Director of ID@Xbox, Chris Charla, has made a pretty cool announcement today; In trying to "unify" both PC and Xbox platforms, Microsoft has added a cross-play feature to the Xbox One. So long as the game supports it, you can now go online on your Xbox, and play with people on PC. And should Sony be willing, there's even potential for playing with those on PS4.

First, in addition to natively supporting cross-platform play between Xbox One and Windows 10 games that use Xbox Live, we’re enabling developers to support cross-network play as well. This means players on Xbox One and Windows 10 using Xbox Live will be able to play with players on different online multiplayer networks – including other console and PC networks.

Source

 

[Ericzander]

This will be great for MMOs and most other types of online games. However for FPS games, apparently (I say this because I don't play them) people with a keyboard+mouse have a distinct advantage. Plus then you're getting into modding territory which so far is impossible (or very hard/very rare) on PS4 and Xbox One.

But hey, now it's up to the developers to decide and I'm all for that. Now I don't feel like a jerk for buying a PS4 when one of my best friends has an Xbox One! Neither of us were going to play Rocket League since we didn't have friends to play with, but now I think we will!

 

[Selim873]

Welcome to 1999, Microsoft!

Hopefully that means FFXIV gets an Xbox One port. Maybe discounted with a free month to entice newcomers.

 

[Steena]

The history of firearms has a poignant feature where muskets and such, despite being inferior to longbows of the time, saw the fact that in about 24 hours you can be reasonably effective with a firearm where in 24 hours you are going to be nowhere with a longbow and maybe only slightly better with a crossbow or shortbow. I have to wonder if there is not something similar, or at least some kind of feature of keyboard and mouse*.
Alternatively everybody up until now uses a mouse so you have your few hundred hours of mouse use by the time you pick up games. I will be curious to see what happens when all the kids on raised on touchscreens but not mice (and if I count laptop trackpads as not mice we are maybe 3 years out from a sizeable number that pick normally pick up such games up at 7-9 years old). That said it will probably be balanced out by minecraft.

*I grew up before Doom (though Duke3d and Star Wars Dark Forces were probably the bigger drivers) and http://old-computers.com/MUSEUM/photos/ResearchMach_Nimbus_Mice_s1.jpg was what I knew as a mouse for many years, oh and it was a ball mouse as well. Still had possibly a thousand hours in on it before then though.

I think the main difference with your analogy is that guns expel the projectile faster, almost instantly in short to medium range, hence you don't need to be as good, on top of making it easier to learn as you said

 

[FAST6191]

I am not sure less need to lead a target is the reason for the advantage, especially not if you are in a battlefield scenario where people still line up in nice dense groups.

Anyway I was curious there
Bows
http://www.greenmanlongbows.co.uk/S... of bows and longbows using a chronometer.htm
150-180 or so feet per second, or around 50 m/s if we are using sensible measurements.
https://www.archerylibrary.com/books/badminton/docs/chapter24/chapter24_1.html for the range.
Good shots apparently could manage 280 odd yards or about 260m, possibly even further for some bows. Penetration still useful at that distance as well apparently.
Some guy's masters thesis on ballistics of 17th century muskets
https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/1826/4605/3/David Miller PhD.pdf
Page 89 through 91 cover various things. With fairly similar powder and a wad then we are looking at around 400m/s or about 1300 feet per second if we want to continue using cretin measurements. Speed on impact tests elsewhere in that are not far off either.
Page 27 reckons 180m and there are further ponderings of range later, page 41 looks more into the effective range and tops out at 100 yards or about 90m for a wounding shot.

Now this is muskets and rifles were around before then, and possibly even being equipped in some armies (notably not the English though).

Speed wise that is a reasonable difference, though 50 m/s is still fast, and if your would be adversaries are on a battlefield in a nice group and you are more interesting in just hurting someone rather than a specific target.

 

[tranceology3]

Won't this be bad for console owners. Isn't hacking PC games for online very much possible?

 

[Hells Malice]

Good. Cross-platform play should've been a thing years ago. Games like Shadowrun proved it was perfectly viable ages ago. Console players had no problem shitting on PC players.
Sony would be insane not to set up as much cross-platform play as possible to try and make their online service a bit more appealing.

 

[Minox]

Is this really a feature? It sounds more like they removed their own arbitrary limit that Xbox systems aren't allowed to directly interact with other gaming platforms.

Unless of course they plan on including their own framework to make this more easily achieved.

 

[tony_2018]

Its mainly for PC gamers and X1 gamers but the dev's, gaming companies, have to support it as well or else it won't work. Its an open door for Sony if they want to allow it as well.

 

[Obveron]

A mouse is a huge advantage in shooters. I hope all crossplay FPS games offer playlists that are gamepad locked, because honestly I enjoy playing fps with a controller on my lazyboy, and KB/mouse at my gaming PC. When I play on the lazyboy I play on console because I expect a level playing field of controller-only opponents. I'm pretty good at playing FPS with a controller, but I'd be much better with a mouse. I enjoy the controller in my living room, but it would be unfair to play against anyone with a mouse.

 

[godlover9000]

Won't this be bad for console owners. Isn't hacking PC games for online very much possible?

while it is probably easier to hack games on PC I usually don't have a hard time finding a server that does not have a hacker (they usually only last a short bit until they get banned/kicked.)

 

[LightyKD]

Am I the only one who dislike the Keyboard+mouse controls?

You're not. When it comes to FPS, I'd rather have Wii Remote and Nunchuck and as for racing games, give me Wii Wheel please, everything else is a toss up!

Side note...Capcom vs SNK 2 on Dreamcast was cross platform with PS2. Welcome to the 21st century Microsoft

 

[stomp_442]

As a Wii U owner, does this mean I will need to buy an xbox live card to have access to this feature if Nintendo agrees to join up. As it stands right now Nintendo don't require payment to game on line which is fine with me. And to buy an xbox live card there is going to need to be more than 5 third party games to play on the Wii U on xbox live.

Oh wait, I just thought of something. I don't think there is enough third party games on the Wii U that would make Nintendo think about sinking time and money in to this. Since when has nintendo even cared about their relations with the third party community or even cared if their customers have access to third party games on their consoles.

 

[KingVamp]

Yeah, I prefer Wiimote or Wiimote-like controls too.

 

[SS4]

I think its great that they are finally implementing this. Low pop server on some platform have often killed some great online games.
Now seeing as how Phantasy Star Online 2 was cross plat between Vita and PC iirc, i don't see why all current gen multiplat game can't share servers for online.
I do expect a lot of rage quit in FPS from the console FPS crowd though
Then again, you can use mouse + keyboard on a console and a controller on a PC as well (although you don't see the first often and in the second case its an almost endless number of peripheral you can use )

 

[Touko White]

I have used a controller for a years and I don't think I'm going to change even for FPS games (pirating COD4 on PC, now) so yeah.
If I want to go online, are there a problem I am going to be crap?

 

[TheGlow]

Quake 3 had this for PC and Dreamcast. It lasted less than a week if I recall as the PC players were dominating the DC players fucking horrendously.
Like 20-0.

As of now Street Fighter V is cross platform PS4 and PC/Steam.

 

[cvskid]

Console FPS players are going to get destroyed by PC FPS players when this happens.