The successor to the Microsoft Xbox 360 could feature a new “cool input device” (controller), if hints from Rob Pardo of World Of Warcraft creators Blizzard are to be believed. Pardo, speaking at a lunch at the Game Developers Conference, San Francisco, confirmed Blizzard had held talks with Microsoft on possible directions for the replacement to the Xbox 360.

According to Pardo, Blizzard had never brought the massively successful “massively multi-player online” game World Of Warcraft (or Blizzard’s other titles) to the Microsoft Xbox 360 or Sony PS3 because: “They don’t support the input device, and you end up with crappy ports. That’s why [strategy] games never do well on consoles. If I was them, I’d be sitting around trying to figure out what’s a cool input device that supports all types of new kinds of games.”

Given that Pardo admits Blizzard has discussed the successor to the Xbox 360 with Microsoft, then either this is Pardo trying to put more pressure on the corporation to sort out a controller that works with strategy and massively multi-player online titles. Or he’s dropping a hint about the direction Microsoft is already thinking of going in with its replacement to the Xbox 360.

At the same lunch, other developers said they had not yet spoken to either Microsoft or Sony about any future replacements to either the Xbox 360 or the PS3.

TBC | £TBC | Xbox

  • Simon

    What aload of tripe.

    PS3 supports keyboard and mouse USB input devices. (wired and wireless).

  • VinTheDean

    Very True Simon.

    The PS3 Supports USB keyboard and Mouse. As well many wireless options. Don’t they know that UT3 supports Keyboard and Mouse.

    They just have that as an excuse not to bring the game the console era.

    They are probably waiting for both consoles to natively support Keyboard and Mouse. Yet another piece of evidence that Xbox is holding the PS3 back.

  • http://www.gravatar.com Simon Munk

    I’m hoping that Pardo doesn’t just mean a keyboard and mouse. I don’t buy that the future of console control methods is to plug a QWERTY and a mouse in and get a lap-pad. That would be fairly sad.

    There has to be some other way of combining the complexity of command needed for RTS and MMO games with something that isn’t as unwieldy as putting your desktop on your lap (or moving your console onto your desk).

  • Simon

    And all current gen consoles can do that. The PS3 with it’s generic Bluetooth control inputs, and the 360 with it’s proprietary wifi controllers.

    Blizzard don’t want to supply game+controller..

  • Interested Watcher

    The really interesting ‘input device’ will be the disc tech that the next Xbox uses.

    Microsoft obviously are moving to a downloaded future but know that by the time the next Xbox is ready that downloads will not be a common enough reality in the world.

    The DVD Forum keep on posting news that the HD DVD spec continues to be refined (with a lot of work concentrating on the 51gb TL disc).
    I’d bet the house that this is going to feature in the next Xbox.

    No wonder Toshiba refused to sell off the HD DVD rights (when everyone thought they would/should).

  • http://wowgoldpig.com wow gold

    If it’s just another set of of mouse and keyboard that’s “specifically made for WoW” then what’s the use having a new set of peripherals? Most gaming platforms have that anyway…

    What I would like to see would be some sort of Gaming Glove. I’m thinking of it making your gaming screen look like a huge touch screen, similar to that in the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report. Plus the player can just point to where he wants to go on-screen or pick an item up or something. Whatchathink?

Hot chat, right here!


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