PC gamepads & ways of thinking

I’m quite happy to say that Bioshock 2′s lack of gamepad support, while personally sad for me and a reason to postpone the game until i’ll play it on a console is also a sign to me of hope: I used to think I was the only one who enjoys playing in a way that’s different from the way I work (mouse & keyboard in hand), with the kind of guilt that that brings for wanting somethign else when everybody keeps arguing how great the mouse is… but on this occasion I found articles like this one http://www.destructoid.com/bioshock-2-controller-support-dropped-internet-rages-163177.phtml reminding me that there are people out there who feel similarly. More than being just a personal story I think this is a story about the game industry (which is why i’m writing it here), a sign of it maturing, artificial barriers being broken: I think in years to come developers will take more and more note on this, and to maximize their sales they will do what is also kind/morally right: bring games to as wide an audience as possible, not just hardcore gamers, embracing the fact that we as humans are diverse, and that’s not a bad but a good thing. We’ll see in another cycle if I’m right (or dare I hope for less than 5 years?).

PS: being the conspiracy theorist that I am i believe their decision to drop gamepad support is more economical/strategice/political than design related as they argue. I don’t honestly believe “they focused on the mouse & keyboard interface”. Even for games that were NEVER made for gamepads with some clever remappings I was able to play them quite well, so I strongly believe that especially for a game where it has not only been proven in the prequel to work great, meaning they already had the technology in place, but also for one which I believe will make most of it’s sales on consoles meaning that the interface is already proven…