I realize I'm not JMich, but let me chime in on this.
SoanoS: Anyway do you honestly think the controls on Carmageddon for Android are good?
I'd say they are barely adequate and the game is just about playable.
That's a problem of the developer implementing poor controls. A developer can make their input methods much better of course, it's all up to them to utilize the concept of a touchscreen well.
Besides, Carmageddon is a complete remake of the engine with a completely remade new input method, not a direct port. Universal App would be unlikely to have that sort of selection for inputs, usually selecting the lowest common denominator, which is tilt and touchscreen controls (neither is available for most PCs).
Again, developer laziness to be blamed on. There are similar stories on Android as well. Some games that don't use gamepad controls to work, and some games that don't even use touchscreens to control and demand you to play them with a gamepad (Hotline Miami, I'm looking at you.) This is a problem with developers in general, having the ability to develop for all of these is a great thing, but of course developers underutilize them.
LEt me ask you, have you ever tried to play an FPS on a phone or a tablet? Horrible, oversimplified controls and severely limited engine which results in a mediocre bare-bones experience at best that can only barely keep you interested for a 20 minute bus ride.
Yes I have tried, and I enjoyed it. Modern Combat 4 was quite a lovely experience on my phone, sadly I don't have it installed now because my phone is otherwise lackluster on the space now. But I enjoyed it, and was interested in it.
In the end, it all boils down to one thing: Microsoft gives developers a lot of tools to utilize the best out of their platforms. Whether that utilization sucks or not depends on the
DEVELOPER to do it, not
MICROSOFT. Big difference here. The same thing for touchscreen controls, given the potential, they are very excellent, and the only thing holding it back are the
DEVELOPERS who don't utilize it to the fullest. Rockstar ported five games from the console-centric GTA series to Android, and they all work fine with a touchscreen.
Now for the obligatory test line.
mechmouse: A single UI across different platforms is a very bad idea.
The UI is designed to change shape depending on how big the screen area your app takes up now, among other factors. So while it's the same UI across platforms, it is made for all of these platforms and designed to adapt on the fly.
The best example of this is the Windows Store app. Visit any app page. It rearranges the UI itself depending on how big the Windows Store app is. It can shove everything under each other in one vertical space if the space is so small, or do the same but with the pictures right beside the logo and app name on the top (medium sized), or even put the "People also like" pane on the right of the screen and away from the content.