160°

Blizzard: 'We don't have anything against consoles'

Blizzard has told VideoGamer.com that mega MMO World of Warcraft won't come to the Xbox 360 or PS3 not because it has something against consoles, but because of a "square peg round hole thing".

Blizzard's J Allen Brack said: "World of Warcraft is designed as a PC game. 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."

Lead game designer Tom Chilton added: "It's really not that we have anything against consoles," Chilton said. "I mean we love console games also. And I'm sure there will be a successful MMO sometime on a console. So it has nothing to do with that. It's just more like a square peg round hole thing for our game. It just wasn't designed with that in mind."

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videogamer.com
Vistrix5711d ago (Edited 5711d ago )

Is there any developer out there with the knowledge that the PS3 supports ANY mouse and keyboard...?

Its the PERFECT platform for games that are designed around a mouse and keyboard...

lodossrage5711d ago

The issue might be the fact that not many people purchase the mouse and keyboard for their consoles.

Drekken5711d ago

Its a shame. I thought Epic implementing it in UT3 it would become more of a common thing for PS3 games. Unfortunately I dont know of another game that has done it since.

ChickeyCantor5711d ago

The reason WoW looks so simple is just because of the fact they wanted lots of gamers to be playing WoW even if you had a crappy PC.

Now if they made one for the consoles they could optimize it and even promote Mouse and keyboard that work on consoles(in this case Ps3?).
I know it would sell since everybody seems love Blizzard( for those who dont, yeah i agree XD).

They just have to find some good marketing guys who know how to promote this sh/t and it will sell.

Nitrowolf25711d ago

why not put something on the cover that shows it needs a keyboard? or better yet release it on PSN and when your about to comfirm purshase a warng screen pops up and says something about the keyboard and mouse use

Charmers5711d ago

You will never see keyboard and mouse supported as standard on the consoles I am afraid, it causes too many problems for those that use a joypad which is the standard control system of a console.

To be honest this is a bit of a cop out by Blizzard. There is no reason why they cannot do an MMO with the console market in mind. I personally don't like consoles myself but I hate and detest this "can't be done" mentality companies like Blizzard and Konami keep spouting.

If there is a market for a Blizzard MMO on the consoles then find a way to do it, stop being so elitist. The more money a software company makes the better it is for everyone. A fact that seems to be lost on a great many people these days.

GamerMan5711d ago

If Square can do it with FFXI a much more complicated game and have it multiplatform and cross platform. Then why can't more companies get on board. I won't have a problem using a mouse and keyboard the entire game on my console if I have to.

Personally I never got into WoW but I'm sure it would do even better if it was cross platform and multiplatform like FFXI was.

Idonthatejustcreate5711d ago

I think you can play wow on a PS3, you just have to install a OS on it and then wow. Well in theory it works anyhow.

But all I would want is Diablo 3 on consoles. And thru battlenet so people with PC's/PS3's/360's/Mac's can play with eatch other.

Nevers5711d ago

as I look on my keyboard (I borrowed from work *wink) that I use for FFxi on my 360, I tend to agree with your statement. Who told Blizzard consoles don't support m&k? It's the console consumers who don't tend to support what the consoles can actually do.

I would totally be down with some WoW... FFxi is just too punitive to its players.

0/15 for Leaping Boots {>.<}

lento5711d ago

perhaps a bundle with the game which includes a keyboard and mouse... just throwing a random idea out there lol

GamerMan5711d ago

been awhile since I played after beating down Tiamat as a almost 75 BLM and so high everything else. I pretty much quit after that cause at the time, it was the strongest NM to beat. I thought leaping Lizzy gave bounding boots, not leaping boots.. I think that is what you meant. Anyways .. the only NM I solo'd all the time was Valkurm Emperor for the Empress Hairpin .. My BLM could handle everything near or far that came from griefers as I worked on killing it. Thank goodness to AoE spells.

Totally agree though, they made some things way entirely to hard for FFXI especially the inflation rate and needing money and the dang campers that did it only to make real money off of you.. but yeah back on topic, I even would pick up a copy of WoW if they would cross platform and multiplatform this game.

Nevers5711d ago

That sounds pretty badass dude. I just started so I'm pretty much a NOOB at this point. Haven't faced anything HUGE or EPIC yet. Finally just got some peeps to help me out with the Sandy 2-3 Dragon fight... that was pretty cool.

