New Counter-Strike to Include PS3-PC/Mac Cross-Platform Play
by Craig Getting on August 25, 2011 9:31 PM EST
Valve’s doubling down on the PlayStation 3. In a preview published late Thursday, Kotaku’s Stephen Totilo reported that Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the newest iteration of the popular Counter-Strike franchise, will feature cross-platform play between PS3 and PC/Mac players.
Though players can create endless loops of de_dust on their own private servers, Valve will be running official servers for skill-based matchmaking. PC, Mac, and PS3 users will be matched up regardless of platform. Xbox 360 players will be confined to matches with other 360 owners. How Valve will balance play between users on keyboard and mouse versus players using a gamepad or PlayStation Move (which the PS3 version will support) remains to be seen.
Despite CEO Gabe Newell’s previous dismissal of the PS3, Valve is showing strong support for Sony’s platform, citing the openness of its publication model with respect to Microsoft’s. Portal 2, released this April, allowed for cross-platform play between PS3 and PC/Mac, and the PS3 version came with a code for Portal 2 on Steam.
Counter-Strike: GO, announced two weeks ago, looks to be a marriage of beloved shooting tradition with the newest Source engine tech. Those attending PAX this weekend can see what Kotaku saw for themselves, and Counter-Strike veterans looking for in-depth coverage would do well to read Craig Torbull’s comparision of CS: GO to its predecessors over at ESEA News.
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LordanSS - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
Well, 2D I suppose you got that right... controllers are much better in games like Street Fighter 4 and alikes. =/sleepeeg3 - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
The end all, be all argument is that PCs do it all better. You can use a keyboard/mouse, steering wheels/pedals, joystick, gamepad and even a 360 controller or Wiimote on a PC.PCs have far more graphics processing power, mods, maps, independent servers and overall more versatility than consoles. Game companies hate this freedom so they develop for closed systems where they have the power. The other problem with PCs are the cost, lack of portability, lack of local multiplayer and intelligence needed to actually set one up.
LordanSS - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
Driving Games = G27 Racing Wheel, no gimpass gamepadnikon133 - Sunday, August 28, 2011 - link
For me... Driving, flying, sports, fighting, platformers and at least some 3rd person action/adventures... maybe some modern RPGs (Dragon's Age and likes)?Strategies and FPS, mouse and keyboard. Though since I've been playing both PC and PS3 in the last 2 years, I have found more balance on PS3 FPS (like Bad Company 2 I played on both platforms) which I think is due to controller limitations... maybe lack of cheating as well.
Maiyr - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
isn't idiocy hilariousmezrah - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
If you read the article it says that the PS3 users can use a mouse and keyboard, so this whole debate is pointless here.slyck - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
Haha a console fanboy. Have you ever even used a computer? Stupid people make me laugh.Proxy711 - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
FYI this has been tested and proved. Mouse and keyboard is a vastly superior control method for FPSers.Back when Microsoft was debating on allowing cross platform play they did some testing. They put pro xbox players vs the average PC gamer. the PC players not only won, but never lost a single game through out the testing.
Which is probably why Xbox isn't included in cross platform play. They thought it would be unfair.
PromiumG - Friday, August 26, 2011 - link
What a troll. If you knew anything about control in video games, you would know that keyboard and mouse is not inferior. Everyone knows that PC gaming requires more accuracy, why do you think L4D is MUCH easier on Xbox than PC? Because naturally your aiming is alot slower, because a joystick provides a huge limitation. Also, you do not have free aiming movement with joysticks, youre stuck facing one direction unless you touch the joystick, which then you have to estimate the amount of pressure to use. Completely unnecessary and you will not build nearly as much "skill" as one could with a mouse and keyboard.You can think what you want, I will be laughing the entire time while i school "gamers" on their xbox and ps3.
z0mb13n3d - Thursday, August 25, 2011 - link
Gameplay balancing issues aside, the prospect of cross platform gameplay on such a large scale is pretty tempting.I find it disappointing that Microsoft never bothered exploring cross-platform gameplay in any meaningful way. They could have made a killing with XBOX-PC compatibility.