Poll: RTS games on consoles

[Nightrunex]

RTS games on consoles have always been shaky ground, with titles ranging from Command and Conquer to Halo Wars to R.U.S.E. to Endwar (with voice commands).
Personally I'm with the second option, it's much harder to play an RTS effectively with limited control over unit selection, and the small number of hotkeys available - with this, games like Halo Wars have just a few options to win online - no Boom, Rush and Turtle strategies, just Rushing.
Also, when I saw a friend play Age of Empires II on the PS2, I saw him flail about helplessly trying to select his villagers...

What's your opinion Escapists?

 

[Radeonx]

It is possible to make a good one, but a mouse and keyboard will always be far superior.

 

[BENZOOKA]

No. No. No. No. No.

RTS's only on PC.

 

[baddude1337]

I think the Kane's Wrath is currently the best console RTS out there due to its great controls. Endwar is fun and looks great, but its awfully simplified gameplay and most of the time using the pad is quicker than the voice. I think Stormrise is a good example of how NOT to do a console RTS.

I don't think all RTS's work on a console. Could you imagine playing Total War with a gamepad? But games such as C&C work very well. C&C Red Alert on PS1 is a good example of a great console RTS as well, actually.

 

[Spygon]

RTS can work on consoles my favourite game ever was command and conquer red alert retaliation on the ps1 but for some odd reason game developers have forgot about early RTS on consoles.So replace the controls with a mess of things that just dont work.

So yes RTS can work rather well on consoles but game developers (and most other people) have amnesia

 

[drbarno]

RTS are better off on the PC, as the mpuse makes it far easier on selecting units and orders.

Mind you, an RTS on the DS might do well if it was well-designed for it.

 

[omega 616]

No. No. No. No. No.

RTS's only on PC.

Coming from a console player, this all the way! Controllers suck for RTS games, I played C&C red alert on PS and just no, if it wasn't for the nuke cheat I would have been screwed on that game.

Also I refused to vote in the poll 'cos the one I assume I should pick makes no sense, whats the > for?

 

[Giantpanda602]

I think the PS Move honestly has a lot of potential in this department. It has pressure sensitive triggers so, for example, the harder you hold it down the larger the selection are the becomes. It wouldn't be like SC2 but it could be something cool like Brutal Legends or Battalion Wars.

 

[random_bars]

Depends on how it's done. If it's just a conventional RTS put onto a console, Halo Wars for example, it generally doesn't work too well, because the mechanics of the game are built for a keyboard and mouse and the best a controller can do is try to emulate that.

However, if an RTS game is designed from the ground up to work on a console, it can work just fine. Pikmin and Brutal Legend are examples of this - games which take the minion-controlling aspect of RTS games but play to the strengths of controllers to give games which keep themes of RTS games but don't get bogged down in micromanagement and complex tech trees.

 

[Sampler]

why in the day of USB ports on consoles can't we have keyboard and mouse control for those whom want it - PC/Console war ended - it's a tie (as you've been able to use console pads on the PC for years - I have a PS2/N64 to USB adaptor and a 360 Crossfire dongle for the wireless pads, the wired ones went straight in).

 

[Trivun]

Some can be really good. Halo Wars proved that. It's arguably a console RTS that uses a simple, effective mechanic, without being watered down, and remains as fun and challenging as any PC RTS. And I know what I'm talking about here, RTS is one of my favourite genres, I've played plenty on PC from Total Annihilation to Dawn of War to Total War to plenty in between. And I loved them, and I have Halo Wars on my Xbox and love that too.

However, on the whole, RTS games are better on PC. Not a slur against console RTSs, as I just said Halo Wars is a great one, that works well without being watered down, but for more ones with slightly more complicated gameplay (like Total War, for instance) the PC is the best platform, and to bring something like that to the consoles you would need to water it down, which wouldn't work and would make it less enjoyable. So really, it's a genre that can have console success in some games, but is mostly better suited to PC purely because of the gameplay limitations...

 

[Nightrunex]

No. No. No. No. No.

RTS's only on PC.

Coming from a console player, this all the way! Controllers suck for RTS games, I played C&C red alert on PS and just no, if it wasn't for the nuke cheat I would have been screwed on that game.

Also I refused to vote in the poll 'cos the one I assume I should pick makes no sense, whats the > for?

It's shorthand. Comes from the asshole of the internet which I frequent.

Playing RTS on a console is like riding a unicycle while carrying a cow.

But playing it on a PC is just riding a unicycle?

 

[EllEzDee]

Much like the...i dunno, dance pad games have a place only for consoles, RTS is only for PC. You can't select your undamaged tanks and hotkey them on a console, nor can you jump from one side of the map to the other in a single click button press.

 

[random_bars]

People saying 'RTS can never work on consoles!', that's incredibly closed minded. Maybe not straight RTS games, but there are already several RTS games on consoles which take the genre in a different direction that works with controllers. Brutal Legend, Pikmin, Batallion Wars are all examples of this. The usual top-down base buidling, unit micromanaging, complex strategizing, RTS model doesn't work on consoles, sure. But that doesn't mean the genre is completely impossible to do on consoles. You need to think outside the box more!

 

[jawakiller]

Where's the "Fuck nah" answer? Consoles are great (3p action titles especially) but RTS don't belong anywhere near an analog stick... Just saying. Halo wars anyone? Didn't think so.

 

[moretimethansense]

No. No. No. No. No.

RTS's only on PC.

Coming from a console player, this all the way! Controllers suck for RTS games, I played C&C red alert on PS and just no, if it wasn't for the nuke cheat I would have been screwed on that game.

Also I refused to vote in the poll 'cos the one I assume I should pick makes no sense, whats the > for?

See, I have to disagree with you there, I played C&C on the PS1 before I got a PC and I did fine, Mouse is better but it was perfectly usable.

OP
I think that most RTSs don't work as well as on PC, or sometimes don't work at all, but I think it's because they all try to emulate a mouse.
If they tried a different method of commanding your units it may work better, Brutal Legend was a good experiment, but we could do better.

Perhaps a true armchair genral RTS?
Give your units genral orders in the field and see how they carry it out, perhaps queue up a line of orders for you units to carry out ala objectives in FPSs.
Granted you'd need pretty good AI for it to not be an excersise in frustration but I think it's doable.