Ben-DutkaDon't look so surprised; you knew this would probably happen eventually.
The days of PC superiority in the realm of…well, anything, is over. Some will claim the platform still has the edge when it comes to FPSs, though, and the primary reason always seems to center on the keyboard and mouse control combo. Now, logically speaking, it's hardly rational at all to think that putting one hand on a keyboard and the other on a completely different device would be "better" for your hands or your brain. But how we were raised and what we learned as young'uns has an immense impact, doesn't it? Well, if you miss that old combo because you've been playing most of your FPSs on consoles, here's a new peripheral that might interest you.
According to Digital Battle , what you see pictured here is a special FPS controller for the PlayStation 3. It's supposed to be released in 90 days and as you can see, it actually consists of two separate controllers. On the left, you've got the movement buttons and on the right, the mouse-like thing that's obviously used for aiming. It's as if they wanted to shrink down the keyboard/mouse combo so it fits comfortably in your hands, but the only question is, will it work? It's one of those things that you may have to try in order to get a firm grasp (get it?) of the mechanics, but it might be worth a shot. It's interesting, at the very least. If you are a hardcore FPS fan, let us know what you think, and whether or not it will become a highly sought-after peripheral.
It looks meh to me. I think i'll just stay with my ps3 controller.
Imma stick wit my ps3 control that thing reminds me of a wii control.
It's funny how WII also revealed a new controller in Japan today which looks like the controller we all know.
Sweet, If it works well I'll probably pick this up when it comes out. It'd be great for games with slow and cumbersome aiming, such as half life, or killzone 2. (Even with the turning speed set to max I find it slow).
I would love something that could immitate the key/mouse combo. I miss that ability greatly. I'm always gettin rocked on COD5 cuz of my inability to aim with the analogs. I dont know about the actual piece here, but if all FPS games for the ps3 worked with a key/mouse combo, I would be much happier.
wiijavu anyone?
nah its nothing more than a gimmick ill keep my ps3 controller thankyou very much!
That's what I thought. The Wii mote's younger cousin.
I dont think its a gimmick, wiis come with their crazy controllers, this is just an optional peripheral
This has been done already and I must say it's been done pretty well
http://www.splitfish.com/
The fragfx is an awesome little ally to have for sniping in CoD4, it's been out for a while too. How'd you miss it been? ;P
Ya the FragFX controller has been around for more than a year. Ben is just slow to the game.
Dude I have the FragFX and I HATE it. It is impossibly hard to get it to work right for a game. I bought it for Rainbow Six Vegas back when I played multiplayer and ended up not playing more than like 3 rounds with it. Drove me nuts and made me dizzy.
lol@something random.
But yeah the fragfx is apparently good, but bad build quality. I wanted one but I think this new one looks much better.
The curser/crosshair speed is dictated by the game. There is no saying that the pointer/crosshair will move across the screen any quicker with this device than with the current control options.
Havent they released something like this before? I think it was called the frag x controller or something like that.
FragFX, yes.
This thing looks retarded and will hardly be used. People that play 1st person shooters on consoles enjoy using the standard controller, while computer players enjoy the keyboard and mouse (say what you want Ben but it's worked for 20 years) I don't see a market for this.
How about for those of us who have a PS3, enjoy FPS games, but specifically avoid buying them for the PS3 because we hate the control setup?
It only worked because it was the only option. Think about it.
Vertigo,was Sony reading your comments yesterday.I think they'd like you to rather play fps on their console.
Didn't someone yesterday during that little scuffle post this exact same controller??
Yup, what "Yogi" just said!
And Splitfish.com also did this setup for the PS2 too.
http://www.splitfish.com/?uid=i1ns5pb1ulxg2l14
BTW, they also have a "tilt-action sensing" adaptor for the PS2
http://www.splitfish.com/?uid=o3t67u0m04711ixo
I'm just gonna stick with the DualShock 3 for my FPS gaming. But this thing may be handy for RTS games! They are best played with a mouse and keyboard IMO!
Looks interesting, for a second there I thought it was from Sony.
If a wiimote made sweet love to a PC control setup this is what you would get
"Now, logically speaking, it's hardly rational at all to think that putting one hand on a keyboard and the other on a completely different device would be 'better' for your hands or your brain."
Where is the logic in this statement?
First of all, the superiority of the keyboard and mouse setup has nothing at all to do with the fact that they are seperate devices. It is because the mouse offers both more precision *and* the possibility of much more rapid movement (say, for a quick 180). The keyboard part is largely inconsequential and is used because there aren't enough buttons on a mouse (and all PCs have keyboards).
