Tim Willits: PC is still best for FPS control

By Fred Dutton Published 21 September, 2010

Refutes MS claim that FPS is dying on PC.

id Software's Tim Willits has refuted Microsoft's claim that the first-person shooter genre is in its death throes on the PC.

Speaking in an interview with Game Informer, Kudo Tsunoda, Microsoft Kinect's creative director, said that the battle to make first-person shooters work on consoles had been won.

"Halo did an awesome job of building a first-person shooter exclusively for the console, and now hardly anyone plays first-person shooters on the PC anymore. It's all about the console," he said, highlighting what he saw as parallels with the scepticism about Kinect's responsiveness.

A bold claim? id Software certainly thinks so. The Texas-based studio virtually invented the modern FPS with Wolfenstein 3D on the PC in 1992 and then refined it with Doom and Quake. It has continued to support the platform ever since.

"The PC is still a very viable platform for not only FPS games but also all other genres," id's creative director Tim Willits told Eurogamer.

"In my opinion the PC will always be the core of the gaming industry - it is the timeless stable platform that as developers we will always be able to rely on. Unlike consoles, the PC doesn't disappear because one company decided it wasn't profitable or decided to make a new version. The PC platform is always evolving but staying stable.

"The FPS genre is still great on the PC, the input controllers are very responsive, the keyboard allows many more choices and options, and the social networking of the PC allows you to reach out and play with your friends much easier than any of the consoles.

"Plus, as any hardcore FPS gamer will tell you, the mouse is still the best device for aiming." he added.

id's next game, Rage, arrives on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2011, and is looking seriously impressive. Willits is heading over to the Eurogamer Expo next week to demonstrate it to you.

According to Steam statistics, as many as 75,000 users were playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on PC at any one moment yesterday, while 72,000 were enjoying Counter Strike: Source.

PC shooter fans have plenty to look forward to this year. Call of Duty: Black Ops, Medal of Honor and an expansion for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 all arrive in the coming months.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Vlad27145 #1 2 years ago

    Will MS Just make up their minds on what their position is regarding the PC? First it's dead, then it's not and they want to renew focus on it, then it's dead again.
    If they don't want it, make the effin DirectX open source and have someone else nurture and care for the platform as it deserves. I know I, as a PC gamer would be more than happy if that happened.

  • muscleblade #2 2 years ago

    That is a case of what one prefers. Its easier with keyboard and mouse for sure, but not better imo. I prefer a pad for games. I use keyboard and mouse all day at work.

  • Subquest #3 2 years ago

    Not sure playing with friends is easier on PC these days - it's easy on just about any format. The controls comments are valid though, although the best thing about the PC is it gives you options, and if you want the living room experience many games support the 360 pad out of the box. The PC is going to have a really strong two or three years before the next 'next gen' of consoles come around. It's in this part of the console lifecycle that the PC gets further and further ahead in gfx terms.

  • UncleLou #4 2 years ago

    Will MS Just make up their minds on what their position is regarding the PC? First it's dead, then it's not and they want to renew focus on it, then it's dead again.

    This. Their complete lack of any corporate identity whatsoever in that regard is remarkably unprofessional.

  • theonlyix #5 2 years ago

    "In my opinion the PC will always be the core of the gaming industry - it is the timeless stable platform that as developers we will always be able to rely on. Unlike consoles, the PC doesn't disappear because one company decided it wasn't profitable or decided to make a new version. The PC platform is always evolving but staying stable."

    I dont think it s a coincidence that these guys have gone from being the no 1 FPS developer to being...well...who even cares these days....

  • ZuluHero #6 2 years ago

    You have to admit though - Halo and other console FPSers do a good job and millions and millions of people play them. Personally I don't think PC FPSers are dying, there are plenty of new releases coming out over the next year and arguably could say that FPSers (or more importantly their controls) are a natural fit for PC.

    There is still plenty of room for both, and as a gamer i don't wish games to die on any platform because at the end of the day, i will be the loser...

  • knightmt #7 2 years ago

    I am not a big fan of mouse and keyboard (mainly because I am a messy fucker), but I still think that the PC is still the most advanced gaming machine, just not the most accessible.

  • Arwin #8 2 years ago

    Actually, as of the latest 1.04 beta patch for MAG, clearly the PS3 + Move is now the best for FPS control. ;) (though of course these days you can also sixsense on PC apparently for a similar experience).

  • bad09 #9 2 years ago

    I am not a big fan of mouse and keyboard (mainly because I am a messy fucker), but I still think that the PC is still the most advanced gaming machine, just not the most accessible.

    This. I love the superior hardware and flexability of the PC but wherever I can I use a pad, it's just more comfortable for me and I really don't give a hoot about kill/death ratios and headshots. In fact after MW2 on PC I may switch back to a console for COD because it's just not that fun having to worry about all your movement keys.

