Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Questions by Garrett Fuller
Answers by Aaron Levin, Blue Orb’s VP of Business Development

All across the world, almost everyone has one thing in common: We love being comfortable. Whether we’re relaxing in a hot tub or kicking back in our Lay-Z-Boy recliner, people generally love to be in positions where they can stretch out and relax. For years, however, the computer gaming industry has been tied to the keyboard and mouse set up; not exactly the best choice for ergonomic game playing. All of that is set to change with the introduction of Blue Orb’s SwitchBlade technology, which allows you to play your favorite MMOGs via an Xbox 360 controller. To learn more about this new technology, the Ten Ton Hammer staff tracked down Aaron Levin, Blue Orb’s VP of Business Development, and asked him a slew of questions about SwitchBlade and MMO gaming in general.

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Ten Ton Hammer: Tell us about your product. What is SwitchBlade all about?

Aaron Levin: SwitchBlade is all about bringing the feet-up console gaming experience that so many people prefer, to games where you’re normally required to hunch over a mouse and a keyboard.

We launched SwitchBlade in mid-October as a free download via Xfire.com, designed specifically to let people play World of Warcraft with an Xbox 360 controller. With SwitchBlade, gamers can use the controller to perform every action that can be performed with a mouse and keyboard. Here’s how it works:

The SwitchBlade allows for WoW gamers to play via an Xbox 360 controller.

The left analog stick controls movement, while the right analog stick controls the mouse. The left and right shoulder buttons control the left and right mouse buttons, respectively – and if a user holds down the right shoulder, they can use the right analog stick to control the camera and the direction their character is facing. There’s even an option in the SwitchBlade interface to lock the camera by simply hitting the right shoulder, which results in a much more console-like experience.

The face buttons (A, B, X, Y) control 1 through 4 on the WoW action bar. By holding down the left trigger, those same buttons control 5 through 8, with 6 through = made available by holding down the right trigger. The D-pad up/down controls which action bar is currently available and other buttons on the controller bring up a character’s inventory, bags, map, and main menu.

SwitchBlade has a mode that we call “Ready to Play” because you can get right into the game with the default assignments. That said, SwitchBlade is completely customizable – we realize that many gamers have unique ways of playing and we allow for that – we aim only to add to the WoW experience, and to take nothing away.

Ten Ton Hammer: Many players for PC games are very comfortable with the mouse and keyboard set up, what does Blue Orb do to change this format?

Aaron: That’s an excellent question, and one thing to consider about SwitchBlade is that we’re not necessarily aiming to completely replace the mouse and keyboard for every WoW player. If you’ll forgive the generalization, there are basically two kinds of WoW players: hardcore and casual.

Whatever you call them, the hardcore players – the raiders, the PvPers, the level 70 types – aren’t necessarily going to replace the keyboard and mouse for high-end content. But those same hardcore types are definitely going to have to farm and grind, and they’re probably going to level alts from time to time. Those secondary activities – the “boring” ones, that don’t require the same level of concentration and control, are excellent candidates for the feet-up console experience SwitchBlade offers.

Now, your casual players – players who are completely new to WoW, who have low-level characters and only play for a few hours a week – are more likely to use SwitchBlade for their entire WoW experience. Our usability studies convinced us that many of these casual players are more familiar and comfortable with console controls. We’ve brought that to WoW in an intuitive way.

And there’s nothing stopping players from switching back to the keyboard and mouse on the fly – SwitchBlade is a complementary solution, not necessarily a replacement for the keyboard and mouse.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is the SwitchBlade format only set up for World of Warcraft? Or can it be used for other MMOGs?

Aaron: Simply put, our goal is to own the space where people play PC games with a controller. World of Warcraft is the first “Blade”, or game-specific controller scheme that we’re offering. Future Blades will include Lord of the Rings Online, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Tabula Rasa, Warhammer: Age of Reckoning  and many others– pretty much any major upcoming MMO title without controller support.

WoW would be a different game without the keyboard and mouse.

So, we’ll be releasing custom-tailored solutions (“Blades”) for a multitude of upcoming titles that lack built-in controller support – but that’s not to say creative users won’t find ways to use the customization screen to tailor SwitchBlade to their needs immediately, since each of the controller’s buttons is fully customizable.

Ten Ton Hammer: Many MMOG players are very competitive and keep their PCs at top of the line levels in order to play. How does the SwitchBlade help boost performance?

Aaron: Well, SwitchBlade is an incredibly lightweight application, and it runs in the background without degrading gaming performance in any way – this was really one of our key goals during the development process, as we did not want to give users any reason not to download SwitchBlade.

It’s primarily designed to be a laid back, feet-up experience for MMO gaming – but that’s not to say competitive players won’t use it for raiding and PvP. Hardcore, competitive players can jack up the analog stick sensitivity for faster camera movement and use it just as quickly as a keyboard and mouse.

Ten Ton Hammer: With so many MMOGs plotting out cross platform gaming, where do you see the market heading over the next few years?

Aaron: Cross-platform and eventually single-platform gaming is definitely in the cards. I wouldn’t be surprised if truly next-gen MMO titles were available on PCs and major consoles in simultaneous release – but I also think that’s a ways off. PC titles will continue to dominate the MMO space for at least the next few years, I think – and you can be sure that any game lacking controller support will be answered by a customized Blade from us!

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