Xbox One Keyboard And Mouse Support Finally Arrives For Xbox Insiders

One of the things that have set PC and console gamers apart from each other since the console first landed on the scene, is the platform input and control method. PC gamers typically play with a mouse and a keyboard, while the console gamer plays with a gamepad. Sure gamepads will work with Windows PCs, but it's hard to find a PC gamer willing to give up the accuracy and speed of their mouse and keyboard for a gamepad, for most genres of games.

Many console gamers want to be able to use a mouse and keyboard with their Xbox One consoles and that has been impossible, but things appear to be changing. Microsoft aims to bring console gamers full mouse and keyboard gameplay support with the Xbox One platform. A new Minecraft Beta has landed on the Xbox Insider Program and it's notable not for new types of blocks or characters, but for adding mouse and keyboard support to the mix.

Windows Central plugged a Razer Hex mouse into the USB port of their console running the beta game and it works just as you would expect a mouse to work. They do point out that lag is a big issue so it's not something you would want to use in titles that require speed and mousing accuracy, such as shooters. The video, which you can see in the embedded tweet below, also shows a cursor that is much fatter than we're used to seeing on a PC.

The scroll wheel works and mouse support can be activated in the menu for the game. Microsoft doesn't seem to want to fully embrace the keyboard and mouse though. Word is that Microsoft doesn't plan to allow mouse/keyboard and gamepad users to fight it out against each other in FPS or RTS titles. That is too bad, the reason many PC gamers don't play consoles is the lack of support for their preferred controller type. It seems Microsoft would want to let the gamer choose their controls and stick to making hardware.

There has been some other interesting news in the Xbox world recently, Microsoft has ended sales of the original Xbox One. Only the thinner Xbox One S is now available to purchase. If your heart is set on that fatter old school Xbox console, the only way you can get one currently is as a refurbished 500GB unit.