It's a pretty work intensive game... My highest job is a 34WAR and I gotta bunch of other's started. I haven't started camping the Valkurm Emperor cuz I don't think my War would survive yet anyway but yeah that's a hard drop to get. You're proly right between bounding and leaping tho they're both around cuz one is tradable and the other is not. A way they fought the RMT's...

...and my buddy who got me interested/addicted has just decided to quit. Don't really know how long I'll last playing it w/o him to tell me what I should be doing... so many options... too little time and everything takes FOREVER.

"Oh you want to play lvl 14's, well let me mule for an hour or two to get my gear out" lmao/weep

Cheeseknight285711d ago

Why would you play a game on a console with keyboard and mouse when you can play it on a PC? I can't really understand why people would want WoW on 360/PS3... there's nothing that they can do that a PC can't. With a PC, you can minimize to check WoW databases rather than having to get up and check one were you on a 360/PS3.

Before anyone brings up that some people have a 360/PS3 but not a good PC, WoW doesn't take much to run. You can run it on a GeForce 6600 card and a gig of RAM.

Daishi5711d ago

Cheeseknight did you ever stop and think that some people don't have a PC or at least easy access to one. I remember before I bought my own how hard it was to get on it for more than 15 minutes in a house of 4. You have to think of every possible situation someone might be in, not just your own.

Nevers5711d ago

Last time I was PC gaming (yrs ago), I had crashes and patches and crashes and patches... I'd rather keep my pertinent info on my PC (crash free) and my games on my console. That's just me though and other's are more than free to choose other routes...

Cheeseknight285711d ago (Edited 5711d ago )

"Cheeseknight did you ever stop and think that some people don't have a PC or at least easy access to one. I remember before I bought my own how hard it was to get on it for more than 15 minutes in a house of 4. You have to think of every possible situation someone might be in, not just your own."

I apologize that you seem so greatly offended by me asking a simple question, however, you can easily build a PC for the same price as buying a PS3 or 360, and if YOU paid for it, you have the right to use it whenever YOU want to. All I said was "Why would you want to?", not, "Hey, I can afford every system so I can play WoW on my PC whenever I please and you can't"

A 360 with a HD (That you would obviously need to play something akin to WoW) costs $299. Go to newegg, you can make a desktop that can play WoW for around $250 if you find the right parts.

You claim that people are in moneytight, or that they have to share PCs, situations, yet you also seem to hint at supporting WoW on 360/PS3 which would ALSO be shared in your hypothetical situation... hypocritical?

Also, I really wouldn't want to imagine having to read WoW's small text from 10-20 feet away, and if they were to enlarge it, then you wouldn't be able to see anything else on the screen (Like an alli/horde coming to gank...). Voice acting would be a solution, but I can't see Blizzard going back over every questgiver with voices.

+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 5711d ago
bunbun7775711d ago

As soon as I learned about Act and Blz joining forces a while back- I knew that WoW was coming to console- but when? I remember starting FF11- maybe I'm special super smart or something but it was a no-brainer that I had to purchase a mini usb keyboard and mouse. (Not to mention that expanded hard drive-) This is not a good reason- if they are going to bring it to the consoles it will have to be quick -as in do not expect too much warning. Possibly segregate the players into new realms to start with- then start the crossover- it would be great.

Long story short- I played WoW with my friends for 2 years- now that the PS3 is out with some good games, and now that WoW has become more routine for me leading up to WotLK, I havnt played WoW in months. Blizzard..... I would play it on the PS3. Even buy a new copy.

Andras845711d ago

...we are just not going to do games on them :D

kingme715711d ago

I just don't think it is a priority now for Blizzard. They are doing quite well with just PC's and releasing expansion packs. They aren't hurting for more customers.

MMO's and RTS's are the 2 genres that haven't translated well to the consoles yet. This year and into '09 there are attempts at bringing both. It will be interesting to see if the transition works.

BTW and this is way way off topic, but whatever happened to the trackball? Can they not add a small trackball to the console controller to get mouselike control?

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70°

Plunderstorm's Backlash Shows World of Warcraft Fans Don't Want The Game To Evolve

Danish from eXputer: "Despite Blizzard's attempt to give a fresh new spin to World of Warcraft, some fans still seem to be stuck in the past."

50°

Plunderstorm Is The World Of Warcraft Battle Royale We’ve Been Waiting For

HG writes: "Blizzard is usually pretty bad at keeping secrets, but the company somehow managed to keep this one under wraps until now. Plunderstorm is a special limited-time event that’s basically World of Warcraft’s take on the Battle Royale genre."

