Rumours fly as Gamasutra interviews J. Allen Brack about Blizzard's thoughts on Consoles vs PC's, and it seems that a console game may not be too far off for the PC Juggernaut.
Official Blizzard Quote:
"We just want to make the right game for the right platform."
"Think about StarCraft II. Some real-time strategy games have tried to happen on the console. Some of those have been successful, but overall, our experience is that it's going to be a better game on the PC, ergo it's developed on the PC."
"But we're a company of gamers. I have two consoles at home. Sam has consoles. We're a culture of gamers. We will definitely work on a console game at some point. I have no doubt about that. It's just [a matter of] what game. What makes the most sense?"
Now, Blizzard has tried in the past to make console games, such as Starcraft 64 (for the Nintendo 64), or Diablo I (for the Sony Playstation). Having played both, I can say with certainty that they were immensely fun for gaming nights, but both were dwarfed by the PC version, complete with a LAN party.
These days however, it seems that LAN parties are becoming a thing of the past. Sure, pockets of resistance still exist. But for the most part, those gaming nights are moving towards multiple consoles in the same house. If Blizzard wishes to take advantage of the changing demographics of the gamer culture, then they may have to release games on consoles once more.
Of their current franchises, Warcraft is the only that has not had a console treatment. Keep in mind that both Diablo and Starcraft 64 were relatively unsuccessful on the consoles. For WoW, which is similar to Diablo, this means bad news. For Warcraft (the RTS version), this also means bad news, since it is similar to Starcraft.
With this in mind, it means that Blizzard may not be using Warcraft as their next console game.
However, this leaves the door open for a new franchise to step up to the plate, and dominate the console world. It's already been confirmed that Blizzard has a new franchise in the works, in the form of an MMO, so it's clear that they are expanding their line.
Whether this means a new franchise will also be made for consoles though, is yet to be seen.
... Very good point, actually.
Plus, a mouse and a keyboard would take a lot less time/effort to develop, since they already exist.
Essentially you'd just need to make a program that allows them to be used in conjunction with the Xbox.
Thank you zhar , I dont feel as crazy now.
Edited post to reflect my answer to that.
If it wasn't for that, I'd not have one.
Though, honestly, they have tried the whole mouse/keyboard thing for consoles multiple times. SNes Mouse, PS2 Keyboard, they just don't become popular. :/
When the console dies, I pay a couple hundred bucks to get a new one.
When your computer dies, and it will at some point, how much would you pay?
Besides that point, consoles are usually generic and don't allow for much variation between any given two from the same company. Whereas with PCs, whomever has the most money to shell out for the latest hardware typically has the greater advantage amongst the PC gaming community, imo.
Because not everyone is a pc gamer you need to open up to the console market with the same control style, I have good friends who never played a single blizzard game because " They don't play games on the computer". They always ask when is it coming out for 360/ps3 or my fav if its so good why don't they make it for consoles...
Two things...
1. you found a way to own rock band despite cash and 2 that retails for like 120 for really big special controllers... a mouse and keyboard bundled combo can go for 10-30 bucks so 70-80
2. the not becoming popular thing is because your not playing a game that does it right and blizzard does things right. its not about the control style its about the game that keep you interested.
Not that it's a hard thing to figure out, but I've got several friends who still stick to consoles because they say computers are too complicated.
Wireless hub needs one port and supports mouse and keyboard. not to mention if its wired the mouse an plug in to the keyboard on the side like a mac and lastly why do you need more then theres 2 on there?
My console has lasted almost six years and is still going. How long would it be for you to replace/upgrade that particular part, or any other part that would be in need of replacing/upgrading?
The way it seems to me is there's a cretain mentality amongst PC and console gamers. If I knew how to post a thread with a poll, my first thread would be on that topic and I would try and get the gaming community as a whole to discuss this mentality openly and in a mature manner.
My mentality is right along the lines of Destructus'. But, I'd love to see everyone else's along with it.
Btw its Diablo 3 people if i could play it now and i needed to buy 2000 rig id do it. if i need to buy a 300 set up for my xbox id do it and i have the feeling you guys would too.
Im sorry did i cross a line or are you guys talking about the over all discussion.
My reply was to Zhar about me creating a new thread with a poll over the issue. The goal of that thread would have been to accurately gauge, in a respectful manner, if PC gamers think that PC games, in this case Diablo, would be a good thing if Blizzard tried to implement them on the console(s) of their choice.
See, that, to me, says "not done in a proper fashion" or done without being respectful to the other gamers on the forum. If I had the knowledge of how to make a thread with a poll, I'd present this issue in the most respectful, yet, thought-provoking manner without encouraging whining and argumentation (though, it is my fullest belief that such things would occur naturally, I would try and minimalize this by careful presentation).