But anyway, I digress. Ben seems to be not-so-subtlety implying that having your two hands on two different devices is somehow inherently worse than having them on a single device. What is the basis for this belief?
The basis for this belief is that it doesn't make any sense, and the FPS was made for the computer, not the other way around.
Whipping around at a million degrees to rip off headshots by pointing a rolling flat device in one direction is neither realistic or rational. And because the keyboard and mouse can't exist without the other in this mechanic, it's inherently flawed to begin with.
Anyone who isn't a gamer would look at the situation and find it downright silly. Only gamers who were raised with this control style accept it as a matter of course. You are controlling a single character on a screen; common sense says you utilize one control device with multiple buttons to sufficiently control said character. I will absolutely guarantee that had early FPS developers had the option of doing this with games like the original Wolfenstein, they would've.
Instead, they needed to find a way to make it work using a keyboard and mouse. So they did. They did it well. A whole generation of gamers got to learn it and loved it. But the reality of the situation is clear…they had to ADAPT. No need to do that anymore.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 2/26/2009 12:33:35 PM
I don't agree with any assumption that the new mouse will offer more repid movement that if I push a direction with my thumb stick. That may have been the case with PC games BUT any games already out and not currently designed to integrate the optional devices will imo result in the same pace of crosshair movement no matter how rapidly you move the mouse.
Wouldn't the mouse controller need to have it;s own inbuilt speed adjuster to override the pacing built into the game?
Yeah but most fps shooter games have an aim sensitivity option.
This device does look flawed but who knows.
"Whipping around at a million degrees to rip off headshots by pointing a rolling flat device in one direction is neither realistic or rational."
The human body is capable of turning 180 degrees quite rapidly under normal circumstances. It is console controllers that are unrealistically slow about it. This is not to say that the keyboard/mouse setup is perfectly realistic. It obviously isn't, but in this instance it is better.
"And because the keyboard and mouse can't exist without the other in this mechanic, it's inherently flawed to begin with."
That's both false and irrelevant. There have been many left handed keyboard alternatives developed by various peripheral makers over the years. None of them have caught on because they don't offer any real advantage over the keyboard, which everyone already has.
"You are controlling a single character on a screen; common sense says you utilize one control device with multiple buttons to sufficiently control said character."
There is no sense in this statement. Have you ever flown a plane? A plane is a single object, yet to have any decent control over it you need a stick/yoke, throttle, rudder pedals, and a console with a huge number of switches and other controls.
The human body is, in fact, quite a bit more complex than a plane. There are many, many degrees of freedom that could potentially be controlled. Of course, FPS games don't give you control over all of them. There is no controller in the world that could handle that. They give you an extremely simplified subset that works for a particular type of game. But why would you assume that since you are only controlling one character the best way to do that is with one controller? You have presented nothing to support that assertion.
"I will absolutely guarantee that had early FPS developers had the option of doing this with games like the original Wolfenstein, they would've."
And odd example, given that the original Wolfenstein was really designed to be played with just the keyboard. Of course, in the early days of those '2.5D' games, aiming in the vertical direction was much less important and it was possible to get by with a simpler control setup.
Keyboards and mice continue to dominate FPS gaming on the PC 'til this day not because nobody has tried anything else. In fact, if you have followed the PC peripheral market at all in the last 20 years you should know that dozens of companies have tried to market various specialized FPS controllers. I have played around with a number of them (even bought one…I still have my Spaceorb 360 somewhere…), but in the end I always go back to the keyboard and mouse setup because it just works better. It's really hard to duplicate the precision of mouse aiming on anything that's not mouselike.
While it is true that the mouse allows the player to control the acceleration of their movement by natural means rather than by some pre-programmed curve (so they can turn quickly then immediately make fine adjustments), it is by no means a perfect interface.
Drag. Lift. Re-position. Drag. Lift. Re-position.
All of that is wrong. The plane is a terrible analogy, and at no point did you even acknowledge the fact that developers had to adapt, and gamers learned it. Hence, they'd rather not re-learn anything new in order to play the games they like.
If you've ever had any contact with developers – and clearly, you haven't – you might begin to learn that PC elitism is only based on tradition, not comfort and rationale. Period.
Yes and no. Yes – you can get used to every option of control if you practice enough. If it had been the way that all games were controlled with 'One Hand' controllers -people nowadays would be more used to for sure.
