LIVE Xbox 360 Versus PC Tournament Plans Canned By Microsoft?

Microsoft has apparently scuppered plans to allow PC and Xbox 360 gamers to take each other on, using the company's LIVE service to connect titles available for both platforms.  According to Rahul Sood, CTO of HP's gaming business, the Microsoft project was intended to promote PC gaming, but canned after testing showed those using PCs consistently bested their console counterparts.

That wasn't just because they were better players in general – in fact, according to the rumors Sood has heard, Microsoft purposefully selected mediocre PC gamers to take on "the best console gamers" – but because of the extra accuracy involved when using a PC and mouse versus a console controller.  Microsoft supposedly felt that "it would be embarrassing to the XBOX team in general" if they'd gone ahead with a commercial launch, and so the idea was scrapped.

While the authenticity of the rumor can't be confirmed, if true it's a disappointing move by Microsoft and one that PC gamers are already bemoaning.  Their argument is that Microsoft could have ended up promoting PC title development as the advantages of the platform became so obviously clear.

[via Kotaku]