    But I have to say MS are annoying as hell one minute they support PC the next they come out with absolute nonsense like "hardly anyone plays FPS on PC anymore". Stick to the operating system and sod off to your console MS. I have come to understand that PC will be a lot better without GFWL and your "focus" on the platform.
    Edited by bad09 at 21/09/10 @ 08:58

  • orangpelupa #10 2 years ago

    microsoft!
    argh.

    support pc or not. just make up your mind!

  • butler` #11 2 years ago

    If you're going to call out the PC platform on something, don't make it FPS...

  • funkateer #12 2 years ago

    He's right though. If you're a hardcore FPS fan, then you'll make sure you have the best possible control scheme: Keyboard + Mouse.
    A football player doesn't wear flip-flips, a software developer doesn't work sitting in the sun, a master chef doesn't cook while taking a bath etc. You do what you have to do to be the best!

    That said, I hope they will take the opportunity to make Rage controllable with Keyboard and Mouse on PS3. Unreal Tournament III supported Keyboard & Mouse and I just don't get it why not more titles support it. It was one of the reasons I went for a PS3 tbh, and after these claims iD Software should put its money where the mouth is and support Mouse+ Kb on PS3.

  • Caimbeul #13 2 years ago

    "Kudo Tsunoda, Microsoft Kinect's creative director, said..."
    - Enough Said. This man clearly has a bias toward pushing kinect and therefore X360.

    @ Subquest - Your comment about the PC now pushing ahead of the consoles in terms of graphics is a little off. Withing the first year PC's were surpassing what the consoles could do. That was YEARS ago, they are miles ahead now, even relatively low end machines can outperform a 360 in a like for like game.

    FPS on PC is still going nice and strong and i think.
    Yeas I own akll platforms so am not a fan boy etc etc.

    @ ZuluHero - I agree. Definately room for both and both do decent jobs, depends on your preference and budget etc

    Playing Bioshock 2 on PC at present (played the 1st one o X360) and remember panicking often with Spider & Houdini Splicers running circles around me. That simply doesnt happen on PC becuase i can move and look around fast enough thanks to mouse and keyboard. Bioshock was the first FPS i platyed with a pad.

  • arcam #14 2 years ago

    This isn't Microsoft being hypocritical, it's just their Xbox division saying it's all about consoles, and their Windows division saying the PC has a bright future.

    Which means of course that neither opinion is particularly worth listening to.

    PC shooter fans have plenty to look forward to this year. Call of Duty: Black Ops, Medal of Honor and an expansion for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 all arrive in the coming months

    Not the best example - these are all basically the same game. There's really no PC FPS worth looking at this year, although 2011 looks better.
    Edited by arcam at 21/09/10 @ 09:37

  • 3william56 #15 2 years ago

    iD are just as full of sh*t. PC still there? Sure, in name only, but good luck getting any modern PC game working decently on a rig as old as a launch PS3 or 360. Endless f**king upgrades kill off PC games much faster than consoles, which stay the same for an entire generation (and cost a tenth of the price).

    Mouse and Keyboard is only popular with the geeks because it's so unrealisticly fast and precise. Show me anyone who can (a) spin in place as fast as PC FPS character can, (b) move and stop anything that weighs more than a wet fart as fast as a mouse does, (c) can hold something as steady as a mouse pointer, and (d) accelerate to a run [sideways] like the [snigger] digital control of a keyboard.

    Most of the whining about console FPS versions is because they are far more realistic than a PC. Put a smidgeon of momentum onto a mouse control and see how hardcore it is. It amazes me how PC gamers w*nk themselves silly over the graphical realism the 3 grand they spent on their PC gets them, but blindly ignore the unrealistic crutch that mousing gives so called skills.

  • arcam #16 2 years ago

    Endless f**king upgrades kill off PC games much faster than consoles, which stay the same for an entire generation (and cost a tenth of the price)

    This makes no sense. And is pretty much ass-backwards. Even this story points out 70,000 people playing a 6 year-old game as we speak (and there are another 70,000 playing the 10-year old original), while Halo 2 (released the same year) has had its servers switched off.
    Edited by arcam at 21/09/10 @ 09:44

  • bad09 #17 2 years ago

    "Endless f**king upgrades kill off PC games much faster than consoles, which stay the same for an entire generation (and cost a tenth of the price)"

    LOL! prat....

  • butler` #18 2 years ago

    Did you just attack kb/m on the basis of realism? You just made my fucking day :D

  • UncleLou #19 2 years ago

    Endless f**king upgrades kill off PC games much faster than consoles, which stay the same for an entire generation (and cost a tenth of the price).

    Yeah, I paid 6,000 € for my PC when the PS3 was released. And they still cost between 2,500 € and 3,500 € these days.