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hardcoregamer.com
240°

Developers Think "I Hate GaaS" Somehow Means "There Aren't Enough Of Them"

Hanzala from eXputer writes "History is witness to their downfall, yet they keep coming."

isarai86d ago

It's not so much Devs as it is Invested and shareholders, issue is barely anyone has the backbone to stand up to them anymore and say no for the sake of the project.

frostypants85d ago (Edited 85d ago )

The problem is the idiot gamers who keep throwing money at them. Actions speak louder than words.

TallDarknWavy85d ago

Microtransactions made up over 70% of all game revenue last year. Think about the order of magnitude that is in terms of percentage - it's billions of dollars. Money isn't in game sales, it's in getting children who don't understand the value of money, to use their parents' credit card to buy an outfit for their favourite gun in Fortnite.

JEECE85d ago (Edited 85d ago )

And the idiot gamers who say they hate them but instantly attack any multiplayer game that isn't run as a live service by saying the devs "sent it out to die" or "abandoned" it.

EvertonFC85d ago

Those idiots you talk about is all they care about now, they don't care about physical copies sold as it's pants profits, don't care about anyone over 35 years.
They care about the 11-30 year old who loves buying the MT/playing GaaS, don't care about AAA SP stories, doesn't care about Gfx etc.
We are not even a thought in these companies eyes anymore if you're over 35.

thorstein85d ago

What's even more ironic is that games like NBA2K, Madden, NHL, FIFA (whatever it is called) should be GaaS games.

Buy the new season update but keep the core game, then come out with a new game in 5 years.

Management is too stupid to realize this. For now, I just play old sports games offline. They literally ignore gamers that want this model for these games.

Then they're too stupid to realize that other games shouldn't be GAaS.

Crows9084d ago (Edited 84d ago )

I think they'll get there. But it depends on the audience. The sports audience don't care about spending more in game. They just want the newest version out there. A new badly made iteration every single year is very profitable....it's not like they're improving these games.

They're the same game every time with minor improvements and several steps back

XiNatsuDragnel86d ago

Subscription models usually carry cheap, less quality games.

Vits86d ago

This is a fairly interesting article that does summarize a bit of the history of this revenue type. But to answer the main question is a much simpler affair: While people will say in the internet that they hate GaaS games. The top revenue generating games are GaaS, so companies will try to have their own. Take Genshin Impact for example, that game alone generated more than 1.5 Billion USD in revenue during 2022. That is almost as much as the 1.9 Billion USD that Ubisoft as a whole generated that year.

It's definitely a risky move because the majority of GaaS games don't reach the level of success Genshin Impact achieved. However, companies can't seem to take their eyes off that tempting prize at the end.

-Foxtrot85d ago

Do you ever think that over the past year or so every studio who makes this shit has started to think

"GaaS is dying out partially because there's so many of them in the market now, I think other developers are moving away from the model now BUT lets stick to our GaaS game and then when it releases we'll be one of the few on the market still which allows us to get more of the market share since every one else has left"

Yet because every developer has that same thought process they've now all got GaaS games on a still over saturated market.

phoenixwing85d ago

@fox
Most studio heads aren't gamers. They see money generated and think their game can just as easily fill the spot another game has. At least that's my opinion on it. They don't really see the finite amount of online gamers can only flock to so many games and that they're pretty entrenched in what online games they play. All they think about is how nice it would be to have the success of cod or fortnite with barely spending any money. Since they're not gamers they don't see that it took a lot of variables gamers enjoy for the games to get entrenched they just think they can be a me too

purple10185d ago

It’s a bit like trying to create a meme
You can, but the proper meme’s develop over time, organically and that’s why they reach max popularity.

One simply does not just ‘gass’

cloganart85d ago

Premiere gaming is dying. With Spider-Man's 300 million dollar budget and Ratchet & Clank's ridiculously low return on investment (8 million Dollar loss) AAA gaming is going to be only filled with even more High profile IPs trying to make the biggest bang for buck. Expect to see more of this stuff.

"AA" level games are now making a big comeback and are usually even more beloved by playerbase now. So hopefully that's the silver lining. Smaller, better games.

notachance85d ago

ratchet and clank has got $22+ millions of profit, did you just seriously quote a forecast on a leaked presentation that was refuted almost immediately way back dude?

cloganart75d ago

Thanks for the reminder, I just went back and saw that the profits were up after the PC launch since the leak was outdated prior to the PC port launch.

https://gamerant.com/insomn...

shinoff218385d ago

Ratchet wasn't a loss though. Wayntonrun with a false headline Lil buddy

thorstein85d ago

That's not even remotely true.

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