Recently Microsoft announced that a system update for the Xbox One would add mouse&keyboard support, so that games can, if they so wish, use that form of control.
This was a bit baffling and surprising to me. Why? Because the PlayStation 4 has always supported USB mice and keyboards, from the very beginning (ie. since its launch in 2013.) I find it quite surprising that the Xbox One didn't have any sort of support until now.
(Actually I'm still a bit confused and not 100% sure about this. I don't own an Xbox One, so I cannot corroborate it for myself, and information about this is surprisingly hard to find online, but from the little I have been able to gather, it's my understanding that it's indeed so: Up until now, the Xbox One had literally zero support for mice and keyboards. If you connect one to the console, nothing happens. It's not recognized and it does nothing.)
Not that it has made much of a difference on the PS4, mind you. You can use an USB keyboard to write anywhere where a system textfield is expecting input (ie. one that would normally launch an on-screen keyboard), but that's about it. From the literally thousands of games that exist for the PS4, it's my understanding that only two or three support a mouse.
So, there is system support for those peripherals, and there exist a couple of games that use them, but just that: A couple. No first-person shooter, or any other game that could benefit from mouse&keyboard controls, supports them, for reasons known to nobody. Perhaps not even to the developers themselves. Heck, even the system web browser doesn't support the mouse, and instead you have to move the cursor with a thumbstick. Again, for reasons known to nobody.
(The stock answer that everybody always immediately shouts is "it would be unfair in multiplayer!" That doesn't explain why it's not supported in single-player-only games. Or any applications, such as the system's web browser. It's just not, because reasons. Nobody can explain why. I don't think even game developers could give a rational reasonable answer, if asked. Not even for games that also have a PC port, with full mouse&keyboard support.)
This was a bit baffling and surprising to me. Why? Because the PlayStation 4 has always supported USB mice and keyboards, from the very beginning (ie. since its launch in 2013.) I find it quite surprising that the Xbox One didn't have any sort of support until now.
(Actually I'm still a bit confused and not 100% sure about this. I don't own an Xbox One, so I cannot corroborate it for myself, and information about this is surprisingly hard to find online, but from the little I have been able to gather, it's my understanding that it's indeed so: Up until now, the Xbox One had literally zero support for mice and keyboards. If you connect one to the console, nothing happens. It's not recognized and it does nothing.)
Not that it has made much of a difference on the PS4, mind you. You can use an USB keyboard to write anywhere where a system textfield is expecting input (ie. one that would normally launch an on-screen keyboard), but that's about it. From the literally thousands of games that exist for the PS4, it's my understanding that only two or three support a mouse.
So, there is system support for those peripherals, and there exist a couple of games that use them, but just that: A couple. No first-person shooter, or any other game that could benefit from mouse&keyboard controls, supports them, for reasons known to nobody. Perhaps not even to the developers themselves. Heck, even the system web browser doesn't support the mouse, and instead you have to move the cursor with a thumbstick. Again, for reasons known to nobody.
(The stock answer that everybody always immediately shouts is "it would be unfair in multiplayer!" That doesn't explain why it's not supported in single-player-only games. Or any applications, such as the system's web browser. It's just not, because reasons. Nobody can explain why. I don't think even game developers could give a rational reasonable answer, if asked. Not even for games that also have a PC port, with full mouse&keyboard support.)
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