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BioShock 2 PC Draws Protest over Lack of Official Gamepad Support
by Chris Faylor, Feb 10, 2010 8:35am PSTWhile it had been previously disclosed that BioShock 2 PC would forgo any sort of official gamepad support in favor of getting "the mouse and keyboard control absolutely right," the exclusion has now drawn ire from those that bought the game unaware.
A 2K Forums thread on the matter has exploded since the underwater shooter sequel was officially released yesterday, including mentions of buyers remorse, an unofficial workaround, demands for a patch, and links to the inevitable petition.
"Not supporting the controller was not a decision that we made lightly," community manager 2K Elizabeth responded, with the company having explained:
We made quite a number of significant changes to UI / HUD for the PC version of the game. The decision was made early on not to support controllers at all in order to ensure that we got the mouse and keyboard control absolutely right. This of course required a redesign of large parts of the UI and the player HUD. For example, we removed the Weapons and Plasmid Selection Radials in favor of a custom created Weapons Selection Strip which more accurately reflects the keyboard layout.
Central to the complaints is the fact that the original BioShock PC supported gamepads in addition to mouse and keyboard, complete with a UI for either control scheme.
As one would expect, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the sequel use the console's respective controller, but can not be played with mouse and keyboard.
The release of BioShock 2 also brought with it complaints that the PC version doesn't properly support widescreen resolutions, though a fix is already on the way.
Thanks to Chris (not the one who wrote this article) for the heads up.
Comments
BUT, there is no fucking reason whatsoever to EXPECT it. I don't care one bit that it was in the first one, this is a PC FPS people. People buy FPS games on PC to avoid the controller on the xbox or ps3. I repeat, when comparing a PC version against a console version FPS, getting away from the controller is the reason people pick the PC version.
It would be a safer assumption that the game LACKED support for the control scheme people are buying the game on PC to avoid. So again, while the complaint has merit, the OUTRAGE does not.
This type of shit is KILLING PC gaming people. Think about it from the devs point of view. The "PC gamers" might view the console gamers as the unwashed masses who will buy anything, but THEY WILL BUY ANYTHING. PC gamers will piss and moan about feature X, Y, or Z either being included or being removed. THERE IS NO PLEASING YOU GUYS, and I don't see how you can't realize that it makes developers not care about PC.
Why bother? Why make a game for PC when:
1. It's going to be pirated. Fuck DRM, it could require a DNA sample, will still be pirated.
2. There will be numerous complaints where gamers feel shafted for something that is their own fault, or just something the dev never could have predicted.
3. There will be a backlash for SOMETHING, whether warranted or not, if you make a PC game, your shit will get drug through the mud no matter how hard you try. Case in point, people talk shit on Valve, the BEST PC dev there is.
When you make a console game, if it's any good at all, it sells. And it sells better than PC. So the main reason to develop PC games is because of a love for the platform, and how can they keep loving such an angry beehive?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 15 replies.
Second, I agree with you that it would be better to have the gamepad support. Honestly, the comments here changed my mind on that, before this article I would have only had violent obcenities for someone saying exactly that. I had my first post nuked for doing JUST THAT, lol. As you said, "Having more options brings more accessibility" and I could not have said it better myself. We should have options.
My point (that I didn't make in the first post because I didn't think about it until someone's comment) is that this company was villified and called a prostitute because everyone seemed to feel the first bioshock was a soulless console port. So here, they make it a point to custom tailor the PC version for the PC, and they get backlash. If you were in that situation, what would be YOUR motivation to even try anymore? When you get backlash and bullshit for more work or less work, why do more work? Why make the PC version more than a soulless port if the community is just going to get just as pissed?
One point that someone made, it's a good point, is that the FOV is apprently stilled FUCKED in this one. Thats piss poor, but I never noticed anything odd about playing through the first one on PC (steam sales rock). So the FOV issue isn't an issue for me, but after reading about it, I would say it is a very real issue. I just happen to not be sensitive to it I suppose. So in that regard, they fucked up and I'm sure everyone would rather they not touched the controls from the first one at all, if it meant they would fix the FOV.
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