New controller

[ummmm........]

Wow, this thread just doesn't see the action it used to . . .

Anyway, I was thinking about buying a console controller for my desktop, and I was wondering if anyone had any advice.

I don't play a lot of actiony games, but I got Spelunky a few months ago and I really haven't enjoyed it that much with only a keyboard.

I'd assume whatever standard Microsoft/Xboxy type controller I could find would be fine, but I thought I'd ask just in case.

Thanks in advance

 

[Maniacal]

Unless you play fighting games or don't want to buy a wheel for your racing games (or I guess if you just want to slump into an arm chair or something) I've yet to find any game that actually plays better with a controller. At best it comes down to personal preference... or the occasional badly ported console game which are never worth getting anyway. Save your money and buy another 8+ games instead, especially if you're only getting it for a couple of games.

The xbox 360 gamepad also has a very badly designed D-pad too, and it will mess you up sometimes. Although its up to $20 cheaper new in Canada than an XB1 or PS4 controller. Your best bet is probably the XB1 controller as most ported console games will support an Xbox controller out of the box so to speak, if the price is one you're willing to pay for whatever use you think you'll get out of it.

 

[Zelig]

360 controller is the standard PC controller, nearly any PC game with controller support is mapped for the 360 controller by default. Get the 360 controller if you want wireless, the XB1 controller if you want wired.

Unless you play fighting games or don't want to buy a wheel for your racing games I've yet to find any game that actually plays better with a controller. At best it comes down to personal preference... or the occasional badly ported console game which are never worth getting anyway. Save your money and buy another 8 games instead, especially if you're only getting it for a couple of games.

Any platformer, lots of RPGs, lots of action/adventure games play better with controller.

 

[Maniacal]

Unless the PC controls are poorly done it all comes down to personal preference, none of them otherwise are inherently better with a controller than a keyboard and mouse. It depends on what you're used to more or other subjective (varies person to person) reasons.

 

[Zelig]

No, I'm fairly comfortable claiming that platformers are better with a controller, and that strategy games are better with a mouse. You can play Castlevania: Lords of Shadow with a keyboard, or Starcraft with a controller, but both are really sub-par experiences.

Emulated console games are also better with a controller - hell, the best way to play any Nintendo 64 game is on a PC using an xbox controller.

 

[ummmm........]

I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy Spelunky -- a platformer -- more with a controller. Whenever I play it, I always think "Wow, this would be so much better with a controller". It's the only time I have ever thought that about a PC game, but I really really want to enjoy playing Spelunky. Plus, once I get into a game I tend to just play the crap out of it for months or even years, so if a controller is the solution then the cost is a negligible consideration . . .

I appreciate your replies . . .

I am a little dubious of the controller for RPG claim. Right now I'm mostly playing Guild Wars 2, and I can't imagine trying that with a controller. It's been a long long time since I owned a console though, and I know the controllers have evolved a bit since then . . .

 

[Zelig]

"Some RPGs" - i.e. those originally designed for controller use, like Final Fantasies, Fables, Dark Souls, etc.

I actually played through FF7 with keyboard on my only full playthrough, but Dark Souls without a controller sounds horrid.

 

[Maniacal]

Those are all console ports, and not great ones at that. They didn't really bother designing them for mouse & keyboard. I've played a few platformers and they all worked beautifully with mouse&keyboard (or just keyboard). Platformers work well with controllers but they aren't inherently better with them.

 

[ummmm........]

Idk. Spelunky's controls are pretty basic and I can obviously remap them any way I like, but to me a controller would always feel more natural in that type game . . .

 

[Maniacal]

Which is a personal preference. I know a couple people who prefer controllers for some things like platformers because they did much or all of their gaming growing up on the N64 and stuff like that, but I have had zero problems using a mouse & keyboard with the platformers I've played on PC. I'd probably do horribly with them using a controller since I'm not at all used to them.

 

[ummmm........]

Oh, I was all grown up by the time the N64 came out, but I don't miss the Atari 2600's joystick at all . . .

 

[bhsup]

I haven't used a controller regularly for gaming since I had a logitech wingman joystick back in the mid 90s for those flight combat games such F-19 stealth fighter, F-15 Strike Eagle, etc. Before that, I'd have to go back to the NES or even the Atari 2600.

I did buy an XBOX 360 controller for PC and tried it in a few games, but as I have no experience with the controller, it seemed so foreign to me. I keep planning on trying it in Inquisition, but haven't yet.

Real men use analog!

 

[Zelig]

Those are all console ports, and not great ones at that. They didn't really bother designing them for mouse & keyboard. I've played a few platformers and they all worked beautifully with mouse&keyboard (or just keyboard). Platformers work well with controllers but they aren't inherently better with them.

You can't define "not a great port" as "not designed for mouse & keyboard".

The best version of Dark Souls is on PC, with a controller.

How would you propose porting Mario 64 to work with mouse/keyboard? Free mouselook? That's not a "port quality" issue, that's a completely different game.

Again, the best version of Mario 64 is on a PC, with a controller.

 

[Maniacal]

Dark Souls is also a notoriously poor port, since, as they said it would be, it is just a straight port of the console version and they just sort of slapped some m&k controls onto it.

How would you propose porting Mario 64 to work with mouse/keyboard? Free mouselook? That's not a "port quality" issue, that's a completely different game.

Again, the best version of Mario 64 is on a PC, with a controller.

... it was never, ever designed to be played with anything other than the N64 controller, so no duh it doesn't work as well with a m&k... but that doesn't mean it couldn't if it was actually designed to properly support m&k.

Pirated copies of console games run on emulators is a completely different thing than platformers that had actual PC releases, which is what I thought we were talking about.

 

[Zelig]

See again:

You can't define "not a great port" as "not designed for mouse & keyboard".

And again - if you want the best version of Dark Souls, it's the PC version, with a controller.

 

[Maniacal]

I didn't say it was a poor port only because it wasn't designed for m&k, there were quite a few other issues. Sure Dark Souls may be best played with a controller, but that is because that is the only thing it was actually designed to be played with and it doesn't mean every 3rd person RPG or action game is best played with a gamepad, just Dark Souls.

Having at least decent support for keyboard & mouse is a requirement for something to be a good port when it is officially ported from the console to the PC. Same thing with porting a PC game to the console, if you just slapped some lousy gamepad support on and told players they had to plug a m&k into their console to play it properly that would be just plain ridiculous.

 

[Zelig]

Sure Dark Souls may be best played with a controller, but that is because that is the only thing it was actually designed to be played with and it doesn't mean every 3rd person RPG or action game is best played with a gamepad, just Dark Souls.

Never said every: "lots of RPGs, lots of action/adventure games play better with controller."

I'm not just saying Dark Souls is best with a controller, I'm saying it's best on a PC (with a controller).

Having at least decent support for keyboard & mouse is a requirement for something to be a good port when it is officially ported from the console to the PC.

No it isn't. Gamepads have first-class support on PC, mouse/keyboard do not have first-class support on console.