Keyboard and Mouse for XBox 360?
- Thread starter N3CKCAR
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Queasy
Moderator<br>Console Gaming
- Aug 24, 2001
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You can plug any USB keyboard into the 360 and use it for entering text in the dash and in some games (FFXI). There is also the Live Messenger Kit which attaches to the controller.
Mouse can not be used.
Mouse can not be used.
If you are asking if you can play FPS games with a keyboard and mouse on the 360 then the answer is no last time I checked. I believe there was a 3rd party one in the works at one point but I haven't kept up on that.
I honestly don't understand peoples gripe with controllers, it just takes getting used to, and no I'm not saying it will ever be as accurate as keyboard and mouse
Honestly, with movement(not aiming..) the controller is technically more accurate. Movement in an FPS with a keyboard is either full tilt (key pressed in) or off (no key pressed), while the controller has a range from crawling speed up to full tilt. In this regard, the controller is more accurate. Not to say, however, that a mouse isn't better at aiming, but for moving around, the controller wins(slightly).
Third party only. I can't remember why Microsoft won't support mouse and keyboard play natively like Sony does with UT3, but regardless, if you want mouse and keyboard play on Xbox 360, then you have to get an XCM FPS Pro. Google it. I got one for about $90 including shipping.
The problem is that it is very difficult to adjust the sensitivity settings so that movement doesn't jiggle all over the place (You have to set the in-game settings, then adjust X and Y on the device). The mouse essentially mimics what the right stick does, and since the right stick moves faster if you press harder on it, then that tends to work poorly on the mouse if you're settings aren't right.
SO yeah, it works, but it isn't perfect. I used it to play all through Halo 3, but I had to keep flipping my sensitivity up and down with my G3 mouse.
Too bad you aren't playing on a PS3 though. The Splitfish FragFX acctually works really well. I was amazed how well it worked after I updated it's firmware. It doesn't have a keyboard, but with an hour or so of play it feels pretty natural. And the mouse movement is almost identical to PC.
The problem is that it is very difficult to adjust the sensitivity settings so that movement doesn't jiggle all over the place (You have to set the in-game settings, then adjust X and Y on the device). The mouse essentially mimics what the right stick does, and since the right stick moves faster if you press harder on it, then that tends to work poorly on the mouse if you're settings aren't right.
SO yeah, it works, but it isn't perfect. I used it to play all through Halo 3, but I had to keep flipping my sensitivity up and down with my G3 mouse.
Too bad you aren't playing on a PS3 though. The Splitfish FragFX acctually works really well. I was amazed how well it worked after I updated it's firmware. It doesn't have a keyboard, but with an hour or so of play it feels pretty natural. And the mouse movement is almost identical to PC.
All Microsoft would have to do is release a patch that would allow USB mice and keyboards to be used in-game. You don't think everyone already has a mouse and keyboard? Hmm.. I bet 85%-95% of people who have an xbox 360 also have access to a mouse and keyboard.
If everyone could do it... then I'm pretty sure you'd have a "level playing field for everyone". Then at least you'd be giving people the option.
I think Microsoft should just be the first to pioneer it as a widespread solution. PC gaming is slowly dying (I am a HUGE PC gamer, but I can admit it: Just look at the sales of Crysis and UT3 on PC. Plus, it is easier and cheaper to design for consoles, since you don't have to work with millions of hardware and operating system variations...). Eventually, and by this I mean YEARS down the road, consoles will likely be the only gaming option (if for no other reason then the fact that the games will be simly more numerous and better on consoles). Microsoft could do themselves a favor by allowing mouse and keyboard, because it would make more PC gamers go to consoles even sooner. They might sell fewer controllers, but they could come up with special xbox 360 mice and keyboards for those who want to be 1337.
I would rather MS force balance in their games rather than place it in the hands of the public. You need to understand that a lot of us enjoy the controller interface and we want to use it despite whether or not we are actually more efficient with a mouse and keyboard. It adds to the whole console experience if you ask me. However, allowing mouse and keyboard as an option will unbalance the game especially for players who feel the same way I do.
On top of that reason, it is harder on the developers to create a game to be compatible with the controller, mouse, and keyboard. Part of the fun and challenge of a game is the user interface. Trying to keep a game challenging and fun for both a controller interface and a mouse + keyboard interface is much more challenging in the development phases of a game.
Lastly, despite what you may read on the internet from the hardcore PC FPS gamers, there really isn't enough demand in the entire market to justify the pros and the cons overall.
