Why Microsoft, Why?

Sega and Petroglyph’s upcoming futuristic RTS title, Universe at War, is now the first announced title since Shadowrun to support the cross platform capabilities of Games for Windows Live.

What this essentially means is that 360 owners will now have the privilege of getting destroyed by PC players using a keyboard and mouse.

As far as I’m concerned, games like Battle for Middle Earth II and Command and Conquer 3 have done an admirable job of condensing RTS controls onto a controller. But no matter what they do, they can’t replicate being able to select units precisely and instantly with a mouse. Playing a console RTS is like trying to browse the web with the PS3 controller. It works, but it’s far from ideal.

Here’s a question for the ages: The 360 has USB ports, so why don’t these games have optional keyboard and mouse support? In the past, Microsoft’s excuse for not allowing K+M was to keep the playing field level on Xbox Live. With the advent of cross platform play pitting PC players against console players, this argument is no longer valid.

What does everyone think? Would you be more likely to play a console RTS if you had the option of using a Keyboard and Mouse?

[via Destructoid]