And No, I don´t think it´s just because of computer gaming that we prefer a mouse control. Many of us have computer based jobs and use a mouse like over 8 hours a day – that´s what I call training! I think that´s why we are most accurate in FPS while using a mouse. Every time we play console we have to adopt a while to the 'one hand' controller, except you have no computer job on play console only. By the way the device from the news is no new idea. There´s a similar device on the market for months called FRAGFX or SPLITFISH – look it up on YOUTUBE etc. It has no good critics because controls of console games are not developed for using a mouse. I´m cool with taking this little adoption time playing with my ps3 controller after using keyboard and mouse the whole day. It´s good to use your hands different after doing the same mouse moves the whole day, anyway.
"Ben seems to be not-so-subtlety implying that having your two hands on two different devices is somehow inherently worse than having them on a single device. What is the basis for this belief?"
"The basis for this belief is that it doesn't make any sense,"
Why do we have two hands then?
Knife and fork, gear-stick and wheel.
Just because two implements guide a process, doesnt make it inherently wrong.
Its all in the conditioning. As you point out – Adaptation and flexibility.
However in this case the analog just doesnt have the speed or sensitivity of the mouse ( the device it aims to emulate)
Last edited by DigitalStorm on 2/27/2009 9:38:42 AM
Ben, you may call me names and make blanket 'you are wrong' statements all you want, but you still haven't responded to a single point I've made. I think DigitalStorm summed it up more succinctly.
BTW, if keyboard and mouse combos don't offer more comfortable and accurate FPS gaming then how come the few console games that support the keyboard and mouse (think UT3 for PS3) have had to take steps to 'balance' the game by disabling features when you're using a keyboard and mouse?
I like the idea because I hate the keyboard half of the mouse and keyboard combination and I can definitely admit to the inferiority of the analog stick for FPS.
HOWEVER, I'd be much more interested if it was a first-party accessory!
It will be one of those things that you have to try if you can before you buy. Any local game shop/store will tell you what it is like. Might be worth it you never know.
I can't help but feel like anyone who drops the cash for this device will have a big advantage over anyone using a normal controller.
I don't like it when you can just spend money to get better at something. Lame.
-Arvis
Yeah that is the exact reason I hate prostitutes I want to get better at…. that…. but I am not about to spend money on it.
LOL
This thing looks useless to me, but i do find it funny that it managed to turn this thread into a PC Fanboy vs common sense argument.
New here, and needless to say, I feel this device is a way to get some PC gamers over to the PS3.
It'll be a niche device.
I like the idea personally. Love the mouse for accuracy, and the controller for movement.
It looks interesting and I'm surprised it hasn't been done before but It's a not a purchase from me cause it will cost tons and what am I meant to rest the mouse on.
It has (see preceeding comments about the Frag FX and SplitFish controllers).
I love console controllers, but I have to admit the keyboard/mouse setup for fps is superior( for accuracy and speed). As far as realism goes, It's a game. I want fun and enjoyable. I'm not looking to join the marines. at the same time, I love the pick up and play of a console controller. I don't want to be stuck to a desktop or table.
Then there's the Wii controller, but that doesn't count.
Isn't the PS3 capable of accepting a wireless mouse and keyboard already? I don't know if they can be programmed to play the current fps games, but I think if this was something people really wanted it would have been an option already.
If I wanted to sit in a chair in front of a table to play my games I would have never have left my PC to game on the comfort of my couch.
This is definetely a niche device, I'm not going to dispute the ease of using a mouse and keyboard over a controller, but the difference isn't that great. I've logged numerous hours on both and to be honest I'd rather be on the couch. The extra couple of kills for pinpointing a mouse isn't worth it.
Last edited by JPBooch on 2/26/2009 2:51:02 PM
Pass. Mouse and keyboard for playing games? Not for me at all.
If this comes out successful, then the PS3 will surely have an edge over the 360 in terms of handling FPS's.
Actually am now noticing the nerds on this site.
dude, everyone here is a nerd in some fashion!
@ Kevadu …. U ARE GOD
Am i getting this right, is it like a one handed control pad (in left hand) and a mouse in the right?
If so, then it might not be a bad thing.
benefits …..
For control pad users – more precision than a control pad.
For kb / mouse users – less keys to have to mess with.
but i take it you still need some sort of mat, which could be a bit of a pain infront of your wide screen.
I my self got in to fps gaming on the pc, so im completely used to the keyboard and mouse set up. But i am also completey used to control pads after having quite a few fps games on consoles over the last few years. I dont think theres any point in arguing which is better, its just how it suits the person using it or the game its being used on. But if your one of these people who cant use control pads and can only use use kb & mouse, then this could be the device that gets you playing consoles….. instead of moaning that consoles are crap because pads arnt precise enough / or you cant use a control pad.
Last edited by wano on 2/26/2009 3:20:51 PM