Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath marks the third real-time strategy game EA Los Angeles has brought to Xbox 360. One of the major claims this time around is that the studio has, at long last, resolved the controls it says were "lauded by critics."

But is this the control scheme for real-time strategy efforts on consoles? Lead producer Jim Vessella thinks so. Well, as far as next week's one-two punch of Kane's Wrath and Supreme Commander on Xbox 360 is concerned.

"We think that this is certainly going to be the best control scheme for RTS games coming out next week," he told Shacknews. "[With] the Radial Interface, we really think that we've hit the chord for the console audience."

"That's not to say that we're going to stop there, we are going to continue developing this control scheme," he continued. "We're actually already iterating on it for [Command & Conquer] Red Alert 3's development, and we have some new, really cool features."

But why did it take three games to reach that point in the first place? Furthermore, why do PC gamers need C&C3 to run the expansion while Xbox 360 gamers don't?

Just what does EA LA have up its sleeve for the future of Command and Conquer? And will the Xbox 360 games be able to partake in a multiplayer beta for Command & Conquer Red Alert 3?

Jim Vessella: This is a time in the RTS genre for consoles where we're all just learning. It's a big experimentation process that we're going through, everyone is trying new things to see what works best for the console audience.

With Battle for Middle-earth II and Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars, we tried a few control schemes of our own. While they were successful and were the best things out there at the time, we knew that we could do better and continued refining.

For Kane's Wrath [with] the Radial Interface, we really think that we've hit the chord for the console audience. It's very intuitive to use, it's very natural, using the analog sticks instead of the d-pad.

It really was just an experimentation process. We had a prototype, coming out of Tiberium Wars, of this working, and then we were really able to develop that for Kane's Wrath.

We think we have the foundation really correct now, with the whole radial system. We're going to keep building up on that for future console games. We're real excited for both Kane's Wrath and future titles.

Shack: Will the Xbox 360-exclusive Kane's Challenge missions ever make their way to PC users?

Jim Vessella: We kinda want to keep Kane's Challenge exclusive to the 360. It was really made with that audience in mind, of giving them a way to learn about everything in Command & Conquer 3, especially since it's a standalone title. They may not have even encountered the core factions before.

This is essentially a gauntlet of skirmish matches where you take on the role of one of our nine factions--we have six new sub-factions in the game--and fight through a ladder gauntlet against AI-controlled opponents of all the other factions. The really cool thing about this is it's a great way for new players to learn about the strengths and weaknesses of each faction.

Right now, we don't have any plans to bring that feature to the PC. We're gonna keep it on 360 for now.

Shack: What else is new in the Xbox 360 version?

Jim Vessella: We have some really cool features for Xbox Live. We're gonna have over 50 multiplayer maps available, two dozen of those are completely new for Kane's Wrath. We also have a bunch that were brought over that the PC patches got on Command & Conquer 3 that Xbox 360 players have never seen before.

Those are combined with all the maps from Tiberium Wars, so we're actually going to have over 50 multiplayer maps to really vary up the battlefield that players can play upon.

The 360 actually has five different multiplayer modes, the PC only has one. PC only has the standard Deathmatch, but on console you'll also get modes like Capture the Flag, King of the Hill, and a really cool mode called Siege, which allows you to put up barriers to protect your bases for a set amount of time. You can build up your base and not have the fear of someone rushing you and taking you out of the game immediately, so it's a great way for beginners to feel safe and try out some new strategies.

Those modes are all exclusive to the 360. Tiberium Wars was a big hit on Xbox Live and we are expecting the same for Kane's Wrath.

Shack: The fact that Kane's Wrath does not require the original C&C3 is featured quite prominently on the box art for the Xbox 360 edition. What are some of the challenges behind turning a dedicated PC expansion into a standalone console release?

Jim Vessella: It really does come down to that difficulty, that accessibility, and really making it user-friendly for a new RTS player to potentially jump into it.

With the Kane's Challenge, we think that's a great way for players to jump in. We've also done a lot of tuning in the difficulty of the campaign, for instance, to make sure that it's not too overwhelming for console players.

The PC [version], because it was attached to the base game, we could assume that players may have gone through C&C3 before, so we were able to make the campaign a little more challenging. We've tried to pull that back for the console version, so that these new players don't feel overwhelmed and can get into it and have fun and learn about the story.

It really was a matter of doing that, that tuning on both the difficulty and also providing some of these new features, like Kane's Challenge, to really welcome in new players and make them feel at home.

Turn the page to learn why the PC edition of Kane's Wrath required the original C&C3, as well as hints towards the future of the C&C franchise.