Why haven't consoles multiplayer combined?

I've thought about this for a long time, why can't games such as the Madden franchises, Call of Duty, Battlefield, any genre you think of that has cross-platform games (even branching into the PC world) have multi-platform online play support? I have friends with Black Ops that have Xbox'es that I can't play against.

I understand each Console/PC have different operating systems and internet configurations etc; However, in the near future Diablo 3 will be available on Playstation 4. Which leads me to think, will it be able to play against those who log in via a PC? And if it won't, why not? Login services that can be installed such as Steam could be an easy workaround for it, and most consoles would be able to support like-programmed software as such. There is no reason not to expand a userbase online.

Yes, there would be issues with who pays for the servers/bandwidth load, what percentages from which specific platform pulls how much latency, etc, etc. But, expanding a console to play more like a PC makes the absolute most sense. Is it inevitable? Absolutely. Will it happen in the next 5 years? There is no way that it won't. But why hasn't it happened already? I wan't the bridges to be gaped, and the incoherence and incompatibility to be gone.

It's definitely a possibility with Diablo 3 but with FPS's I think it would be unfair because it is arguably a lot easier to aim with a mouse than it is with a controller.

True, but even with the PS3 you can use a mouse as a peripheral, as I'm certain the PS4 will be the same.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_514

I look forward to some planetary bombardment. The tears of console gamers shall be delicious. > : )

Don't forget that the console gamers are supposed to get a weapon to blast ships in orbit, too.

Hopefully as Dust 514 ages we'll be able to actually use stuff like missiles and doomsday weapons instead of just 1 specific gun.

Well, remember that none of that stuff has the range for planetary assualt. The planet may look close, but it's at least an order of magnitude farther away than the range of any ship to ship weapon.

I recently got Star Wars Battlefront 2 and was annoyed that there wasn't a work around for that yet to let me play with Wallow who is on the PS2. It annoyes the living hell out of me that just because I don't like using a controller and I prefer my mouse and keyboard that I can't play with my best friend who's playing the EXACT SAME GOD DAMN GAME on a console. I think it's simply the consoles that are to blame as they want to pull whole groups of friends into buying their console. Although I'm surprised the PS3 hasn't gained this ability as sony produces computers as well and they could benefit from cross platform gaming there.


/minddump

Still hasn't happened. There won't even be any more consoles going forward, it'll be some weird peripheral that communicates through the "cloud".

Gaming is pretty much shit now. There are some gems that pop up from time to time, but the general theme is garbage otherwise. It's a sad state of affairs.

Gaming is pretty much shit now. There are some gems that pop up from time to time, but the general theme is garbage otherwise. It's a sad state of affairs.

Pretty much this, unfortunately.

Eh, give it time, the industry will collapse, and a brighter, better industry will rise from the rubble!

You know, in maybe ten, fifteen years time.

Gaming is pretty much shit now. There are some gems that pop up from time to time, but the general theme is garbage otherwise. It's a sad state of affairs.

Bah! I still get my jollies with GTA V, Battlefield, CoD etc..

But you're right, once WoW started fading out it's glory days nothing was ever the same. We were all so spoiled to get immersed like that back in the mid 2000's.

The talk in this thread reminds me of some of the later South Park episodes pertaining to Stan getting old and cynical.

I think that applies to this forum. I always felt like the child born too late.

Gaming is pretty much shit now. There are some gems that pop up from time to time, but the general theme is garbage otherwise. It's a sad state of affairs.

It's because BBT has made "geek" a plus now. Wait about a year after the show ends and it'll all go back to normal. Probably better.

I noticed Indie games are fucking awesome, and with most major gaming companies getting shit on by themselves, I'm sure in a good five years the game industry will "reboot" due to natural selection.

tl;dr? Transistor was great.

tl;dr? Transistor was great.

I'm playing that on PS4 at the moment, and am thoroughly enjoying it. I've found the combat system a bit hard to get into though - I don't think I've played any two consecutive fights with the same loadout. I'm sure I'll settle on my winning formula on a second play through, but I'm nearing the end and I'm still trying things out (which, I guess, isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can be frustrating).

Anyone try the Dark Souls series? I've been hooked for more than a year now, and Bloodborne comes out in less than a month.