics, terrible gameplay... the D-pad isn't as near as flexible as the mouse in terms of mobility, that goes for RTS games as well (anybody played Red Alert in PSX?), some things just need to stay on PC... I think the only good game with a blizz logo on a console was that superman one on snes... :P
Metal_Gear Aug 27th 2008 4:38PM
I'd preffer to play on my PS3, you could use the controller for long distance travelling or simple grinding for gold or whatever but when you need more control for PVP or end game stuff, I'd use a keyboard and I would be able to max my draw distance again since entering the Dark Portal.
Dymphna Aug 27th 2008 4:46PM
They wouldn't even need to develop keyboard or mice specifically for consoles, I can't speak for the 360 (though I am sure it's the same case) but the PS3 can use any bluetooth or USB keyboard/mouse just fine, just like any computer would.
There's really nothing you can't do on the consoles today that you can do on the PC. If anything, it's easier to develop for because you don't have to worry about assorted hardware to support.
If you want to say that they don't think the market would be good enough, that's fine, but they should say that. Saying something like the input mechanisms on the consoles won't work, because (unless they are talking about the Wii) they can use keyboards and mice just as well as computers. Some games already do, like Unreal Tournament. Heck, FFXI did just that years ago, of course everyone used a keyboard when they played.