    Lulz.

  • kristo #20 2 years ago

    Cause everyone knows they use console pads to fight a war. I think its safe to say every control method is unrealistic. At least, until you have to suit up, wear 20-40kgs of equipment, lug a rifle as well, get sand in your crotch and then try to shoot.

    Or just accept its all entertainment and just pop some heads, sheeesh

  • FogHeart #21 2 years ago

    Keyboard and mouse is very difficult on the couch, but (as I keep bashing on about until everyone is sick of me) I absolutely loathe controlling console FPS with a pad. Going from all my PC FPS games where I control the reticle with a mouse to console FPS where I use a tiny stick under my right thumb....bloody hated it.

    Controlling FPS games with the pointer and nunchuck on the Wii was fun, but the games never came - console couldn't handle the multiplatform FPS games designed for PS360 - now I just hope the Move will appear in future FPS games, like it will in Killzone. It's a good compromise between PC's mouse precision and console's couch comfort.
    Edited by FogHeart at 21/09/10 @ 10:41

  • arcam #22 2 years ago

    And of course most FPS are set up by default to work with a 360 controller anyway. I bought two for playing on the sofa downstairs, but still can't get with the controls so all FPS are played upstairs on the monitor with m/kb.

  • StooMonster #23 2 years ago

    The trouble with controlling FPS with two thumbs is the view thumb is too slow compared to a mouse, however, the movement thumb works fine compared to WASD.

    I think they should make a controller where the right analogue stick (in right-handed edition) is replaced with a notebook touchpad; this would give mouse-like movements with a thumb leaving the other fingers free to do triggers.

  • Xardan #24 2 years ago

    Dwindling/dying

  • StooMonster #25 2 years ago

    kristo: Cause everyone knows they use console pads to fight a war.

    I read that the drones the US flies in Iraq and Afghanistan are controlled from their base in Texas with Xbox 360 controllers.

    A quick Google shows that R-Gator (this time a remote control car rather than plane) also uses Xbox 360 controller, as do bomb disposal robots in the field, etc.

  • bad09 #26 2 years ago

    @StooMonster

    Yeah I think the yanks do use a pad, noobs they should go back to their consoles! ;)

    The British army also made an ad showing the 360 pad being used to control a drone but they don't actually use them and only did it to entice gamers to sign their lifes away to chase oil.

  • neems #27 2 years ago

    "There's really no PC FPS worth looking at this year, although 2011 looks better. "

    Stalker: Call of Pripyat... put that in your XBox and smoke it..

  • arcam #28 2 years ago

    @neem

    Yeah, I meant still to come before the end of the year.

    Still your comment made me think about the FPS games that were released in 2010, and I really can't think of anything much apart from Stalker and Battlefield. It has been a poor year for PC FPS I reckon.

    edit: Oh, Metro 2033 - that was pretty cool.
    Edited by arcam at 21/09/10 @ 11:39

  • neems #29 2 years ago

    Yeah, you're right of course, we're basically looking at Black Ops and MoH... hohum. Saying that, I'll probably be getting Black Ops, and possibly MoH as well. I'm in a clan, so it seems fairly certain. If it's got dedicated servers and it plays alright, we'll probably be there.

    If nothing else, I'm looking forward to some Cod Gun Game.

  • swelt #30 2 years ago

    There's an old mexican proverb... when a man with a joypad meets a man with a mouse, the man with a joypad is a dead man.

  • Slikz #31 2 years ago

    Just remembered I got Stalker: Call of Pripyat free to download from Steam with my new 5870 :)

    I finished building my first gaming rig over the weekend and I own all current gen consoles. Coming from consoles I do find keyboard and mouse more engaging than controller......



  • pbz #32 2 years ago

    MS should develop a new fps that allows cross platform, so Xbox and PC users can play against each other - I would def buy that and spend many nights making 360 owners cry onto their controllers!

  • neems #33 2 years ago

    They already did that pbz - Shadowgrounds I think it was. However they gimped both the controls and the accuracy, in order to make it a level playing field.

  • spekkeh #34 2 years ago

    Wow massive influx of PC fanboys in the rating system. Guess PC gaming isn't dead after all.

    That or it's the death throes of people desperately not wanting the obvious to be true.

    RAGE looks spectacular? Yes, spectacularly bland. It must be the age old PC adagium that pushing more polygons is what makes a good game. One of the reasons why people are growing tired of the PC. Playing PC games is like tuning your supercar every time you have to go to the shops. It's a great hobby but after a while you're left with this immense garage, a car that makes a lot of noise and regularly needs tinkering and a wife that nags you're never there. I studied computer science so naturally I have a great gaming rig, but for the life of me I can't figure out why, because I spent all my time in the living room on my netbook or console.

