SAN FRANCISCO: At a recent event to show off upcoming Microsoft video games, a young man worked a computer mouse and keyboard to make his on-screen warrior jump and fire his gun. On a nearby couch, a woman did the same thing, only with an Xbox 360 controller. The interesting thing is that they were playing the same game, against each other. The game is Microsoft s Shadowrun , and it will be the first major game to seamlessly allow cross-platform combat, pitting console players against personal computer players, and also allowing them to fight on the same team. It s a grudge match whose outcome has been long debated. Conventional wisdom has it that the mouse and keyboard combo is a far superior way to play fast-paced shooter games than console controllers. The reason is that although a mouse and keyboard are harder to master, they are pinpoint accurate and lightning fast. It s an interesting idea and something people have been curious about for many years, said Dan Hsu, editor in chief, of video game magazine EGM, said of consoles versus PCs. But the developers found something they did not expect. It was a bit surprising because the controller beat the mouse-keyboard at first, said Mitch Gitelman, manager of Fasa Studios, which Microsoft bought in 1998. In a shooter, you want to spin around as fast as you can and find that dude and get to his head. With a controller ...you can circle around people easier and keep your crosshairs on them longer, especially at short-range, Gitelman said. He added that Shadowrun blends staples of fantasy like elves and magic with rocket launchers and other weapons. Teams of up to 8 players compete for control of various locations. Using your cybernetic vision you can see an enemy right through the wall, use magic to teleport right through the wall, use a sword to kill him, then teleport through the roof. When his team-mates come, you can turn into a puff of smoke, float up and find a perch and pull out your sniper rifle, Gitelman said. The game is not expected to push any graphical boundaries, especially when compared to recent visual gems such as Gears of War and Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 . But Shadowrun is also a significant salvo in Microsoft s campaign to widen the appeal of its online gaming service, known as Xbox Live for the console crowd and Windows Live for PC owners. Online play has emerged as Microsoft s strong suit as it competes against the technical wizardry of Sony s PlayStation 3 and the motion-sensing quirkiness of Nintendo s Wii. More cross-platform titles will be rolled out in the coming months, including Uno , the color-coded card game that has been a smash hit on Xbox Live. Whether on Xbox or Windows, players will need to have a gold Live account that costs $50 a year to try the cross-platform feature. Those who already have a Xbox gold account won t have to pay again for PC privileges. Owners of the PC version can play each other for free. Hsu said it made sense that Microsoft will debut the new console-PC gaming feature with a new franchise whose appeal is untested, rather than a sure-fire hit such as Halo 2 . It s a smart idea not to do it with bunch of casual games first because they need to prove to hardcore gamers first that, hey, this does work, Hsu said. It s going to be like trial by fire with the hardcore community because everyone s going to be really vocal if this doesn t work.