Queasy
Moderator<br>Console Gaming
- Aug 24, 2001
- 31,796
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1) 85-95% of people who have a 360 probably have a mouse and keyboard but do you think they're going to rip them off their PC every time they want to play? No, they'd likely have to buy another set.
Do you think the entire 85-95% have somewhere where they can sit comfortably with a mouse and keyboard? Remember, consoles are typically played in places like living rooms. Not at desks.
2) The poor sales of Crysis were not all the surprising because the devs limited their potential market by making the requirements so high. UT3 suffered from a combination of factors including high requirements and lackluster demo.
There are certainly some valid points there. (except that the game developers would not necessarily need to design every game for keyboard / mouse use. The onus would be on the user to map their keyboard/mouse to the button presses of the controller as they saw fit. The same way I have to do it with my XCM FPS Pro)
At any rate, I guess I'm in the minority here, but I don't know how many forums I've been to with threads just like this where someone is asking how he can hook up his mouse and keyboard.
This isn't even the first one on THIS forum.
SO just wait and see. I'm sure this will be a fairly regular request/topic.
At any rate, I guess I'm in the minority here, but I don't know how many forums I've been to with threads just like this where someone is asking how he can hook up his mouse and keyboard.
This isn't even the first one on THIS forum.
SO just wait and see. I'm sure this will be a fairly regular request/topic.
KB
Diamond Member
- Nov 8, 1999
- 5,406
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They have a new mouse/keyboard adapter with improved sensitivity controls. The XFPS Sniper: http://www.xcm.cc/XFPS_3.0_Sniper.htm
Unfortunately it is costly because you need a wired controller and the microphone headset doesn't work with it so you need a wireless one of those. Also it doesn't work with all mice and KB. I would like to use it since I am not very good with the controller, but the total package price is too steep.
Unfortunately it is costly because you need a wired controller and the microphone headset doesn't work with it so you need a wireless one of those. Also it doesn't work with all mice and KB. I would like to use it since I am not very good with the controller, but the total package price is too steep.
For MS, making it compatible for only some games is fine if enough developers decide they want to make games compatible with it. For game developers, this makes the development of the game more expensive and it's not like they will be able to sell what was supposed to be a $60 game for $70 when it was released just because it happens to be compatible with a mouse and keyboard and then expect their profits to increase. The only thing they can hope for is that they will attract enough extra buyers who are willing to shell out that extra cash for the mouse and keyboard in addition to the buyers that would have purchased it even without the mouse and keyboard. That extra money needs to justify the cost of development and it needs to bring in a lot more profit.
That's a tough one.
It would be nice to have the KB/M for certain tools like map creators and other mod tools directly on the console. That way we could have PC like tools on the console without having to upload anything to the XBL network that didn't originate there.
Well, I know many 'hard core PC gamers' who avoid all consoles solely because they can't use a KB/Mouse.
Mind you MS isn't interested in destroying the PC gaming market, although I'm sure they like the license fees they get from console games.
That is true. They get their share of profits in PC games too. PC gamers may not buy console stuff but in the end each one of those PC gamers has only so much money to spend and if they are spending that money in ways which still bring profits to MS one way or another then it doesn't matter. It's not like they don't have enough money anyways lol. They have the freedom to make something because they want to and not have to worry way to much about maxing out optimization when it comes to the market they attract.
Also, despite popular belief that comes from the internet buzz, the hardcore FPS PC gamer who cares about this kind of thing enough not to buy consoles is only a small slice of a very large pie containing very many slices. MS isn't losing out on that much.
OMG this both pisses me off and makes me call BS!
It pisses me off because these knob gobblins don't support their products at all. Instead of making the hardware upgradeable via software/firmware, they make you buy a whole new device!! That is just shady as hell. XCM needs to take a lesson from Splitfish. The FragFX can be upgraded via PC, and with the latest release, mouse smoothness could not be better.
It makes me call BS, because WATCH the second video that shows "it improve sensitivity, precision" etc. They take the camera AWAY from the guy's hands for half of the video. But when they go back to it near the end, watch his hand carefully. He moves it to the right, but there is a delay on-screen for when the camera moves.
That is EXACTLY the problem with this device. It might not happen every time you move, but it happens frequently enough to piss you off.
AND this the reason I'll buy cross platform FPS for the PS3 or PC only now. The FragFX for PS3 is just a far superior device.
I could go on.. but I digress..
yeah, we're still the long hold outs from way back. All the youngin's who grew up on the console FPS don't mind. That and we're just too damn stuborn.
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