    Neg me, your negs only make me stronger!

  • FogHeart #35 2 years ago

    Mouse vs Move might be interesting - mouse has superior turn speed but Move will point at any enemy on screen very quickly, albeit with a bit less precision.

    @spekkeh - don't understand, I haven't changed my gaming rig for two years now. The idea that new games demand you have very recent hardware is a fallacy. Do they need patching? No more than any console game does. Does the PC often need patching? Yes, when you shut down you get updates.

    Is it costly to maintain a PC? Well the games are £10 or £20 cheaper so the costs of the optional update you do every couple of years are recouped. There aren't significant drawbacks in PC gaming.
    Edited by FogHeart at 21/09/10 @ 13:10

  • drumbaby #36 2 years ago

    FPS games control best with m/ keys, but I like to slob out on my armchair and play fps games with a Dualshock 3.

    Personal preference only.

  • orangpelupa #37 2 years ago

    @3william

    you are weird. upgrade pc is an OPTION. not a must.

    i have not upgrade my pc for 2 years and still rungames almost all max @ 1440x900.

    and have you tried bfbc2? on pcit still realistic. you aim will beslow if you ride a tank.

    btw have you tried to handle a real gun? or atleast heavy airsoftgun?

    yes its big but its stil fast to move aim.

  • orangpelupa #38 2 years ago

    @3william

    you are weird. upgrade pc is an OPTION. not a must.

    i have not upgrade my pc for 2 years and still rungames almost all max @ 1440x900.

    and have you tried bfbc2? on pcit still realistic. you aim will beslow if you ride a tank.

    btw have you tried to handle a real gun? or atleast heavy airsoftgun?

    yes its big but its stil fast to move aim.

  • epiazk #39 2 years ago

    I dont understand how people can get so angry about this. Clearly the PC is better for FPS as long as the mouse and keyboard are in use? Why is it the console being blamed and not the input method?

  • kangarootoo #40 2 years ago

    I'm not sure these two guys are really talking about the same thing.

    One of them says that most people play FPS games on consoles these days.
    The other says that the PC is the better platform in terms of development and control systems.

    Those two statements don't contradict each other.


    Sorry to throw a spanner in the works of a perfectly good forum scrap.

  • arcam #41 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Basically one is saying PC is no longer relevant ("hardly anyone plays first-person shooters on the PC anymore. It's all about the console";), while the other says its still at the heart of the genre ("the PC will always be the core of the gaming industry - it is the timeless stable platform";).

    They sound like pretty polarised views to me, and well worthy of a forum bitchfest.

  • kangarootoo #42 2 years ago

    @arcam

    Well, I get that they are both blanket statements, but further scrutiny shows that said blanket statements are based on different reasons that don't oppose. One guy is talking from a sales point of view, and the other is talking from a technical and production point of view.

    Its like me saying cows are awesome 'cos I like steak, and you saying cows are rubbish because they smell.

    The article is making a connection that doesn't exist. I wonder if Tim Willits even knew he was "refuting" anyone elses claims when he said what he did.

  • arcam #43 2 years ago

    I won't argue because broadly speaking you are right. However the console guy is also talking tech (they've finally cracked FPS on console - that's a technical achievement) and the guy from id is also talking about sales (elsewhere in the same interview he said "The PC is still a very viable platform for not only FPS games but also all other genres";).

    "hardly anyone plays first-person shooters on the PC anymore. It's all about the console" is still fanboy-baiting and I'm sure he's full aware of that. Good way to get your product a little news story.

    But yeah, like I said earlier both of them are merely defending their own businesses as you'd expect so neither point of of view is particularly reliable.

  • Simplex #44 2 years ago

    "Unlike consoles, the PC doesn't disappear because one company decided it wasn't profitable or decided to make a new version."

    Nice jab at MS support of first xbox. Or rather, lack thereof.

  • DrStrangelove #45 2 years ago

    I don't understand how anyone can prefer a pad for FPS. Do you also prefer wellies for jogging? It's so painfully slow and imprecise, just rubbish. Simple, basic aiming (which you do all the time) takes ages and is just a tedious pain in the arse. Games which are quick and fluent to play on PC are a nightmare on consoles. Try playing Counterstrike with a pad, completely impossible.

    I would like to play FPS on PS3, and since you can connect mouse and keyboard, it would be quite easy for developers to give you that option. But Sony probably doesn't like the idea that any 5-year-old with a cheap mouse can devastate the hardcore gaming elite using the sacrosanct Sony controller. That said, maybe Move will fix that finally.

    Play a platformer with a mouse - rubbish. Play a racing sim with the Wii nunchuck - rubbish. Play anything with the Sixaxis motion sensors - rubbish. Play FPS or RTS with a pad - rubbish. And that's it. If you disagree, you're wrong.